We're all about kids. We're all about people. And we're looking for teachers and leaders. We're looking for people that are "team" at their core.

1. Team at Our Core

2. 12,600 students
at 34 schools
across 3 states
It was true when we first began with a single school.
And it’s true now for our network of

3. We care about people.

4. Sounds obvious, right?
Everyone says that.
But for us, it’s to who we are.core

5. We care about doing right by kids teachers.
And we care about making sure our
schools are top in the state and country.
These things aren’t mutually exclusive.
and

6. And they’re not just things we say we value.
They are at the
as an organization.
center of our strategy

7. Let’s start with the best part.

8. We care about kids. ALL kids.
If you don’t love kids, like really
love kids, well, you probably
shouldn’t be doing this work.

9. Because here, you’ve got to be willing
to work hard and fight hard for our kids
to achieve their greatness.
And if you don’t feel it, you can’t fake it.

10. And when we say ALL, we mean ALL:
future mathematicians, musicians,
artists, scientists...

14. We care about kids who excel in English,
and those who are just learning it.
We wrap our arms around all learners–
including students with special learning needs.

15. And lots of people say that.
But what does it to do it?
It means you don’t cream.
It means you don’t push kids out.
(Ask us about our low attrition rates.)
mean
?

16. And it means when students leave AF,
we backfill their seats so more kids have
a chance for a great education.

17. And we make absolutely no apologies
for the level of work and dedication
we require from our students.
(It’s people who expect less who
have apologies to make.)

18. There are places you could work that only talk
about winning and high expectations.
And there are places that only care
about how people feel.
We do both.

19. We are warm AND demanding.
Because when you care about someone and
believe in them, you push them.
You tell them the truth
(even when it’s hard).
And you always help them grow.

20. And you know what?
Our schools are kind of crushin’ it.
Bragging isn’t really our style.
But here’s some braggy data for you:

21. Amistad is ranked the
#1 high school in Connecticut
and #20 in the nation by
U.S. News and World Report!
#1

22. By the end of middle school,
our New York students are not only
outperforming their state peers in
ELA, they’re outpacing kids in the
state’s most affluent districts in math.

23. Our oldest Providence students are
outperforming the most affluent
districts in the state in math. In ELA,
they’re achieving proficiency at double
the rate of their neighborhood peers.

24. In the past year, AF students –
98% Black or Latino, 85%
qualifying for free or reduced-
price lunch – earned 1493 college
acceptances. And they got into some
of the country’s BEST colleges.
Stanford. Yale. Princeton.

25. We love watching our kids shatter
stereotypes some might attach to their
race, age, gender or zip code.
We love seeing all they have done,
and all they’ve yet to do.
We love who they are.

26. But you know what we hate?
The thought that being a charter school
means you can’t also love and support
traditional public schools that
serve millions of kids.

27. We partner. A lot. We work with
anyone who is doing right by kids.
We share what we have learned,
and we learn from our partners.

28. We’ve trained principals and assistant
principals for traditional public schools.
We built an entire platform for
the sole purpose of giving away our
curriculum. Then we built an entire
program to teach other networks how to
use it, to grow, and to reach more kids.

29. Why do we do it? Because if
you care about kids, then you
care about all the people
who are doing this work.

30. You do that stuff because you believe it benefits
all of us, and you’re willing to devote time,
energy and resources to helping students across
the country who will never set foot in AF schools.
You do it because you care about kids.
All kids.

31. And caring about kids means
caring about TEACHERS, too.

32. We don’t buy into the notion that being all about
kids means it’s going to be rough for adults.
This is incredible work.
It’s also incredibly hard.
That’s why we care so much about
taking care of the people who do it.

33. It’s why we asked our teachers what would
help them stay at AF longer, and held a
network-wide “hackathon” so that they could
create and vet ideas, so that as a network,
we could make these ideas a reality.

34. It’s why every teacher has a coach in their
corner and our schools have the lowest coach
to teacher ratio of any place we know.

35. It’s why our network provides lesson
plans for every teacher, so that they
can spend that time modifying them to
meet the needs of individual students and
doing the intellectual prep for the lesson
(and not falling asleep in front of a laptop).

36. It’s also why we built a teacher career
pathway, so that if you want to further your
career while staying in the classroom, your
performance is celebrated with
salary increases, recognition,
and development opportunities.

37. Because we want people to come work
at AF and we want them to stay a while.
Because running schools is a team sport.
And building team takes time.

38. And our team?
We are everyone.
From everywhere.
We’re Star Wars fans.
Bey-hive members.
Fantasy footballers…
(okay, you get it).

42. All of us can be ourselves here, ESPECIALLY
as we work together as part of a tight team.
It’s not the false choice you might
see others suggest.

43. We love and value our people
the way they are (robots need not apply)
and we join forces on everything we do
– from how we grade written work
to the procedures we use for
distributing classwork.
This is what great teams do.

44. TL; DR?

45. In short, we’re all about kids.
We’re all about our people.
And we’re looking for teachers and leaders.
We’re looking for people who are
“team” at their core.

46. We’re looking for people who have
incredibly high standards, who will care
deeply for their kids and teammates
and push them hard because they care.
We’re looking for people who want to
grow – and to help others grow.

47. We’re looking for agents of change.
Are we looking for you?

48. achievementfirst.org