Keys to the Journey logo, five gold keys labeled drive focus leadership balance growth Keys to the Journey
Start Here · One School, One Cohort

See it work before you scale it

Twelve weeks. One afternoon a week. Twenty-five to fifty students. Before we ask a superintendent for a districtwide commitment, we prove it in one building first, and hand you real numbers, not a slide deck, to decide what comes next.

A Keys to the Journey session in progress, students engaged and taking notesWeekly sessions, not a one-time visit
Why a Pilot First

The problems districts are already trying to solve

Attendance, grades, discipline, school climate, family engagement, and life after graduation are the things administrators already report on. The pilot is built around the ones a focused 12-week cohort can actually move.

Chronic Absenteeism

Attendance & Engagement

Purpose, routines, and a reason to show up, so a pattern gets caught before it becomes a habit.

Declining Grades

Academic Accountability

Study skills, time management, and a personal plan a student can actually follow.

Disengagement & Discipline

SEL, Leadership & Conflict Resolution

Self-awareness, communication, and accountability, built on the same five keys as the books.

Mental Wellness Concerns

Resilience & Wellness

Student wellness education, not clinical treatment or diagnosis: identifying and supporting depression from middle school through early college.

Poor Family Engagement

Parent & Family Sessions

Evening sessions so the plan a student builds is one the family understands and reinforces at home.

Student Athlete Challenges

Optional Athlete Track

NCAA eligibility, recruiting, and NIL basics layered in without making the whole cohort athlete-only.

This is one focused pilot, not six separate purchases. As the ecosystem grows we will offer some of these as standalone tracks on the programs page โ€” the pilot is where every district starts today.

The Structure

How the twelve weeks work

Weekly Student Sessions

One afternoon a week, twelve weeks, one cohort of 25 to 50 students. Drive, focus, leadership, balance, and growth, made practical.

Family Sessions

Evening sessions for parents across the twelve weeks, so the household is part of the plan, not reading about it after.

Optional Athlete Track

For cohorts with student athletes: recruiting, eligibility, and NIL sessions layered into the same twelve weeks.

Problem → Intervention → Measurement → Results

How we measure it

Administrators do not need to take our word for it. We track what your building already reports on, before, during, and after.

Before

The Baseline

  • Attendance
  • Grades
  • Discipline referrals
  • Student engagement survey
  • Family engagement survey
  • Student confidence survey
During

The Twelve Weeks

  • Participation
  • Attendance
  • Goal completion
  • Mentor interactions
  • Student reflections
After

The Impact Report

  • Attendance change
  • Academic change
  • Behavior referrals
  • Student engagement
  • Family feedback
  • Student self-assessment
What You Walk Away With

The Keys to the Journey Student Success Impact Report

Participation, student feedback, family feedback, and the indicators we agreed to track, in one document. That is a very different conversation with a superintendent than a proposal: "We piloted this with your students. Here is what we delivered, here is what students and families said, here is what moved. We would like to discuss expanding it."

Funding

How it's typically funded

The U.S. Department of Education names attendance, engagement, healthy learning environments, family engagement, and out-of-school-time programming as areas districts can invest in. Title I, Title II, Title IV Part A, and Title IV Part B are the funding lines most pilots like this one draw from โ€” your business office can confirm which apply to your building.

See vendor and funding notes on Program Options →
After the Pilot

If it works, we scale it

A strong pilot is the on-ramp to a Whole School License or a District Rollout โ€” the same programs already on our Program Options page, now backed by a real cohort's results instead of a proposal alone.

Founder Rate available

One cohort, twelve weeks, the full pilot

Weekly student sessions, family sessions, the optional athlete track, and the final Impact Report. For our founding cohort of partner schools, locked in through this school year.

Ask us for pricing
per pilot cohort
Trusted By Schools and Families

What schools already say

“We have been so pleased with the results from Keys to the Journey that we signed up for an annual contract to have Kala Gause present to our students, staff, and families every year.”
Albie CrosbyHead Football Coach
“Kala's presentation was eye opening. He provided practical advice and a roadmap for navigating the complexities of college recruiting.”
James ReavesAthletic Director, Greece Central School District, New York
Request a Pilot

Bring the 12-Week Pilot to one school

Tell us the school, the grade band, and roughly how many students. We come back with a plan, a timeline, and the funding sources that fit. Every request is answered by a person, usually within two business days.

A Founder Rate is available for our founding cohort of partner schools. Every request goes to keystothejourney@gmail.com and is answered by a person with pricing for your building.