The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

YES Prep Named Best Place to Work in Houston

July 16, 2010 by Ryan Dolibois

In June, the Houston Business Journal 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.

 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 past year we employed roughly 325 staff, and the average age of a YES Prep teacher was 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 have the hardest job. I work far too hard and far too long and I have no life. I don't see my friends unless they come over to my apartment, and grading papers is slowly sucking my soul.  And I am so happy, so lucky, and so grateful to YES Prep for giving me the best job in the world.”

One of the core values at YES Prep is “building positive relationships”. We think fostering strong relationships between team members and strong relationships between our staff, students, and families  is THE key ingredients for creating a high-performing, results-oriented culture within our school system. Virtually everything we do is focused on building and enhancing that culture. Every six weeks, we bring the entire staff together from across our seven campuses for a day of joint lesson planning, grading, and best practice sharing. Weekly staff “shout-outs” and monthly teacher awards recognize employees for their effort and  hard work. Annual staff retreats and off-site opportunities round out the staff calendar. Even though we work hard, we play hard too. On any given night, you can find groups of teachers going out to dinner together and/or attending a happy hour.  Over 40 YES Prep staff participated in the MS150 Ride this year and virtually any weekend of the year, we have teams of teachers involved with student lock-ins, spring trips, weekend retreats, and other activities with students. 

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 and for YES Prep! 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.

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