Stride, Inc.

placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press the star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, please press the star followed by the one once again. Thank you. I will now hand the call over to Mr. Tim Casey, Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

Thank you, and good afternoon. Welcome to Strive's second quarter earnings call for fiscal year 2024. With me on today's call are James Rue, Chief Executive Officer, and Donna Blackman, Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, today's conference call and webcast are accompanied by a presentation that can be found on the Stride Investor Relations website. Please be advised that today's discussion of our financial results may include certain non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliation of these measures is provided in the earnings release issued this afternoon and can also be found on our Investor Relations website. In addition to historical information, this call may also involve forward-looking statements. The company's actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to several important factors as described in the company's latest SEC violence. These statements are made on the basis of our views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance at the time we make them, and the company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during this call. Following our prepared remarks, we'll answer any questions you may have. I'll now turn the call over to James. Thanks, Tim.

Good afternoon. In November, during our Investor Day, we discussed the opportunities for our business and laid out our strategy to deliver what we believe will be market-leading returns. I discussed how increasing uncertainty, volatility, and chaos in our country has and will continue to increase demand for our offerings. Our second quarter results speak for themselves and demonstrate the macro trends are behind us. Our strategy is beginning to play out, and we are executing better. The year began with some uncertainty regarding the trends we might see in-year given the volatility over the past few years. We've been convinced that the market has moved in our direction and that we were not going to fall back to pre-pandemic levels, but there still remained the question of whether we could surpass those pandemic highs. Well, we ended the second quarter with 196.5 thousand enrollments for an all-time record, surpassing our pandemic level highs. We saw enrollment growth in both our career learning and general education programs and strength in both new enrollment and retention. We have the largest cohort of new in-year enrollments that we've ever seen. And Americans continue to believe that school choice is good for the education system. A recent poll by YouGov released this fall showed 84% support giving every child in the U.S. the ability to attend the public school in their state that best meets their needs regardless of where they live. The results are clear, and it's what we've been hearing for years. Parents want choice. They want to be able to choose a school that will meet the unique needs of their child. They want to be able to change their child's future. I also continue to see reports that support our move into the career learning space. This fall, freshman enrollment in four year institutions for 18 to 20 year olds declined by 5.2%. And the reason for this decline was that this age group is increasingly choosing to enroll in community college or certificate programs. Students are explicitly looking for short term programs that have a direct connection to the workforce. While we're still working on driving incremental demand to our career programs, data like this supports our decision to focus on certificates and career pathways in fast-growing in-demand careers. Students in our programs can graduate high school knowing they've got the skills to go directly into the workforce or to choose to attend a post-secondary institution. There's also continuing support for our new products. In November, I outlined our K-12 tutoring products along with some of the demand drivers to support our entrance into the market. A study out of Texas showed that K-2 students who received individual virtual tutoring during last school year demonstrated higher reading test scores by year end. And Virginia launched a statewide high dosage tutoring effort, part of a $400 million investment in education to recover from academic decline. We know that our tutoring offerings using state-certified teachers can be part of the solutions of nation's learning loss and help drive student success. Taken together, I remain as excited about STRIVE's ability to change the future for students as I ever have been. The market conditions are ripe for an innovator like STRIVE to continue to drive student success across multiple markets. This call marks the end of my third year as CEO. And as we continue to achieve new enrollment and financial records, I still see a long runway in front of us. A couple of highlights I'd like to point out since I was appointed CEO. Gross margins are on pace to expand 300 basis points, plus or minus. Trailing 12-month reported EPS and reported operating income are both up three times the levels prior to my appointment as CEO. We've got the right team in place. and are executing against the strategy that we've previously outlined. Thank you, and I will now turn the call over to Donna. Donna?