Comunicación con el maestro

August 31st, 2011

El verano ha terminado, ¿es un suspiro de alivio o de reluctancia?

La apertura de las puertas de la escuela puede cambiar la rutina diaria de su familia, o simplemente puede significar que su niño disfrutara de su día en un lugar diferente, pero de cualquiera manera una nueva persona entrara en la vida de su familia en el primer día de escuela—el maestro de su niño. Como niños, cada uno de nosotros tuvimos un maestro o una maestra que idolatrábamos y también maestros que los hacían añorar el verano. Es posible que su hijo/a tenga la misma experiencia, y aunque comunicándose con un buen maestro es bastante fácil, los padres casi siempre utilizan métodos contraproducentes cuando se comunican quejas.

Hay muchas razones por las que un niño no disfrute de su maestro, pero tenga en cuenta que la mayoría de los niños en un momento u otro expresaran “odio” para su maestro. Sea cual sea la causa del “odio”, no simplemente podemos desear una nueva clase para su hijo/a, cambiar de escuela cada vez que hay un problema, o esperar que el año pase sin problemas. Como padre, usted no tiene que sentarse pasivamente mientras su niño sobreviva un año escolar difícil, pero tampoco no tiene que irrumpir en la escuela con demandas. El papel de los padres es defender lo mejor para su hijo/a, mientras también entender las dificultades de la enseñanza en un salón de clase. Como la persona más importante en la vida de su hijo/a, usted tiene la responsabilidad de ser un intermediario entre su hijo/a y el maestro, y hacer que su niño entienda sus propias responsabilidades y ayudar al maestro a entender a su hijo/a.

Comunicación con el maestro:

1. Conozca al maestro en un ambiente sin confrontaciones. Tome en cuenta que el tiempo del maestro está dividido entre 20 o más alumnos, y los padres de ellos también. Por lo tanto, no ocupe todo el tiempo libre del maestro, pero tome su tiempo en expresando su interés en el trabajo duro y el éxito académico de su hijo antes que un asunto negativo surge. Teniendo una relación amigable con el maestro de su hijo sin duda abra un camino de confianza para poder tener más conversaciones.

2. Escuche las quejas de su hijo y trate de ser diplomático. Haga preguntas que tranquilice a su hijo, pero no indique qué lado está tomando. ¿Sera que la personalidad de su hijo choque con la del maestro? ¿Incomodidad con el tema de clase? ¿Un desacuerdo con otro alumno de clase que se está reflejando el la actitud del niño hacia el maestro? Evalué la verdadera naturaleza de la queja de su hijo, y tal vez, el problemas pueda ser resulto con una conversación entre padre e hijo.

3. Sea un buen ejemplo en manejando las quejas de su hijo. Los niños siguen el ejemplo de sus padres. Si ustedes despotrican sobre los maestros de sus niños, ellos se van a sentir con el derecho de hacer lo mismo. En vez, insista que su hijo se comporta con amabilidad y al mismo tiempo hacerles saber que ustedes los oyen. Los estudiantes tienen que entender que van a trabajar con mucha gente que no van a ser de importancia pero deben trabajar juntos y con respeto.

4. No vaya directamente a la administración. Un maestro puede sentirse traicionado si un padre lleva quejas desconocidas directamente al director. Dele una oportunidad al maestro y comuníquese con él o ella primero. El maestro debe ser consciente que existe un problema, solo así podrá solucionarlo.

5. Trabajen como un equipo. Frecuentemente, vemos a los maestros y a los padres como grupos diferentes, pero comparten el mismo objetivo—quieren lo mejor para los niños. Cuando usted tenga una reunión con el maestro para hablar de un problema, no ataque. Hablándole a un maestro con enojo no siempre resulta bien. Suponga que el maestro tiene el mejor interés de su hijo en cuenta y simplemente inicie una conversación sincera. Primeramente se tiene que recordar que el maestro de su hijo es un ser humano con sus propios problemas y preocupaciones y se encargan de más de 20 estudiantes. Es agradecido cuando los padres ofrecen paciencia y gratitud por todo el trabajo duro que hacen los maestros. Comuníquese abiertamente y exprese sus preocupaciones, y recuerde dar las gracias por todo lo que hacen los maestros durante el día—educando a nuestra juventud.

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Communicating with Your Child’s Teacher

August 31st, 2011


Summer is over. Is that a sigh of relief or reluctance?

The opening of the school doors may change your family’s daily routine significantly, or it may just mean your child will enjoy his day in a different location, but either way a new person will enter your family’s life on the first of school—your child’s teacher. As children, we each had teachers we idolized and teachers that made us yearn for summer. It is likely your child will experience much the same, and while communicating with a well-liked teacher is easy enough, parents tend to use counterproductive approaches when communicating complaints.

There are numerous reasons why a child may not enjoy a teacher, but keep in mind that most children, at one time or another, express that they “hate” their teacher. Whatever the cause of the dislike, we cannot just wish our children into a new class, switch schools every time we have a problem, or hope the year flies by painlessly. As a parent you don’t have to sit back passively while your child survives a rough school year, but neither do you need to charge into the school making demands. The role of a parent is to advocate for the best for your child, while also understanding the difficulties of teaching a classroom. As the most important figure in your child’s life, you play the essential role of intermediary between child and teacher—helping your child understand his or her responsibilities and helping the teacher understand who your child is.

Communicating with the teacher:

1. Meet the teacher. Interact in a non-confrontational setting. Keep in mind their time is already divided between 20+ students and their parents as well. So, don’t take up all their free time every day, but take the time to express an interest in their hard work and the academic success of your child BEFORE a negative issue arises. Having a friendly relationship in place will certainly pave the way for harder conversations.

2. Listen to your child’s complaint and try to be diplomatic. Ask questions that reassure your child, but don’t indicate whose side you are taking. Is your child’s issue a personality clash with the teacher? Discomfort with the subject matter? A disagreement with a classmate that is reflected in the child’s attitude toward the teacher? Assessing the true nature of the complaint from your child will help you not to act rashly, and perhaps, the issue can be solved with an understanding conversation between parent and child.

3. Be a good example in handling this complaint. Children take their cues from their parents. If you rant about their teacher, they will feel they have a right to rant as well. Instead, insist your child behave with kindness while also letting them know you care. Students need to understand that they will work with many people in their lifetime that they do not care for, but that they must learn to work together with respect.

4. Do not go straight to the administration. A teacher can feel blind-sided and betrayed when a parent takes an unknown complaint straight to the principal. Give the teacher a chance and approach him or her first. The teacher must be aware a problem exists in order to fix it.

5. Work as a team. Too often we view teachers and parents as separate groups, but we all share the same goal—we want the best for the children. When you request a meeting with the teacher and begin your communication over the issue, don’t attack. Blindsiding a teacher with anger immediately shuts them down. Assume the teacher has your child’s best interest at heart and simply start a truthful conversation. First and foremost, your child’s teacher is a human being with problems and worries of their own and over 20 children to care about. It goes a long way to show them patience and gratitude for the hard work they do. Communicate openly, express your concerns, and remember to thank them for what they spend their day doing – educating our youth.

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The True Story in the TCER Report

August 26th, 2011

As each report on charter schools is released, rest assured our critics dig deep to find small slivers of negative news. This time, good news shines through in the Evaluation of New Texas Charter Schools (2007-2010) released this past July by the Texas Center for Educational Research.

#1:  The TCER report highlights the need for Texas charter school facilities funding.
What would have been helpful to have during the pursuit for access to the Permanent School Fund bond guarantee, the recently released TCER report strengthens the charter movement’s case for facilities funding during the next legislative session.

  • Perhaps the most daunting challenge for new charter schools is locating and funding adequate facilities. … Currently, 27 states and the District of Columbia provide some form of facilities assistance for charter schools. Such provisions include guaranteed loan programs, state reimbursements for facilities costs, per-pupil facilities allotments, the rent-free provision of vacant public school buildings, as well as the inclusion of charter school facility needs in traditional district bond. In spite of these efforts, many charter school operators report diverting instructional funds to pay for facilities, which may negatively affect instruction. Pg 6.
  • Although Texas operates one of the nation’s largest charter school programs, it does not provide facilities funding or facilities assistance to its open-enrollment or university charter schools. However, the state does allow for an approved bonding authority to issue bonds to finance or refinance an authorized charter school.  Pg 7. 

    • #2: TCER report confirms parents are both satisfied & active in their child’s new charter school.  
    The TCER reports shows charter parents like their child’s charter school and are more involved in their education. It’s no surprise that Texas had the first, and largest, grassroots advocacy program specifically for charter school parents in the country.

  • “Findings indicate that parents were satisfied with schools’ educational programs, instruction, enrichment programs, and approaches to discipline.” Pg. 125. A majority of these parents (65%) reported general satisfaction with their students’ (open-enrollment charter) schools.  Pg 127.
  • “A Generation 14 teacher appreciated working in a choice-based school because students are from homes where the parents are involved with their child’s education.’ ” Pg 103.
  • “Staff in most open-enrollment and university charter schools that participated as case study sites for the evaluation reported that parents were actively involved in their schools, and some school administrators felt parents’ active choice of a charter school contributed to high levels of involvement.” Pg 103.
  • “Surveyed parents in open-enrollment charters tended to report greater involvement in school activities than (district) campus charter parents. This difference may reflect greater buy-in to school missions, goals, and activities on the part of parents who have actively sought open-enrollment charters as an alternative to traditional district schools.” Pg 110.
  • A charter school director explained the parent’s decision, ‘”When you go to the trouble to fill out an application and apply for your child to come, and then your child’s name is drawn or selected (in a lottery), I think they [parents] almost feel that it is a privilege to be here and so they come really wanting to be part of that [the school].” Pg 103.

    • #3: TCER report confirms teachers are happy working in new charter schools.
    Charter teacher attrition is a national issue. Improving charters and infusing quality is at our core we plan to keep training on strong administration, work environment and teacher morale.  Teachers that are underperforming are asked to leave, which is often in the interest of the students. Charters also attract many young and new teachers from Teach For America that move quickly. The TCER report confirms that although they’re likely to move they enjoy their jobs, and both parents and students are satisfied with their work. 

  • “Across both open-enrollment and campus charter schools, surveyed teachers expressed general satisfaction with school leaders, expressing high levels of agreement with statements indicating school administrators set high standards, communicated effectively, and provided strong leadership.” Pg 110.
  • On average, campus charter teachers spent about 11 days in professional development during the 2009-10 school year, which likely reflects increased access to training opportunities offered through parent districts. Pg 162.

    • #4. TCER report confirms students prefer their new charter schools.
    The TCER report indicates that students in open-enrollment charter schools prefer the instruction they received at their new charter compared to their previous educational experiences.

  • “Students attending most campuses (12) attributed improvements to high quality teachers.” Pg 121.
  • “Students attending 15 campus charter schools wrote that their charter schools provided a superior education relative to other schools. Students indicated that campus charters offered challenging courses that addressed meaningful subjects, and students at six schools liked that instruction at their schools was not focused solely on preparing for TAKS.” Pg 121.
  • “Like students attending open-enrollment charters, campus charter students felt teacher quality was better in charter schools. Students wrote that teachers provided “individual attention” and differentiated instruction to match students’ learning styles.  Pg 121.

    • Students included in the TCER analysis were 3,660 students enrolled in 37 charter schools that were in operation in 2009-2010.  This equates to roughly 3% of our total charter school student population selected from only 9% of our charter schools.  The report wasn’t representative of student performance in charter schools and the authors of the paper included the following footnote to make this point, “Readers are cautioned that the students included in the analyses of new open-enrollment charter schools’ effects on academic outcomes may not be representative of all students attending new open-enrollment charter schools.” Pg vii. Although there’s no mention of it – in a more comprehensive report prepared by TEA and delivered to the Texas Legislature in 2009- 2010, Standard Accountability charter school districts outperformed traditional school districts from 6th to 12th grade in the critical areas of reading, math, science and social studies.

    We are in business to provide quality public education options for families across Texas.  When reports come out from time to time and various lobbying groups decide to take aim at our cause, we just want to set the record straight. Thanks for taking the time to read our two cents.

    Josie Duckett
    TCSA Vice President
    Public and Government Affairs

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    Uplift Education recognizes Senator Shapiro and Representative Harper-Brown at Convocation

    August 12th, 2011

    Uplift Founder Rosemary Perlmeter, Mayor VanDuyne, Senator Shapiro, Representative Harper-Brown, and Uplift CEO Yasmin Bhatia.

    Uplift Education’s 750 teachers, school leaders, and staff started the 2011-12 school year with their annual Convocation event, held this year at Irving Arts Center. The fun and inspiring event brings all Uplift staff together for a motivational kickoff around the organization’s priorities for the year, honors its highest performing teachers and introduces its newest schools for 2011-12.

    This year’s Convocation included three special guests known for their passionate support of Uplift Education and public education – Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne, Texas Senator Florence Shapiro and Texas Representative Linda Harper-Brown. Mayor Van Duyne, whose two children attend Uplift Education’s North Hills Preparatory in Irving, provided a keynote address highlighting the importance of Uplift’s work to the Irving community and encouraging teachers to continue their passionate work toward preparing students for college.

    Following Mayor Van Duyne’s address, she and Uplift founder Rosemary Perlmeter, were joined on stage by Senator Shapiro and Representative Harper-Brown. Uplift Education presented the state legislators with its inaugural Champion for Education award in recognition of their work in the most recent session of the Texas Legislature toward changing the law to allow high-performing public charter schools access to the Permanent School Fund.

    This past session, the Senator introduced the original bill to extend the state’s Permanent School Fund (PSF) bond guarantee to financially sound charter schools to help them construct and renovate public school buildings and lobbied her senate colleagues for their support of the funding mechanism. State Representative Linda Harper Brown took up the reins in the special session over the summer to ensure the goal of Senator Shapiro’s Permanent School Fund bill by tacking the legislation on as an amendment to Senate Bill 1 and overseeing its passage through the House.

    The legislators were presented with both artwork from Uplift students and a crystal award in honor of their dedication to public education in Texas and their specific efforts around championing access to the PSF for charter schools.

    Britni Manry
    Uplift Education

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    Harmony Public Schools Responds to The New York Times

    June 9th, 2011

    A disappointing article on charter schools in this week’s New York Times attempts to place the schools I founded, Harmony Public Schools, in a context that is not accurate. For those of us in the charter school movement mischaracterizations about our schools are all too common, and attacks on the innovative way we approach education occur regularly. Yet, the egregious nature of the Times’ reporting necessitates a response.

    While we worked cooperatively with the Times on this story over the last several months, providing documents, interviews, tours and dozens of detailed responses to specific questions in good faith, the end result was not entirely what we had hoped. The New York Times article is largely a rehash of old innuendo, circumstantial evidence and rumors that attempts to put Harmony Public Schools in a context that is not accurate. Worse, the Times relies on this mix of materials to question how Texas taxpayer dollars are being spent. To be clear: As we told the Times repeatedly, Harmony schools do not teach religion and have no affiliation with Fetullah Gulen or the so-called Gulen movement. Since we have no affiliation with the movement, it is absurd and inaccurate for the Times to suggest that taxpayer funds are benefitting them.

    At Harmony Public Schools of Texas, taxpayer funds are used solely to support operations and educate students, and we – like so many others in the charter movement – do so at a superior level and a lower cost per student than non-charter public schools.

    With regard to contracts and purchasing, we use a bidding or procurement process set out by the state of Texas, and Harmony Public Schools do not discriminate on the basis of gender, national origin, ethnicity, religion, or disability in its programs, employment, admissions or selection of vendors.

    Finally, the article contains a clear and disturbing anti-immigrant bias, and suggests that Harmony, one of the most successful charter school programs in the country, is somehow suspect because our founders immigrated to America from Turkey. Yes, Harmony was founded by Turkish-Americans who saw a need and an opportunity to help Texas schoolchildren in the fields of math, science and technology, and we are proud of our heritage and of what we have accomplished. Importantly, our schools have become more diverse every year, and we will continue to diversify as we continue to grow.

    Sadly, the impressive achievements of Harmony students – the real measure of success for any school – were barely mentioned in the article, despite being provided to the Times. Charter schools are an innovative model; disrupting the status quo and changing the way educate our children … for the better. And, any time you go against the grain, you will hit roadblocks. For our part, we will continue to focus on delivering excellence and developing the next generation of innovators and thinkers we need to succeed in the global economy and environment.”

    Dr. Soner Tarim,
    CEO/Superintendent of Harmony Public Schools

    Dr. Tarim’s official response to The New York Times was printed June 14, 2011 and can be read here.

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    Setting the Record Straight on Charter School Academic Performance

    May 27th, 2011

    If you were coaching a mixed squad of marathoners and newly rehabilitated runners, would you want their race results to be averaged and people to say your team can, “at best keep up” with the other guys? I don’t think so.

    In a May 2, 2011 Texas Tribune article by Reeve Hamilton, Texas charter school performance for both our schools in standard and alternative accountability systems were lumped together and compared with the traditional school system. Lumping data sets without explanation can lead to although numerically true, not entirely candid, conclusions.  

    When comparing open-enrollment Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test passage rate for standard accountability charter schools to standard accountability traditional schools – charter school districts are OUTPERFORMING traditional school districts in every single subject, from the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade in the critical areas of reading, math, science and social studies.

    This point is made on page 163, table 13.3, of the 2010 Comprehensive Annual Report on Texas Public Schools which describes the status of Texas public education, as required by §39.332 of the Texas Education Code. The report was prepared for the 82nd legislature and is available on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website.

    If you come away with one thing from this blog – charter schools are unique from each other. Mainly, they can be evaluated under two accountability systems: either standard accountability or alternative education accountability (AEA). Beyond accountability, charter schools widely vary in terms of mission. They may focus on college preparation, a specialized mission like arts or math & science, some are dropout recovery schools, and others are residential treatment centers or juvenile justice centers.

    You may not know, but almost 40% of Texas charter schools are registered for evaluation under Alternative Education Accountability (AEA) procedures because they are serving a majority of very at-risk students. The criteria for determining if a student is at-risk can be found here and the full technical definition of AEA can be found here.

    We think this type of charter schools serves a profound and immense need in Texas. TCSA is proud to support this type of school and watch them prosper.  During the 2009-2010 school year, this type of school graduated over 2000 students – that’s 2,000 more paths paved.  Most have overcome major obstacles that their peers may never understand, and well over one-third of the students in the AEA system arrive back to school over the age of 18.

    We hope that forthcoming data analysis on school performance will take into account the separate accountability systems so there can be a clear understanding of our performance. Gathering, analyzing, and ultimately reporting on data sorted by accountability systems will help administrators, regulators and lawmakers isolate concerns and render prompt and practical solutions about public education moving forward.

    Josie Duckett
    TCSA Vice President Public & Government Affairs

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    A Charter Parent’s Reflection on a Day at the Capitol

    May 12th, 2011

    On my way to Austin I thought about how I felt before finding my charter school-lost and frustrated. I was determined to ensure that my children exceeded the academic goals my husband and I had set for them. I desperately searched for schools that would provide a quality education for my children.

    I submitted application after application to transfer my children out of our poor performing neighborhood school. Without the money to enroll them into a private school we were left frustrated. After many prayers later, a family friend told us about our local charter schools. We found our hope in Williams Preparatory, an Uplift Education charter school in Dallas.

    I have been amazed by the learning environment my children are now in–but my children are the lucky ones. There are so many more children waiting to get into Williams Prep. Because of that, I jumped at the chance to attend the Charter Parent Rally at the Capitol.

    On the bus ride to Austin, the journey that led my family to our charter school ran through my mind.

    When I got off the bus and walked toward the Capitol I was filled with pride. I was proud to support Williams Preparatory and proud to rally for the thousands of families looking for something better for their children.

    The rally was a great experience that was filled with emotion. As I looked around the crowd of over a thousand parents from all over the state, I felt that we were one. One voice fighting for the schools that provide our children with a chance at a bright future.

    On the way back to Dallas, I couldn’t help but reflect on those parents who also feel the hunger for their children’s success and are unsatisfied with their neighborhood school. I hope that the presence we made at the Capitol will remind our representatives that our charter schools represent hope and strong futures.

    Our charter school community is waiting for Superman–right now we look to our legislators to be that hero. We look to them to protect and expand our right to find quality public education for our children.

    Monica Deantes, Williams Preparatory Parent

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    It’s a Wrap: Spring Charter School Finance Bootcamp is a Resounding Success!

    April 13th, 2011

    Last week, charter finance leaders from around the state gathered at the Lincoln Training Center at Advantage Academy in Duncanville, TX to take part in the first ever Spring Charter School Finance Boot Camp. Outside of the TCSA Annual Charter Schools Conference this event was the largest ever gathering of charter leaders in the DFW area.

    It was great to get to rub shoulders with so many of my charter friends in one place. Although it sounds a little weird, nothing excites me more that overhearing people chat about MOE, T&E, PEIMS, Title 1, AARA, GL, and Budget Development, to name a few. When I hear these conversations I know that charters are constantly looking to better themselves and be one step ahead. Charter Business Officers are a unique breed who I have grown to appreciate immensely because of the unique way they adapt to deal with an ever growing mountain of financial and operational compliance issues. Together with expert presenters charter leaders were able to gain clarification on key compliance issues and proactively plan for the tight financial times to come over the next biennium as Texas works towards tackling its current deficit.

    In true charter style it was not all just business at the Charter School Spring Finance Boot Camp. There is nothing better at the end of a long day than to break bread with friends. Thanks to vendor members, CDA and Vinson&Elkins for sponsoring the Charter School Networking Happy Hour that was attended by more than 40 people. I am still savoring the flavor from the Cajun goodies, specifically the spicy etouffee, yum. Good friends and good times for all.

    Thank you again to all of the attendees, sponsors, presenters and staff that helped make this training a success and I look forward to doing it again next spring. Together, we all made this possible.

    Matt Abbott, TCSA Director of Training Services

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    Measure Schools for their Mission – House Bill 1311

    March 25th, 2011

    In 2012, more than 73,692 students will drop out of high school based on Texas A&M projections. These dropouts will cost Texas up to $10.7 billion over their lifetimes.  As a state, we cannot afford these costs or continue to ignore the dropout crisis.

    To combat this crisis, seven charter districts in Texas have opened schools dedicated to helping students that have dropped out of traditional public schools or are at risk of dropping out.

    In 1999, ResponsiveEd began opening Premier High Schools to help students who are pregnant, homeless, addicted to drugs or work full-time.  For many students, Premier High School is their last chance to get a diploma.

    In the last 12 years, more than 5,000 Premier students have earned a high school diploma.  We are proud of these graduates. And, we want to do more.

    However, Texas unintentionally penalizes Premier High School and other dropout recovery charter schools for educating these students.

    On Tuesday, the Texas House Public Education Committee debated HB 1311 by Rep. Mark Shelton. The bill would eliminate many disincentives that prevent Premier High Schools from serving a larger number of dropouts.

    Rep. Shelton’s bill creates a separate designation for “Dropout Reduction Charter High Schools,” that will allow schools, which have proven themselves academically successful and fiscally accountable to expand.

    This bill is desperately needed. For many years, legislative and media discussions have focused on early-intervention, such as a focus on retaining middle school students, to prevent dropouts.  While this effort is admirable, we cannot afford to abandon those who have already dropped out and wish to re-engage and return to school.

    HB 1311 will allow ResponsiveEd to open more high-quality Premier High School campuses across the state.

    Charles Cook, Chief Executive Officer, Responsive Education Solutions

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    Dallas Can! Academy Opens High School Campus in Area With Highest Percentage of Drop Outs

    March 24th, 2011

    Dallas Can! Academy recently hosted a grand opening of its 58,000 square-foot Pleasant Grove campus.  The new location was opened to meet the shifting population needs of its students.

    The ceremony featured remarks by Texas State Board of Education Member Mavis B. Knight, Dallas City Council Member Delia Jasso, and Texans Can! CEO Richard Marquez. The first Dallas Can! graduate and also the first charter school graduate in Texas, Maleka Blacklock was recognized during the ceremony.  Maleka graduated from Dallas Can! in October 1996. Student-led tours of the school followed the ceremony.

    The Pleasant Grove campus opened with an enrollment of approximately 500 students and has the capacity to enroll up to 700.

    The facility was formerly an Albertson’s grocery store and sits on 6.9 acres.  It was vacant for three years before Dallas Can! purchased the property and spent $1.5 million in renovation and construction costs to create a state-of-the art learning environment for their students.

    The campus has 22 classrooms including two designed specifically as computer labs and two for science classes.  The student-to-teacher ratio averages 15:1.  Dallas Can! Academy offers students two half-school days every weekday. The students can attend school for four hours in the morning or four hours in the afternoon to allow them to work if needed.

    Statistics for Pleasant Grove cite that it has the highest drop out rates, lowest income and highest number of people living at or below the poverty level in Dallas County.  More than 50% of the residents do not have or will not obtain a high school education.  The area also has the highest concentration of residents on probation from prison.

    Highly optimistic about the new campus, Principal Mene Khepera cited the opportunities ahead for their new home. “We are definitely excited about opening this new campus in the Pleasant Grove community. Many of our current students live in this area and we are looking forward to being able to serve the youth of this area.”

    Dallas Can! is one of Texans Can!’s unique network of 10 public schools of choice located in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and San Antonio.

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