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YES Prep Names New President, Barbic Departing to Share YES Prep’s Best Practices in Tennessee

May 09, 2011 by Ryan Dolibois

YES Prep Public Schools is proud to announce that its leader, Chris Barbic, is taking the organization’s transformative educational practices to a new community of at-risk students, by accepting the position of Founding Superintendent of the Achievement School District for the state of Tennessee.

On Saturday, the YES Prep Board unanimously named Jason Bernal, currently the Chief Operating Officer, as the new president of YES Prep Public Schools. Jason (pictured at right) will lead YES Prep’s next generation and deep bench of home-grown leaders, many selected and mentored by Chris for over a decade, as it embarks on this new stage of growth. Chris Barbic will continue his association with YES Prep as a member of its Board.

“Chris’s transition to this new post highlights YES Prep’s lead role in creating public education solutions for children that can be replicated in communities across the nation. While Chris will certainly be missed by the students, families, and staff, our extraordinary senior leadership team has worked together for more than a decade and has over 100 years of combined experience in educational leadership,” said Joseph Greenberg, YES Prep Chairman of the Board. “The Board was unanimous in its decision to appoint Jason as the new President; we look forward to working with him as he leads this high-performing organization.”

Greenberg added: “YES Prep has developed a sustainable, replicable model that can work in any city, under inspired and committed leadership. We are excited that Chris will apply YES Prep’s best practices in an effort to transform the future of 50,000 of Tennessee’s most at-risk children. ”

Bernal assumes this role after having served at YES Prep for over thirteen years. He is one of YES Prep’s founding team members, joining the staff in December 1997, several months before YES Prep received its charter and began operation. He has held numerous posts at every level of the organization, as both a middle school and high school teacher and a school director on four different YES Prep campuses. As YES Prep has opened new schools over the past decade, he has played a critical role in helping shape the systems and approaches that have remained a blueprint for YES Prep’s growth strategy. In his most recent role as Chief Operations Officer, he has been managing a team of school directors and also overseeing the various operational functions of the YES Prep system.

“Our team stands ready to provide inspirational direction, without interruption, as we continue our mission of 100% college acceptance for Houston’s low-income students and begin preparations for our next phase of growth,” Bernal said. “YES Prep’s success to date is reflected in our core value of ‘Building Positive Relationships.’ It has been a team effort and I couldn’t be more excited to be working with this group of people as we finish this school year strong and prepare for our fourteenth year of operation.”

YES Prep is well on its way to achieving its ambitious goal of serving 10,000 students in Houston. In the next sixty days, YES Prep will graduate its eleventh class of seniors, open two new campuses, and complete construction on permanent facilities for most of its existing schools. Under the vision and guidance of the YES Prep leadership team and Board of Trustees, the organization has more than tripled in size over the past four years. This fall, YES Prep will cross the halfway mark towards its expansion target, as it serves over 5,100 students on ten area campuses. 

Bernal concluded, “Despite our ambitious expansion, over 9,000 students remain on our waiting list. The YES Prep Board and senior leadership remain deeply committed to addressing this need in Houston and continuing to deliver the exemplary results that have been a part of YES Prep since our first year of operation.”

Read Jason's first letter to the YES Prep team by clicking here.

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