A few schools will shape what Orchen becomes. Yours could be one.
We're partnering with a small number of founding schools for the 2026–27 academic year. Founding schools get the product, the founder, and a real say in the roadmap, on terms designed to make the bet easy to take.
Applications reviewed on a rolling basis · First cohorts begin fall 2026
We're early. Here's why that works in your favor.
Most vendors lead with a wall of logos. Orchen leads with something rarer: a working platform, an architecture built around student privacy from day one, and a founder who will personally configure, support, and adapt the product for the schools that join first.
Established vendors offer track records. Founding partnerships offer something different: influence. The schools in this program will decide what the parent digest emphasizes, how the advisor narrative reads, what the writing rubrics default to. By the time Orchen is a hundred-school product, it will carry the fingerprints of the first five.
If your school wants to inherit an AI environment someone else designed, any vendor will sell you one. If your school wants to design its own, that is exactly what a founding partnership is for.
What founding schools get. What we ask in return.
A founding partnership is a two-way deal. Here's exactly what your school receives, and the short list of what we ask for so the pilot proves something real.
Direct access to the founder
No account managers, no support queues. You work with the person who built the platform, during setup, the pilot, and whenever something needs to change. Configuration, onboarding, and the security walkthrough are run personally.
Configuration built with you
Your AI identity, tone, mechanical-feedback policy, parent visibility defaults, and crisis routing are set together in working sessions. The system prompt your students meet reflects decisions your school actually made.
Founding pricing, locked
Pilot-phase pricing held at renewal, the rate you join at is the rate you keep as the program grows. Pilot cohorts (~30–40 students and a few teachers) run at minimal cost.
A real voice in the roadmap
Founding schools meet the founder monthly during the year. Feature requests from this group are weighted above everything else. Not a feedback form, a seat at the table.
A genuine cohort, not a checkbox
A pilot only proves something if students actually use it. We ask for a committed cohort, one or two classes, a few engaged teachers, and a point person who keeps the loop tight.
Honest feedback, the uncomfortable kind
We'd rather hear that the advisor narrative missed the point than have it politely ignored. Founding schools agree to a short structured check-in every few weeks.
A reference, only if we earn it
When the pilot succeeds by your measures, we ask permission to name your school and, ideally, a quote from your team. And you keep full control either way, your data export is ready the moment you want it.
How a founding pilot runs.
Five steps from first call to decision, most of it measured in weeks, with the decision fully yours at the end, backed by your own data.
A walkthrough of the live product against your situation: subjects, grade band, teachers, and what success looks like by your measures. If it's not a fit, we say so here.
Your technical and legal reviewers get the security walkthrough, the DPA, and direct answers. The agreement covers data ownership, the export right, and exit terms in plain language.
Working sessions set your AI identity, visibility defaults, crisis routing, and feedback policies. Accounts are provisioned; teachers get a hands-on onboarding session.
One or two classes use Orchen for real coursework. Teachers watch the insight layer fill in. Check-ins every two weeks; fixes ship during the pilot, not after it.
A joint review against the success measures from step one. Then you decide: expand, continue as-is, or stop with a full data export. Zero pressure mechanics, your own data makes the case.
Who this program is built for.
Independent & private schools
Middle and high school focus. Small enough to decide quickly, independent enough to set their own AI policy rather than wait for a district mandate.
A champion on the inside
A head of school, academic dean, or technology director who personally wants to get AI governance right, not just delegate it.
Comfortable being early
Schools that read our Trust Center, including the "not yet" sections, and see a partner rather than a risk.
Before you apply.
How many founding schools are you taking? ⌄
A handful, deliberately. Each founding school gets real founder time during configuration and the pilot, the scarcest resource in the program, which is exactly why the cohort stays small. When the cohort is full, applications roll to the following term.
What does the pilot cost? ⌄
Pilot cohorts run at minimal cost to the school, the founding program is structured so that price is never the reason a school can't evaluate properly. Full-school pricing is discussed only after a pilot has earned the conversation, and founding schools keep their founding rate.
What if it doesn't work for us? ⌄
You stop. The pilot agreement includes a clean exit: a full structured export of your data, deletion of everything else, and no early-termination mechanics. A founding program built on lock-in wouldn't deserve the name.
Can we pilot Orchen alongside tools we already use? ⌄
Yes. Many schools run teacher-productivity tools like MagicSchool, or classroom platforms like SchoolAI, and pilot Orchen for the student-tutoring and advisor-insight side. See our comparison pages for where the lines fall.
Do we need special devices or IT setup? ⌄
No. Orchen runs in the browser on your existing fleet, iPads, MacBooks, Chromebooks. A managed device layer with network-level enforcement is available as an optional add-on for schools that want it, but no pilot requires it.
Tell us about your school.
Two minutes. We read every application personally and reply within two business days, including when the honest answer is "not yet."
Prefer to talk first? Book a walkthrough or write to emil@orchen.ai.