On this episode of School After Hours, host J Lee talks with Jacob Adams, founder of Inner Spark Learning Lab, a South Central Los Angeles organization making schools places kids actually want to be. Jacob breaks down their "Listen, Learn, Adapt" framework — a system built around consistently gathering input from students, families, and educators and acting on what they hear. He shares the hard lessons of staying accountable to the community over funders, why shifting adult mindsets comes first, how sending parents positive messages transformed school-family trust, and what happens when you stop chasing metrics like attendance and instead focus on creating an environment young people genuinely want to be part of.
Key Takeaways
1. Listen first — and actually use what you hear. Inner Spark's entire framework is built on a cycle of listening to kids and families, learning from what they say, adapting programs based on that input, and sharing results back with the community. The key: you have to do something with what you hear, not just collect it.
2. Stay accountable to the people, not the funders. One of the biggest challenges over nine years was resisting the pull to design programs around what funders want. Jacob emphasizes the discipline required to keep changing based on what students and families say they need — even when it limits short-term growth.
3. Get the vibes right before anything else. Before drilling test prep or chasing metrics, adults need to believe that the school environment itself has to be a place kids enjoy. That mindset shift is the foundation everything else is built on.
4. Listening to kids can put you ahead of the research. When students told Inner Spark they were tired of being on computers all day, the team removed screens from the curriculum. Three years later, research emerged showing correlations between increased screen time and declining cognitive outcomes. Listening to the people in the program kept them ahead of the curve.
5. Trust starts with good news. Inner Spark began sending parents random positive messages about their kids. The response was overwhelming — many had never received a call from school about something good. Building that trust first means when you do need to have a harder conversation, parents are already on your side.
6. Change requires systems that keep you stable. A true learning organization has to be comfortable with constant change. But you also need systems that provide consistency for your team — so things can keep evolving without the building feeling like it's on fire.
7. Kids step up when you give them the platform. When students are given research skills and a voice in shaping their school, they become less dependent on adults to resolve interpersonal issues, develop a better understanding of themselves, and build stronger relationships with their peers and families.
8. Attendance goes up when you stop chasing attendance. At their main partner school, attendance improved not because it became a target, but because Inner Spark focused on making school a place students wanted to be. The takeaway: focus on creating the right environment, and the metrics follow.
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