Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Launching a Girls’ Public School:
Leaders’ PerspectivePaula Harris, Trustee member, Board of Education
Delesa O’Dell Thomas, Principal Jyoti Malhan, Dean of Instruction
Houston ISD
Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy
Established Fall 2011
Leaders’ Perspective
The First All Girls Public School in a large Urban School District
Our Biggest Challenge
“COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER BUY IN”
Single Gender Schools
• A very new model for our parents• A very new model for our students• Different from a large comprehensive high
school• A magnet program- selective admission
process
HISD's Single-Sex Schools: Not Quite a Hot Ticket . (Jan. 27,
2011) Houston Chroniclehttp://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/...
The Houston school board announced with great fanfare two months ago the opening of separate schools for girls and... Forty girls and 23 boys have applied for the schools, which have slots for 200 girls and 250 boys, HISD spokesman Jason Spencer tells Hair Balls. …
Our Outreach to our community
• Create a brochure with our girls who applied• (took pictures at Rice Univ. campus)• Sought our parents as our spokespersons• Sought our new teachers to recruit at their • campuses• Created a genderschools eblast for all parents who applied
Contd…
• Sought our students to recruit at their campuses
• Constant communication and aggressive follow up with anyone who applied or contacted us
• Buy in from applicants and parents was our strongest ally
• Word of mouth more powerful than anything else
May 7 – Our first parent information session !We were blown away !!
Have not looked back since !!!At our parent session we talked about our
– Our new campus (location, security)– Our curriculum (Pre AP /AP)– Our teachers (Highly qualified and experienced)– Our innovative camps (STEM, Writers in Schools)– Our afterschool activities and electives
Preliminary responses from our stakeholders• I did not want to come to this school in August
but I do not want to leave now- 9th grade student
• I forced her to come but she loves it now- 6th grade parent
• My friend wants to know what else can she do to get her daughter here. She has perfect scores on the state test- YWCPA parent
• Was that change of class, so quiet- future parent touring campus
Benefits of Attending YWCPA
• Single gender / no distraction from boys• Uniforms• Magnet (separate and unique) • Nurturing learning environment• Each girl receives a I-Mac during school year• Spring Board Curriculum• Acceleration/College Preparation• Private school concept in a public school• Sisterhood
10 REASONS TO ATTEND YWCPA
1. The HISD Advanced Placement magnet school2. Rigorous college preparatory curriculum with all Core coursework Pre AP/AP3. Highly qualified experienced teachers with master’s and doctoral degrees4. Personal MacBook laptops for every girl5. College tours starting in 6th grade6. Free mandatory STEM based summer camps for all girls starting in 6th grade7. Partnership with IPAA for creating a Petroleum Academy at YWCPA 8. Two years of high school foreign language credit in Middle school9. Algebra for all by 8th grade (15% of our girls take Algebra in 7th)10. Dual credit classes in 11th and 12th grade
Enrichment & the ArtsAfter School Programs• Strings• Volleyball/basketball/lacrosse/soccer clubs• Photography• Theater • Step Team• Dance• Clown Art• Science Club• History Club• Cheerleading• Mentoring
Rigor and Innovation drives our curriculum
• A group of 7th graders in Pre AP Algebra I ( a 9TH grade course)
• All 6th graders are taking 7th grade math
• Mac book computers for every girl
• Innovative and unique summer program opportunities on and off campus ( WITS, 3D Prototyping camp taught by Rice Univ., DUKE TIP Kaplan class, underwater robotics)
• Partnership with IPAA (sponsorships, internships, engineering courses)
• UH partnership ( Students from College of Engineering teach twice a week)
Rigor and Innovation drives our curriculum, contd…..
• Electives and after school programs include robotics, orchestra, lacrosse, theater arts, choir, leadership and team building
• History fair state level wins
• NASA partnerships
• Visit from Ms America
• Research /Dissertation class for middle school
• 61 out of 119 students in 7th grade invited to test for Duke Tip scholar program
Thanks to a national study conducted by UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies(2010), we have well-documented evidence that all-girls school graduates entering their first year of college consistently assess their abilities, self-confidence, engagements and ambition as stronger across the academic disciplines than do their peers from coed schools.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10204/1074653-109.stm#ixzz1m5GtIVou
U.S. senators Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., write this opinion article in support of offering the option of single-gender
instruction, saying studies show it can improve student performance -- particularly in math and science.
International Day of the Girl: Why Science & Math Programs Matter
Reaching young women by the time they enter college is not soon enough. …to increase female representation in STEM majors it is essential to engage
girls in related activities at K-12 levels. A few organizations have recognized this gap and created programs to address it. Microsoft's DigiGirlz Hi-Tech Camp, Black Girls Code and the NSF-funded National Girls Collaborative
Project support STEM programs for underserved communities.
Current Research & NewsA Right to Choose Single-Sex Education
One of the 5 schools out of 45 at the middle school level to meet AYP based on first year’s state test scores. ( though we did not count for the same as we were in our first year).
Year 1: We are proud of our Girls’ Exemplary Performance !!!
STAAR 20127th Grade Data
MATH DATA WRITING DATAREADING DATA
STAAR EOC 2012Biology Data
Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy2012 EOC Summary
STAAR End of Course (9th grade)
Subject Spring Percentages Summer Percentages
Geometry 94 100
Biology 99 99
World Geography 95 99
ELA – Reading 88 94
ELA – Writing 61 86
Algebra 1 92 93
Our Campus1906 Cleburne, Houston TX, 77004
Young Women Today, Leaders Tomorrow
Foundation for the Education of Young Women
Our Core Values1. College Preparation2. Leadership3. Wellness Skills
Sponsorship/Funding/Partnership
• FEYW• Private Donations• Grants• Advisory Council• Texas Wall Street Women (TXWSW)• Independent Petroleum Association of America• Junior Achievement• Sally Ride Science• Space Center Houston, NASA• General Electric• Texas Association of Minority Engineer s• Writers in The Schools
YMCPA & YWCPA
• Extended lunch• PTOs collaborate• Socials/dances• Service learning projects• Leadership Events
Admission Requirements
• Must have a 75% or better average in all classes• Must have met state requirements for advancement
to the next grade level• Must desire and be committed to attend a four-year
college or university.• Must have good attendance and behavior• If selected for admission, must attend an interview
with parent, guardian, and/or primary caregiver.
– W
We will prepare and apply to the best!!!
Our girls at the Apple store
Golf as an elective class
History Fair winners and STEM Exposure
Walk for Juvenile Diabetes Visits to Rice & other Universities
Partnership with IPAA
Introduce a girl to Engineering Day at Exxon
Doctor’s day Outreach at YWCPA
Stem Camp at Tyler
FEYW Schools
Houston
Austin
Dallas
Lubbock
Fort Worth
San Antonio
We are a…
Contact Information
Paula Harris, HISD [email protected]
Delesa O’Dell- Thomas, Principal [email protected]
Jyoti Malhan, Dean [email protected]
WEBSITEhttp://schools.houstonisd.org/YWCPA
Questions and Answers
