HOPE Christian Schools is a network of seven Christian college-preparatory schools in Milwaukee and Racine, Wisconsin, serving predominantly low-income students. With a mission “rooted in the 3 Cs – Christ. College. Character,” HOPE Christian Schools began with a single elementary school of 47 children on the northwest side of inner-city Milwaukee in 2002. Another elementary and a high school opened within the following three years, at which time a parent organization, Open Sky Education, was created in order to launch charter schools through the Eagle College Prep network in Phoenix, Arizona, and St. Louis, Missouri. (Open Sky Education also runs Compass Educational Programs, a Christian after-school program, and Compass Facilities.) The HOPE network has since opened four more K-8th grade private schools in Milwaukee and Racine. The Drexel Fund supported HOPE Christian Schools’ growth from six to eight schools.