Jack McCarthy

Jack McCarthy is the Founder of AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation and serves as Board Chair of AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter Schools in Washington, DC. Over nearly three decades, Jack has focused on closing opportunity gaps before kindergarten by strengthening the connection between learning science, instructional practice, and system design.

As AppleTree’s founding and first CEO, he led the development of an evidence-based early learning model that integrates curriculum, assessment, professional learning, and continuous improvement—designed to support teachers and improve outcomes for historically underserved three- and four-year-olds. That work has contributed to a nationally recognized prototype for improving teacher effectiveness and student learning in early childhood settings.

Jack continues to serve as Board Chair of AppleTree Early Learning, a multi-campus charter network implementing AppleTree’s data-informed, response-to-intervention instructional approach. His work emphasizes not only what research says about effective instruction, but how evidence can be implemented with fidelity, adapted thoughtfully to context, and sustained within public education systems.

He brings particular expertise in evidence-to-practice translation, governance, quality improvement, the science of reading, and early-learning system design. In 2015, Jack was inducted into the District of Columbia Charter School Alliance Hall of Fame in recognition of his contributions to public charter education.