NEW YORK, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc magazine today announced its 25th annual Inc 500 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. SchoolNet, the nation's leader in School Performance Management Systems, ranks No. 98 on the list, with three-year growth of 891 percent.

Founded in 1998, SchoolNet's vision is to improve the world's education systems by using data to increase academic achievement. Headquartered in New York City, the company serves K-12 public school districts around the country such as Chicago, Washington D.C., New York, and Philadelphia. SchoolNet offers solutions to collect, analyze, and report on critical performance data. The company's platform helps school districts improve efficiencies around curriculum deployment, instruction, and professional development. Currently, the company serves districts that educate over 2.5 million students in 14 states.

"We are proud to make the 2006 Inc Top 500 list, but I am equally proud that we are helping our nation's public schools," stated Jonathan D. Harber, CEO, President and Co-founder of SchoolNet Inc. "It's an honor to run a company that can do 'well' by 'doing good'."

After a successful career as an investment banker and entrepreneur of two successful software companies that were acquired by public companies, in 1998, Harber turned both his philanthropic and entrepreneur energies toward improving education. As a Board member with New York City Outward Bound and Trail Blazers (non-for-profit organizations that help disadvantage youth in New York City), Jonathan felt he could have more of a global impact starting a software company that would improve the effectiveness of school systems. Hence, he teamed up with world-renowned education author, Denis Doyle, and SchoolNet was born.

The 2006 Inc 500, as revealed in the September issue of Inc, reported the most robust bunch of companies the magazine has ever compiled, with aggregate revenue of $19.7 billion, up from $16.5 billion last year and $12.9 billion in 2000. The two largest companies on this year's Inc 500 are the biggest ever to make the list -- No. 170 Western Refining ($3.4 billion in revenue) and No. 376 Newegg.com ($1.26 billion) -- and the third and fourth companies in Inc 500 history to crack the billion-dollar mark. In all, 14 companies topped $200 million in annual revenue, compared with 11 last year.

Most important, the 2006 Inc 500 companies were engines of job growth, having created more than 90,000 jobs since those companies were founded.

"If you want to find out which companies are going to change the world, look at the Inc 500," said Inc Editor Jane Berentson. "These are the most innovative, dynamic, fast-growth companies in the nation, the ones coming up with solutions to some of our most intractable ills, creating systems that let us conduct business faster and easier, and manufacturing products we soon discover we can't live without. The Inc 500 list is Inc magazine's tribute to American business ingenuity and ambition."

Methodology

The 2006 Inc 500 list measures revenue growth from 2002 through 2005. To qualify, companies had to be U.S.-based, privately held independent -- not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies -- as of December 31, 2005, and have, and have at least $600,000 in net sales in the base year.

About Inc

Inc, http://www.inc.com/, the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, delivers real solutions for today's innovative company builders. It provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. Inc, a Mansueto Ventures LLC publication, inspires and informs, with cutting-edge coverage that reflects our readers' energy, brashness, and imagination.

About SchoolNet, Inc.

SchoolNet, Inc., is the leader in School Performance Management Systems that improve efficiency and increase achievement in K-12 school systems. SchoolNet's Performance Management Systems are built upon an open, scalable platform that provides users with the data, reports, tools, and content to develop human capital, individualize instruction, and ensure school improvement. SchoolNet's solutions are used successfully by some of the nation's largest school districts including Philadelphia, Chicago and New York and are based on industry standards such as Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) and the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), as recommended by the U.S. Department of Education's National Education Technology Plan. For more information, please visit http://www.schoolnet.com/

CONTACT: Jennifer Solar, SchoolNet, Inc., +1-646-496-9044,
jsolar@schoolnet.com

Web site: http://www.schoolnet.com/
http://www.inc.com/