GRiT wasn’t built in theory. It was built in response.
The Story Behind GRiT
Built in a real classroom, refined by real students, and designed for the realities schools face today. What started as a response to one school’s challenges has grown into a neuroscience-driven curriculum helping students regulate, lead, and thrive.Â
Why GRiT Exists
Students today are facing more pressure, more uncertainty, and more emotional weight than ever before. Teachers feel it. Counselors feel it. Administrators feel it. And we all know this: the systems built to support students weren’t designed for the realities they’re carrying now.
Before GRiT had a name, it began as a small pilot called Mindset Matters, created to help students understand how their thoughts shaped their choices and outcomes. We didn’t expect the level of engagement or the depth of connection students felt. Mindset Matters became the foundation for everything that followed, eventually evolving into GRiT, a neuroscience-driven relational intelligence curriculum proven to change student behavior, mindset, and resilience.
GRiT began inside one Wisconsin high school – not as a program, but as a response. What started as an attempt to strengthen communication, collaboration, and alignment for entrepreneurship students revealed something much larger: students didn’t have the tools to understand how they learn, how their brains work, or how their thoughts and language shape who they become.
- Existing SEL frameworks weren’t solving the deeper issues.
- Staff burnout was rising.
- Students carried fixed mindsets that shut down potential before it had a chance to develop.
- The gap between what students needed and what schools could realistically provide kept growing.
So GRiT was built to close that gap.
“Students will rise to the expectations you set—when those expectations are paired with real tools and real support.”
How GRiT Was Built
GRiT began as a single elective course for grades 9–12. We tested tools with entrepreneurship students first, refining them until the concepts held up in real conversations, real conflicts, and real moments of growth.
Neuroscience First
Every lesson had to help students understand how the brain learns, reacts, and grows.
Relational Intelligence (Ri)
Students needed tools to understand themselves and others in ways that improve connection, conflict resolution, and communication.
Executive Tools,Â
We adapted leadership tools used by adults into practices students could apply immediately.
The GRiT Pathways
Ready to See How GRiT Can Support Your School?
GRiTedu is a neuroscience-backed framework that helps students build the self-leadership, emotional stability, and clarity they need to thrive beyond graduation.
If you're exploring ways to support student mental wellness, equip students with real-world decision-making tools, or bring a results-driven SEL framework into your school, we’d love to walk you through what GRiTedu can offer.
Use the form to request more information, preview materials, or connect with our team about bringing GRiT to your school.
