About Us

The Rural Schools Collaborative was envisioned during an early summer 2014 planning meeting in St. Louis and incorporated as a 501-c-3 nonprofit later that year. RSC was formally launched in the spring of 2015 with its inaugural Grants in Place program.

The organization's mission is to build sustainable rural communities through a keen focus on place, teachers, and philanthropy. RSC's mission is realized through several signature efforts: Grants in Place, Rural Teacher Corps, GRAD Partnership for Student Success, I Am A Rural Teacher Project, Emergent Educators' Advisory Council, and Impact Philanthropy.

The organization is governed by a volunteer board of directors and supported by a small professional staff. RSC's eleven Regional Hubs, including the Dritfless Region Hub headed by the College of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, also provide Hub Contacts who facilitate shared work.

RSC's national programs office is located in Monmouth, Illinois courtesy of Monmouth College and the Galesburg Community Foundation.

Our Mission

Build sustainable rural communities through a keen focus on place, teachers, and philanthropy.

Who We Serve

Rural Schools Collaborative is a national organization that works with regional partners to coordinate grassroots work. These regional partnerships are organized through our Regional Hub Network. One of RSC's 17 Regional Hubs is the Driftless Region Hub, anchored by the College of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Through this partnership, our grants, resources, and storytelling services are open to any rural school in Wisconsin.

Rural schools are defined as non-urban, non-metro, or fall under one of six categories of the National Center for Educational Statistics classification (you can confirm that your school is eligible by checking your Locale Number to match 31, 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43 at National Center for Education Statistics Locale Lookup)