San Francisco-based Abl, developer of the Master Scheduler platform for schools, has announced a $2.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in support of its efforts to help school leaders rethink and restructure one of their most valuable educational resources: time.

The grant will support UnlockingTime.org, a hub that provides free online tools and resources related to time management in schools, including a visual encyclopedia of bell schedules, case studies from schools across the country, and practical implementation strategies. The site features a School Time Assessment, a survey tool designed to help principals and staff assess how their school uses time, spark dialogue about the alignment of time structures with school values and priorities, and explore new time strategies. Abl will analyze the data to better understand how schools in the aggregate structure their time, compare time strategies across similar schools and regions, and identify best practices from the field.

Secondary schools serving high-need students are eligible to apply for Abl's Master Scheduler technology at a rate subsidized by the Unlocking Time project grant and will receive training and coaching from a team of education consultants with expertise in scheduling and school design.

"Much of what shapes current time structures in schools are not rules or laws, but long-standing norms," said Crystal Harden, principal of Green Street Academy in West Baltimore and a member of the Unlocking Time advisory board. "Unlocking Time will enable school leaders to re-envision what's possible by showing how schools can more creatively leverage time to improve student outcomes. This is about bridging the massive gap between innovative ideas and the complexity of implementing those ideas within schools."