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

AT&T Sends Santa to Surprise YES Prep Seniors

December 20, 2011 by Brittany Baize

On Wednesday of last week, ten YES Prep seniors headed to KIPP High School to represent YES Prep at a check presentation.  They joined ten KIPP seniors to receive $10,000 in gifts for our two schools from AT&T.  While smiling for the camera, they were surprised to see Santa enter the room with a large bag of presents!  Santa passed out twenty wrapped boxes to the students.  

As the gifts were passed down, J.J. Romero Cabrero was guessing what could be inside. "I thought the gift was a book."  As the wrapping paper came off, the students realized AT&T had surprised them each with a Samsung tablet to take to college.  Cabrero said, "Then I realized I could use this tablet to read a lot of books!"  The students were thrilled and grateful for AT&T's holiday generosity to each individual

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YES Prep Professionals: Service, Leadership, and Socializing

December 15, 2011 by Brittany Baize

We want to thank all of our YES Prep Professionals (YPP) members who brought their friends to our first annual holiday party on Tuesday, December 13th to learn more about how to get involved and support the mission of YES Prep.  Over 50 people attended the celebration at Guadalajara, and, thanks to the dedicated recruitment efforts of our YPP corps, 40 attendees were new faces!  We are well on our way of reaching our big goal: 100 volunteers at our next service day on Saturday, January 28th.

We also want to thank our generous sponsors for this event: Liskow & Lewis and Guadalajara Bar & Grille.

If you missed the holiday party mark your calendar for our biggest YPP recruitment event yet!  On Thursday, January 19th, YPP will be hosting a party at St. Arnold Brewery - complete with

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PRESS RELEASE: YES Prep to Partner with KIPP and Spring Branch ISD in SKY Partnership

December 08, 2011 by Lindsey Windham

Education leaders in Spring Branch (Houston, TX) are proud to announce a new, three-way collaboration between Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD), and two public charter school organizations, KIPP Houston (KIPP) and YES Prep Public Schools (YES Prep).

On Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation congratulated the newly formed SKY Partnership (SBISD, KIPP, and YES Prep) and welcomed them as the newest members of the District-Charter Collaboration Compact cities.

Spring Branch joins Chicago, which also announced its Compact today, and 12 additional public school systems – Baltimore, Denver, Hartford, Conn., Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans, New York City, Rochester, N.Y., Sacramento, Calif., Central Falls, R.I., and Boston – that have

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Teaching Excellence: Why Years in a Classroom Don’t Always Define Great Teachers

December 08, 2011 by Nella Garcia

As the fall school semester comes to a close, teachers from all over Houston are reflecting on their work so far this year.  This is especially true at public charter schools like YES Prep, where our intensive Teaching Excellence program ensures that our novice teachers—up to a third of our overall teaching program—receive the support and development they need to perform well in the classroom.

A recent article in the Huffington Post points to an often heard criticism of charter schools, Teach For America, and of the education reform movement as a whole.  The looming questions proposed in the aforementioned article include:

-    How can inexperienced teachers effectively teach high-risk students, a group that has traditionally needed the most attention and assistance?

-    If

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The YES Prep Northside PRIDE: Rhyming Our Way to College

December 06, 2011 by Brittany Baize

"I use my pen to write.  I use my mind to fight."

The sixth-graders of YES Prep’s new Northside campus spend many hours each day learning about math, English, science, and social studies.  They also have a creative side.  One of our founding students, Isak Scorpio Belmarez, is an aspiring musician who worked with his dad to create this music video.  Scorpio wrote and performed this rap about the importance of focusing in school (among other things).  He says, “YES Prep Northside is helping me pursue my dream by giving me a foundation of knowledge. ”  We’re proud to be supporting Scorpio’s rise to

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