Our Story
Our Mission
To build the conditions where human intelligence is empowered to flourish.
Our Beliefs
We believe in people. In adults and kids. In the specialness of the individual and the power of the collective.
We believe it is human nature to learn. That a meaningful life, at every age, is filled with growth and discovery. No one is a finished product.
We believe that people desire predictability. We are wired, deep in our biology, to crave stability and avoid disruption. Disruption feels threatening.
We believe disruption inspires movement and learning. Learning and homeostasis live in natural tension. Discomfort moves us. Curiosity pulls us forward in search of stability.
We believe learning is how we navigate disruption and emerge more capable. Continuous learning creates the stability we seek in the future.
We believe the best organizations create human centered systems of learning. They inspire people to be the best version of themselves, today and in the future.
Our Work
The demands placed on today's educators have never been greater. Personalize learning for every student. Differentiate instruction for every need. Respond to trauma. Foster belonging. Use data deliberately. Integrate emerging technology responsibly. And do all of it inside structures and systems that were designed for a different era, with a different set of expectations, and a fundamentally different understanding of what learning requires.
The gap between what we are asking teachers to do and what any single human can reasonably do alone has never been wider. It requires a different design. A more supportive system filled with more dynamic tools.
Research and experience tell us that the only way to make schools work for everyone, teachers, students, and communities, is to unite the power of PLC, MTSS, and Human-First AI integration as one coherent response to an overwhelming reality.
That is the work. That is what we help you build.
Teaching has never been more complex.
Who We Are
Sascha Heckmann
Co-Founder & Principle Consultant
Sascha Heckmann has spent twenty-five years doing one thing. Building systems that see every child and equip every educator to reach them. As a teacher, principal, and superintendent across Title I turnaround schools and elite international institutions in five countries, he has led organizations through transformation in some of the most diverse and demanding educational contexts in the world.
His craft is rooted in the first principles of PLC and MTSS. Shaped by a deep connection to the work of Rick DuFour and Mike Mattos, Sascha has embedded collaborative adult learning and systematic student support into every school and system he has led. His first book, co-authored with Mike Mattos and published through Solution Tree Press, extends that foundation to students through personalized learning and student agency. His second manuscript, currently with Solution Tree for review, explores how AI can restore the human-centered core of PLC for educators navigating the complexity of modern teaching.
As co-founder and principle consultant, Sascha leads the K-12 consulting practice. He comes to serve as your thought partner and co-designer, bending your system to your context and delivering the transformational results that PLC and MTSS, implemented systematically, makes possible for every educator and every student in your building.
Nola Heckmann
Co-Founder & Learning Designer
Nola Heckmann believes in people a little more than they believe in themselves. As a teacher, that meant classrooms where students took risks they never imagined and discovered capabilities they never knew they had. As an instructional coach and curriculum specialist, it meant developing educators who left more confident in their craft and more connected to their students.
Her experience at Evergreen State College shaped her conviction that learning designed around humans produces something transformational. Interdisciplinary inquiry, narrative evaluation, and close relationships with professors showed her that curiosity, depth, and genuine connection are not the byproducts of a great experience. They are the point.
Nola now brings that conviction to corporate organizational learning and development, designing employee learning experiences that build human capacity, support workforce reskilling, and create cultures where people do their best work.
As co-founder of 8 Degrees Up, Nola leads learning design and serves as the bridge between the firm's K-12 educational roots and adult learning and development. She brings the science of learning and the art of human connection to every engagement she designs.