Get ready to be informed & engaged for the Houston Kickoff.

1. 1
Houston Kickoff
Communication
2014-2015

2. 2
This looks a
little long.
Why read
it?
Get informed of
our initiatives,
priorities &
direction.
Get prepared to be
fully engaged for
Houston Kickoff.
Get excited about
2014 – 2015. Our
Year. Your Year.

3. WHAT is in this DOCUMENT?
+ Redefine Possible
+ YES Prep
Houston Vision
Statement
+ OUR YEAR.
YOUR YEAR.
+ YES Prep
Houston
+ YES Prep
Memphis
+ The Strategic
Priorities
+ Context from
Mark DiBella
+ Why we Must
Succeed
+ Strategic Priority
1
+ Strategic Priority
2
+ Strategic Priority
3
+ Strategic Priority
4
+ Announcements
+ Updates
• WHO WE
ARE &
WHERE WE
ARE GOING
• WHAT WE
PRIORITIZE &
WHY WE
MUST
SUCCEED
• HOW WE
WILL GET
THERE
• WHAT YOU
NEED TO
KNOW
01 02 03 04OUR YEAR.
YOUR YEAR.

4. WHO WE ARE &
WHERE WE ARE
GOING
+ Redefine Possible
+ YES Prep Houston Vision Statement
+ OUR YEAR. YOUR YEAR.
+ YES Prep Houston
+ YES Prep Memphis
01

6. YES Prep Houston will meet the demand of
Houston’s underserved communities with
consistently excellent schools that
guarantee every student served is prepared
to graduate from college.

7. 7
Our Year. Your Year.
We believe that this
year we are poised
to achieve jaw –
dropping results as a
Houston system. To
do this, we must stay
aligned to our
priorities, live our
core values and
strive to do our very
best for all students.

8. YES Prep Houston serves …

10. Our 13 schools striving
towards consistent
excellence in
academic
achievement, talent &
culture inspire more
families to seek a
quality education.
We will continue to
grow in Houston to
meet the needs of
our community & to
further the work we
have started.
The upcoming plan for
Houston growth is to
open 2 new schools
within the Sunnyside &
historic Third Ward
communities. We will
also fulfill our growth
plan of opening a high
school collocating with
Northbrook High
School in Spring
Branch ISD.

11. Campus
14 & 15
YES Prep
Northbroo
k High
School

12. YES Prep’s Collective Projected Growth by
2020

13. We have changed as
an organization in the
past year. We will
fulfill our mission
through the work of 3
teams –
YES Prep National,
YES Prep Houston &
YES Prep Memphis.

14. YES Prep Memphis
will go through
a community matching process
in September through November
to determine
where our schools
will be located.
As part of this process,
Memphis community leaders
will visit our Houston schools.
Opening our doors
to Memphis visitors allows
for us to highlight
how we can serve
future Memphis students
with a strong school culture
& exceptional teaching.
YES Prep Memphis

15. Growth in Houston
& expansion to
Memphis allow for
us to serve more
students, and
continue to
establish ourselves
as a public school
system that can
redefine what is
possible. Future
YES Prep students
in Houston &
Memphis are
awaiting an
opportunity to
complete college.
Our 9,000 YES
Prep students
cannot wait. Our
mission cannot
wait. This is our
year.

16. WHAT WE
PRIORITIZE & WHY
WE MUST SUCCEED
+ The Strategic Priorities
+ Context from Mark DiBella, Superintendent
+ Why we Must Succeed
02

17. WHAT ARE
OUR
STRATEGIC
PRIORITIES?
Our strategic priorities outline the
work we are setting out to do and
the organization we want to be.
While all six are critical to the
overall success of the
organization, several are core to
the work we do in Houston.
Those will be 1, 2, & 4. We will
also share about our Memphis
expansion.
YES Prep Public Schools exists to redefine possible.

18. 18
YES Prep Strategic Priorities

19. Insert
• We all know Gandhi’s famous quote about being the change
we wish to see in the world, but there is an equally powerful,
lesser known quote from Gandhi that relates to the way in
which we express our priorities in life—what we hold most
dear. Gandhi eloquently and succinctly said that “action
expresses priorities.”
•
• For many, many years at YES Prep we have been committed
to action that expresses what we believe most dearly. We
believe that we must serve every student at every school
with consistently excellent quality. We believe that it is our
responsibility to ensure that our students are prepared to
complete college. We believe that what we have learned
and accomplished in Houston must be shared to serve the
children of Memphis. We believe that our talent is our
greatest source of strength, and so we commit to doing
“whatever it takes” to retain and grow our people. Like
Gandhi, we know that priorities do not exist merely as words
on paper, but also in our daily actions.
•
• For the past year, we have been hard at work crafting 6
statements, known as the YES Prep Strategic Priorities, that
capture the actions that we, as individuals and as an
organization, are most committed to accomplishing. Though
the statements alone are merely statements, when you
connect them to what we have accomplished and what we
will set out to accomplish this year—our year—they become
the bedrock of who we are and how we will ACT in service of
our greatest priorities—the thousands of students that we
serve every day.
Mark DiBella
Superintendent, YES Prep Houston

20. 20
We must succeed. In the next 5 years,
YES prep will produce over 4,500 college-ready graduates.
By completing our projected growth, we will add 6,000 additional
seats for deserving students in Houston. The future of our city,
our communities and our students
is impacted by our success.

21. HOW WE
WILL GET THERE
+ Strategic Priority 1
+ Strategic Priority 2
+ Strategic Priority 3
+ Strategic Priority 4 03

22. We are taking action on
our priorities. This
includes continuing what
works, launching new
initiatives & piloting
solutions that will make
our priorities a reality.
Read on to learn more.
In order to fulfill our
mission & solve our
most pressing
problems, we need
your questions &
feedback to
improve.

23. 23
Priority #1: YES Prep will prove that consistent
excellence is possible for all students in a
large, open enrollment public school system.

24. The YES Prep Campus Report Card (CRC) is our effort
to measure great schools. With metrics on Student
Achievement & Persistence, Talent & Campus Culture,
campuses can analyze their performance & plan to
address the needs of their students & teachers.
Consistent Excellence is Possible
This year, we have aligned our
planning for the upcoming academic
year as a system around our
priorities. From our priorities, we
have set goals & from those goals
established drivers that will increase
the likelihood that we will end the
year successfully.
Campus teams will get more information about their
individual CRC during early August.

25. Consistent Excellence is Possible
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AP Lit AP Lang
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
In 2014, YES Prep students earned a record breaking
184 qualifying scores in AP English.

26. Consistent Excellence is Possible
YES Prep students earned college credit on 1,160 AP exams.
Overall, 60% of exams earned passing scores.
YES Prep high school students celebrated a 99% passing rate on
the US History EOC & a 97% passing rate on the Biology EOC
exam.
YES Prep Spanish scholars achieved jaw-dropping results on both
the AP Language & AP Literature Spanish exams. 458 students
earned credit on the Language exam & 127 students excelled on
the Literature exam.
YES Prep students are persisting in our schools more than any
other time in our history. Currently, we are on track to keep more of
our students than ever before.

27. While we our students
continue to achieve in
different ways at all of our
campuses, we want to
continue to increase the
number of students who
demonstrate college
readiness through their
performance on Common
Assessments, the SAT, &
AP exams.
Consistent Excellence is Possible

28. 28
Priority #2: YES Prep will lead the nation in
college completion rates for first-generation
students.

29. 29
An in-depth look into our college
initiatives approach is available here.
www.yesprep.org/notices

30. 30
Priority #3: YES Prep will successfully launch
high-performing YES Prep schools in
Memphis.

31. STRATEGIC PRIORITY 3
Getting ready for 2015 – 2016
How are we getting ready to
open high-performing YES
Prep schools in Memphis?
The Memphis Home Office team
is in full effect. We have 10 staff
members working on the
planning for the opening of two
schools in Fall of 2015.
The team is working on
curriculum development, student
support initiatives, community &
family engagement, talent
recruitment, & new region
system development.
How will current YES Prep
Houston teachers & leaders
prepare to serve in
Memphis?
We have a Memphis Cohort
of teachers & leaders in
Houston who will transfer to
Memphis in Summer of 2015.
The cohort will meet every 6
weeks to engage in planning,
learn more about the
Memphis community, &
effective strategies to teach &
lead in our future schools.
Memphis Team
Members HOME OFFICE
Kristina Bockhold
Bill Durbin
Cory Edmonds
Andy Goldin
Anjelica Hardin
Laura Kerr
Michael Kerr
Latronica Madison
Roshani Mahadevan
Melissa Payne
Maranda Rushing
Mike Russom
Memphis Teacher/Leader
COHORT
Tish Alilionwu
Jon Denning
Danitra Edmond
Ray Green
Greg Little
Aaron Madson
Brittany McGruder
Parker Nelson
Brie Olootu
Will Whipple
Kristina Yelton

32. 32
Priority #4: YES Prep will be an employer of
choice for extraordinary people, and will develop
and retain our talent with unparalleled
professional growth opportunities.

33. Extraordinary People that Persist
We will launch a new initiative to message & encourage our
people to Commit to Five. Staying for at least five years in
the organization will allow for our talent to engage in our
development opportunities, & also experience the fulfillment of
sharing in milestones with students or with the organization as
we move into new phases of growth.
In the spring of 2014, we started an
exploration of teacher & staff retention.
We tasked our 2013 Leading Excellence
Fellows with exploring the issue &
offering solutions.
In response to their work and the
feedback of others across the system, we
will create a Talent Persistence Task
Force that will further this work & utilize
the project findings.

34. Insert
The moment I knew I wanted to commit
to my first five years at YES came at the
end of my first year teaching in 2003,
back when we were just one campus
called YES College Prep. I was sitting in
the audience for the Class of 2003
commencement ceremonies at the
Wortham Center and Chris Barbic,
School Director at the time, called out
the names of people who had been at
YES for five years – Jason Bernal, Bill
Durbin and Jen Hines were in that
group. These people were heroes to
me, and still are, and I knew I wanted to
strive to make the impact that they had
made.
To this day, I am still chasing them and
their impact and moreover getting the
chance to work with new people just as
amazing each and every year who keep
joining and pushing towards mission. I
cannot imagine committing myself to
any other organization as our work is
never done. With a mission as grand as
ours, it will never truly be done.Chris Claflin
School Director – YES Prep Brays
Oaks

35. Extraordinary Talent that Values Diversity
In order to fulfill our mission of serving our students, communities &
team, we must understand & explore diversity in instructional practice,
leadership, relationships & our own thoughts & behaviors.
This year, we will launch a Diversity
Initiative. We will begin to define
diversity, create a vision for who
we want to be & how we want to
engage in the work & decide on
activities that we can pilot in order
to gauge interest.
Ultimately, as an organization, we
aim to create a community in
which everyone can flourish.
Send us your feedback via our
Diversity Focus Group Survey. Let us
know if you would like to get involved.

36. WHAT YOU
NEED TO KNOW
+ Houston Kickoff Details
+ Content Day Details & Directions
+ Pre-order limited edition YES Prep T-Shirts
+ PTO Coverage Pilot Update
+ YES Prep Master Calendar 2014 – 2015 & Information
+ ACE Programming
04

37. Program Schedule
7:30 – 8:00 a.m. Early Breakfast & Coffee
8:00 – 9:30 a.m. Houston Kickoff
Program
9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Travel to Content Day
Ways to Share about the
Event
#yesprepHKO
Take advantage of the social media
break in the middle of the program.
What to Expect
Roll Call
Updates on our system
priorities
Music, giveaways & fun
Get Ready for Houston Kickoff

38. Get Ready for Content Day
LOCATION TEAM
YES Prep North Central ELA
Science
Electives (art, music,
physical education,
health, & technology)
YES Prep White Oak School Directors,
Deans of Instruction,
College Initiatives,
Counseling, Operations
Registrars, Special
& Medical
YES Prep Fifth Ward Math
YES Prep Northside Social Studies
World Languages
Pizza will be
provided; drinks
will not.
Arrange a
carpool if
possible to
maximize
parking.
Bring your
laptop fully
charged.

39. YES Prep North Central
YES Prep White Oak w/o Tolls
YES Prep White Oak w/Tolls
YES Prep Fifth Ward
YES Prep Northside w/o Tolls
YES Prep Northside w/Tolls
Get Directions to Content Day

40. Get swag at the new online YES Prep Store
Purchase fun YES Prep
swag at
www.yesprepstore.com.
Available 08.05.2014.
YES Prep T-Shirt Sale @ the
Houston Kick-Off
For ONE day only, we have
the shirts above available at
a discounted rate.
$10 for one shirt; $15 for
two shirts.
Only cash will be accepted
on Tuesday.
Pre-Order your shirt
here.
Shirts will be available in
limited quantity at the
HKO & on sale until 8
a.m.
Designers:
NancyPage Lowenfield &
Thuy Nguyen
All profits go towards
YES Prep student
scholarships

41. Get updated on the PTO Coverage Pilot
Last spring, we announced that we would begin to explore a more
effective system of securing coverage on campuses. This was in
response to feedback on our system survey.
At the start of our investigation, we
learned that we lack some critical
information around PTO &
coverage that will help us make the
most informed decision. Thus far,
we have been able to develop a
task force within the Home Office
Leadership to begin a regional pilot
on PTO Coverage. This pilot will
focus on testing a system for
tracking coverage needs & the
response to PTO requests.
This is an important project and we commit to regular updates on our next steps.

42. 42
Get ready to plan ahead
The YES Prep Master
Calendar for 2014 –
2015 is accessible for
download.
Find system – wide events, meeting dates, vacation days
& other key calendar events to help you stay ahead.

43. Get the right information at the right time
The next installment of the Teacher
Continuum Journal 2014 – 2015 will
release in August.
Send any feedback or questions to
teacher.continuum@yesprep.org.
If you would like to communicate
something system-wide, email
Houston@yesprep.org with the
request & we will find the
appropriate vehicle to best
communicate the information.

44. After School Centers on Education - ACE
@yesprepace
37% of YES Prep students at
9 campuses participated in
academic & extracurricular
programming.
Share a hobby or interest
with students & earn
extra duty pay.
Find the ACE Campus
Coordinator on your campus
for more info &
opportunities.

45. 45
OUR YEAR. YOUR YEAR.