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

Meeting the Demand for a Top Quality Public Education

August 24, 2011 by Brittany Baize

More Demand for Top Charter Schools than Supply: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

FOX News speaks to President Jason Bernal and Gulfton student Abigail Valencia about the demand for top quality charter schools in this video.

High performing charter schools in the state of Texas must overcome a complete lack of facilities funding in order to expand.  In addition, charter schools receive less funding per student than traditional public schools.  You can take action by calling your legislators.  Tell them you want to see more YES Prep Public Schools.  Let them know that you support equal funding for students and facilities for all top quality charter schools.  The return on investment is clear: by increasing the number of low-income students that graduate from college, we're increasing individual lifetime earnings potential and transforming the long-term economic

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A Room of Our Own: Funding Facilities

August 23, 2011 by Brittany Baize

Fundamental to our mission at YES Prep Public Schools is to provide low-income and minority students with equal access to resources and opportunities, but YES Prep receives no funding for facilities.  Our program started in an East End parking lot, and our record of achievement is a testament to the incredible staff, students, and families who put the time and energy behind our core values.  It is also thanks to the generosity of our supporters that YES Prep has grown to ten campuses serving over 5,400 students.  Our two newest campuses, Fifth Ward and Northside, welcomed their inaugural 6^thgrade classes on August 9, 2011.

You can hear our President, Jason Bernal, speak to the Texas Tribune[1] about the importance of facilities funding in this video.

We are halfway to our goal of

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Update on YES Prep North Forest and the Texas Education Agency

July 14, 2011 by Jason Bernal

As many of you have heard  by now, yesterday’s evening news aired a story about the Texas Education Agency revoking North Forest ISD’s accreditation status. YES Prep has been operating a school in partnership with North Forest for the last year and we have received a number of questions about the future of both our school and the district. We wanted to be sure to follow up with all of you about our status and this situation:

• Our mission in North Forest remains unchanged: we are committed to providing an exceptional education for students in the North Forest community and we are already looking ahead to May 2014 when our first class of seniors will graduate and go on to college.
• The YES Prep North Forest summer session started today on schedule. This year, the school will serve

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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

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YES Prep Ranks in the Top Ten of Houston Chronicle’s Annual School Report Card

April 18, 2011 by Chris Barbic

Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle and Children at Risk released their annual School Report Card. We were thrilled to see that YES Prep Southeast was once again ranked a top ten high school in Houston, placing sixth on the list. YES Prep has been ranked on this list ever since Children At Risk and the Houston Chronicle first teamed up to create it. Starting last year, the rankings also began including the top middle schools in Houston. ALL of our eligible campuses ranked in the top 25—on a list that includes over 265 area schools. We were particularly excited to see our YES Prep Southwest campus ranked 5th on this list. As the national debate about public education and charter schools continues, we were also pleased to see that four of the top ten schools on the list were state and

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