YES Prep Public Schools, a member charter school system in Houston, Texas, recently was named one of the 10 Best Places to Work in Houston by the Houston Business Journal!  No school has ever made the list.  YES Prep shares their view of this accomplishment below: 

My name is Ryan Dolibois and, as the Chief Development Officer of YES Prep, I am excited to have an opportunity to contribute to this blog. TCSA is doing incredible work and this blog will further help charter schools collaborate and communicate across Texas.

For those of you who don’t know YES Prep Public Schools, I should first introduce us.  Founded in 1998, YES Prep Public Schools is a Houston-based public charter school system serving over 4,000 low-income students in 6^th-12^th grade on eight area campuses. YES Prep was founded to prove a simple hypothesis: that students from low-income neighborhoods can achieve at the same level as their more affluent peers when given access to the same great opportunities, experiences and resources that exist in great private schools and great suburban public schools.  This video (written, composed, and filmed by YES Prep students and staff) provides the best introduction to who we are and what we do. 

YES Prep East End students serve at a local community garden in the spring of 2010.

Our goal is to Transform Houston by preparing a critical mass of low-income students for college graduation and creating “proof points” around the city that challenge the status quo in public education. Even though most students enter YES Prep up to two grades behind in math and reading, 100% of our graduating seniors have been accepted to four-year colleges across the country, including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Vanderbilt, Rice, University of Texas, and Texas A&M. Even more exciting—over 90% of our students are the first generation in their family to attend a four-year university! In early June, we celebrated as our tenth class of seniors walked across the stage at graduation. This spring, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, honored our seniors’ achievements by serving as the keynote speaker at our annual “Senior Signing Day” ceremony.  We are truly proud of the Class of 2010 and all the work they have done to achieve their dreams of college success!

I am also pleased to report on another recent accomplishment. The Houston Business Journal just named YES Prep one of Houston’s Best Places to Work in their annual publication. We are the first public school system to ever earn this recognition and the only nonprofit (outside of the medical field) to make the list.  The ranking is based on an independent survey conducted and analyzed by the Houston Business Journal. To make the list, a large percentage of staff have to answer questions about team effectiveness, feeling valued, trust in senior leadership, and a host of other quality-defining metrics.

9th grade English class at YES Prep East End

So, a school district is one of the BEST PLACES TO WORK in Houston!?!? At the awards ceremony, there were definitely a number of people in the audience that were scratching their heads. We have all grown accustomed to seeing articles in the paper about teacher dissatisfaction with inequity in pay, the long hours, the ungrateful parents and students, and all of the other factors that seemingly make being a teacher so difficult and unappealing.

In contrast, winners of the Best Places to Work survey this year and in the past have included hospitals, law firms, financial institutions, and energy companies.  They win because their employees enjoy company sponsored birthday parties, tricked-out staff lounges, creatively decorated and well-attended holiday parties, and other “perks.” In the words of the Business Journal, these companies are noted for achieving “the often difficult balance of maintaining a stable, productive work environment that is also fun and fulfilling for employees.”

So a school system? What do we possibly have to offer, right? This year we employ roughly 325 staff, and the average age of a YES Prep teacher is 25. Our staff work long hours—our school day runs over 9 hours a day and every teacher is equipped with a school-sponsored cell phone so students and families can reach them even after the school day is over. “Just another day at the office” includes teaching, collaborating, tracking student achievement data, taking students on college visits, tutoring, disciplining, participating in community service, calling parents, and – of course – grading! Despite all of this, over 95% of our staff on our annual survey say that they feel like they are making a difference. As one employee wrote, “I cannot imagine doing anything with my life more meaningful than what I am doing now.  The thing I love most about YES Prep is that we are NEVER satisfied with the status quo.  Not for our students, not for us, not for education, not for Houston.  I love that we are always evaluating and reflecting on everything we do and we are not afraid to cut things that aren’t working and retry things that we should have done better!”

What we’re proving—as are many other charters across the state—is that it’s not just about ping-pong tables in the staff lounge and a large bonus at the end of the year that play a role in job satisfaction. We are all working hard to demonstrate that a school can and should be an awesome place to work. It IS possible to create an incredible work environment, most importantly because our biggest “perk” is not some material reward, but rather the opportunity to impact our students and make a true difference in our communities.

So, three cheers for charter schools! I look forward to the day when the annual Best Places to Work list is filled with more schools and nonprofits who are proving what is possible in public education.

“Discover + Create = Achieve.” 

At the end of our first school year, we’re proud to say that this is more than just a tagline. 

HFA students at the University of Texas.

From the very first week of school, when we visited the University of Texas in Austin and St. Edwards University, our 9th graders began to understand that college is an expectation for all students at Henry Ford Academy: Alameda School for Art + Design. Over the course of the year, they had the opportunity to visit five other college campuses, and started to discover what it takes to become college ready. 

But whether our students realize it yet or not, we are also helping them acquire the skills they’ll need to solve real-world problems.  As a part of our college prep curriculum and “design thinking” approach, our students work together on meaningful, hands-on projects — just like they will in college as they move toward their chosen careers. Our quarterly design challenges integrate what they are learning in core classes with a central question; the students collaborate with their peers and community members to develop possible solutions and their creative confidence.

One of our first design challenges focused on the question, “How might we develop a better carryall for someone?” Student teams worked with a nearby homeless center, Haven for Hope, to develop a backpack design that could enable their clients to keep their most vital belongings at hand.  As with all of our design challenges, they used a design process from the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University that’s adapted specifically for use by middle and high school students.

San Antonio community members gather at the unveiling of a mural painted by HFA students.

One 9^th grade student, Issac Lara, made a really powerful statement about our approach: “When we were designing the backpack, I learned that I can use the design process to create something that helps people in my community.”  We think it helps kids like Issac, too.

By the end of the year, our students were engaged with a broad range of partners in their design challenges.  To address the question, “How might we reduce vandalism in our community?” our students partnered with residents, the police department, city council representatives, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, a city planner, and internationally renowned muralists to understand of the causes of vandalism in San Antonio and develop a possible response that leverages their artistic talents – a 1600 ft. mural in downtown San Antonio.

There’s a lot of hard work ahead for all of us at Henry Ford Academy: Alameda School for Art + Design — but we think we’re onto the start of something special.  Interested in learning more about Henry Ford Academy: Alameda School for Art + Design?  Watch a video of our recent appearance on Great Day San Antonio, visit www.thealamedaschool.org, call us at 210-226-4031, or “Like” us on Facebook to stay updated!

Jeffrey D. Flores is Superintendent/Principal of Henry Ford Academy: Alameda School for Art + Design, which opened in August 2009.  An administrator, teacher, and technical assistance provider for more than fourteen years, Jeff has been responsible for the development of quality educational opportunities for students in charter, parochial, and traditional public schools across Texas. He earned an undergraduate degree in history, a master’s degree in education from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, and a master’s degree in management from Indiana Wesleyan University.