Open to any student living in the Chicago Public Schools district, Catalyst Schools provides a quality charter-school education to students of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and academic abilities. With a personalized approach to learning, Catalyst Schools strives to ensure that students are focused on an equitable future with shared access to justice and peace. Its curriculum adheres to the nationwide K-12 Common Core Standards.

Catalyst Schools maintains a lasting partnership with Project Lead The Way in emphasizing core STEM concepts in learning. Integrating the classroom use of iPads, programming is designed to provide project-based learning that opens up new areas of inquiry and challenges young scholars’ critical faculties. Advanced technology adoption includes the use of Smartboards, which are installed in all computer labs and classrooms.

At present, Catalyst Schools encompasses a pair of campuses in Chicago and includes one high school and two elementary schools. The holistic guiding philosophy of the institution is “teaching minds and touching hearts,” and the charter schools' students have significantly outperformed their peers in their levels of academic performance.