Empowering educators and leaders across K-12 and higher ed
We believe that education has the power to transform lives — and our solutions can help cultivate and sustain that transformation.
Broad reach.
Integrated solutions.
Improved outcomes.
Scholarus Learning was formed in 2022 through several strategic mergers of successful educational companies who share the same vision for education:
- Education Elements collaborates with districts to build and support dynamic school systems that meet the needs of every learner, today and tomorrow.
- PLC Associates supports schools in achieving outstanding outcomes and building capacity in a systems approach that leads to sustained results.
- Tripod Education works with states, districts, and schools to gather, organize, and report on the perspectives of students, teachers, and families.
- XanEdu increases student engagement and enhances learning outcomes by delivering innovative solutions across K-12 and higher education.
Together, we collaborate to build efficiencies and offer a broad suite of products and services for the education community.
Our educators, leaders, and subject matter experts take a customized approach to each project. Whether it’s leadership development, school strategy and design, surveys, or custom curriculum materials, we deliver solutions that align with each client’s unique challenges and goals.
Meet the experts who drive our success
Ty Field
Chief Executive Officer Ty Field has been the Executive Chairman of Scholarus Learning for the past several years and now leads our group of companies as CEO. Working with the Scholarus leadership team for many years has seen Ty combine his deep knowledge of the portfolio with the group's strategic goals, along with expertise in the EdTech industry, to drive our corporate partnerships and customer success.
Anthony Kim
Education has always been important to Anthony Kim. As a young boy raised by a single mom, he’s never forgotten the value his mother placed on education and how it shapes the person you become in the future.
Anthony began his career in education by helping higher ed institutions with technology projects and data. Shortly thereafter, he founded Provost Systems, a K-12 education company with an emphasis in online learning.
Provost Systems built virtual schools that included SIS, CMS, and a portal for administrators, teachers, students, and parents to use on a daily basis. Provost Systems’ success was quickly realized, and it was purchased by Edison Schools in 2008.
After two years of serving Edison Schools as EVP of Online and assisting in the launch of Provost Academy, Anthony left to begin Education Elements in 2010.
Brett Costello
Brett Costello places partnership at the center of all aspects of his work. Over the past 20 years, Brett has developed a unique ability to cultivate enduring relationships and solutions through close collaboration with customers, vendors, and internal stakeholders.
By keeping partnership at the core of his philosophy, Brett has successfully built and led dynamic teams of sales, marketing, product development, and operations professionals to drive sustainable growth, profit, and most importantly, customer satisfaction.
Brett earned a Master of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business and his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.
Ruth Siporin
Ruth Siporin (CPA) has deep experience in both public accounting (PwC) and as CFO with Scholarus Learning she is the controller, treasurer and financial leader of all of the companies under the Scholarus portfolio. It is this combination of experiences that has provided Ruth with the skills to evaluate transactions, close them and account for them, giving consideration to the needs of all key constituents, limited staffing and potential system limitations.
Specialties include technical accounting (purchase accounting, revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, etc.), audit support, controls documentation, and close process review.
Marc Steinberg
As Chief Technology Officer, Marc Steinberg designs, manages, and supports digital strategies and systems to deliver maximum value to Scholarus Learning customers. His portfolio spans all facets of technology, including architecture, engineering, infrastructure, and customer-facing technical support.
Marc previously held technical leadership roles at SkillCheck and First Advantage, most recently acting as Senior Director of Software Development for First Advantage. Marc began his career writing curriculum and software for QWIZ (now part of SHL).
Marc earned his undergraduate degree at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He is based in Boston, Massachusetts where, in addition to all things technical, he pursues music composition and enjoys almost any DIY project, from amplifier circuit design to whole-house renovation.
Leila Nuland, PhD
Leila is Senior Vice-President & General Manager, Professional Educational Services at Scholarus and is passionate about bridging the gap between rigorous research, policy, and practice. She has experience managing large groups of researchers, professional service providers, and instructional design specialists who deliver and execute a range of methodologies, advisory services, and provide online professional development for instructional leaders and staff.
Over the course of her career, she has leveraged her experience as a high school teacher to build out high-impact products and services that support K-12 educators and leaders. She is passionate about inclusive leadership and has a track record for developing strategy for and managing teams in a high-growth environment.
In her free time, she enjoys cooking, running, meditation, and reading fiction.
Kevin Woodman
As Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations, Kevin is responsible for the day to day operations of XanEdu’s production and fulfillment teams. He provides strategic direction to the company in order to improve processes and develop customer service initiatives.
Kevin has been with XanEdu, now a part of the Scholarus Learning group of companies, for over 11 years and has served in various roles such as Account Executive, Regional Sales Manager, and Director of Folio-xPress.
Kevin earned his undergraduate degree at Michigan State University and then went on to earn his MBA at Eastern Michigan University.
Sharon Norris
As VP of Human Resources, Sharon Norris provides leadership and guidance to Scholarus Learning’s HR operations.
With over 20 years of human resources experience, Sharon has worked in the airline, telecommunications, and education tech industries. She is a certified sales training facilitator, a certified “Mind Gym” facilitator, and a certified Leadership Development Coach.
Sharon is also a former Board member of the “YES” Foundation, an education equity organization, and a current member of the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Society Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Passionate about serving her community and mentoring future leaders, she serves as a volunteer with the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan, and mentors young women from a residential empowerment program in Metro Detroit.
Sharon holds a BS in Human Resource Management from Oakland University, and attended Central Michigan University for postgraduate studies in HR Leadership.
John Carroll
John has joined XanEdu, now a part of the Scholarus Learning group of companies, as the SVP, Product Management & Strategy. In his role, John is responsible for the strategic vision and implementation of XanEdu’s K-12 product roadmap and its content/curriculum vision.
John has over 15 years of edTech experience in the K-12 school market including Product Management, Marketing, and Strategy roles at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw Hill Education, Pearson School, and Scholastic.
John holds a BA in Economics from Tufts University and an MBA from Northeastern University.
Jeff Shelstad
Jeff is a native Minnesotan and proud Gopher. He began his professional career in higher education publishing, spending almost 20 years with McGraw Hill Higher Education and then Pearson Prentice Hall, mostly in product and editorial roles.
In January 2007, along with a colleague, Jeff ventured out and started Flat World Knowledge, the world’s first commercial OER publisher. Flat World grew to over 40 employees, raised over $30m, and grew to serve thousands of professors and higher education institutions. 16 years later, Flat World is still in existence.
Jeff is the parent of a Husky (University of Washington Freshman) and a Cougar (Washington State University Junior). When not working, Jeff can often be found near a golf course.
Nick Sharma
As a Board Member of Scholarus Learning, Nick leverages his deep expertise to focus on professional services and go-to-market strategy execution. Nick is a customer-centric, goal-oriented executive with diverse leadership experience in information technology, gained from general management, sales, strategy, finance and operations roles. Interested in building businesses, capturing market opportunities and successfully navigating disruptive trends in high tech, Nick has supported national, regional and global organizations, including emerging markets; successfully building and leading highly effective teams to drive growth and market share performance. Over the course of hic career, Nick has enjoyed partnering with P/E firms, CEOs, Executive Committees and Boards of Directors on the international scene.
The Scholarus Learning commitment to
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
We believe that cultivating and maintaining an inclusive work environment where every individual can be themselves is essential to engaging in rigorous work with our educational partners.
In order to achieve this goal we commit to:
- Fostering supportive environments that encourage, respect and celebrate the diversity of our team and communities we serve. We are committed to working with our educational partners to bring these environments to fruition for the students and communities they serve.
- Creating a workplace culture where everyone feels a sense of connection, visibility, psychological safety, and belonging.
- Continuous discourse and reflection on our own experiences, biases, and mindsets and the impact of such so that we can achieve our organizations goals together and make the most impact with the educational communities that we serve.
- Actively working to identify inequities in our organizational system and to continually adapt and learn to improve our own organizational systems that increase equity for everyone in the company.
- Providing equal employment and advancement opportunities for all without regard to race, gender, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age or veteran status.
Scholarus in the news
Discover how Scholarus Learning companies are making a difference across the educational spectrum.