Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy Established Fall 2011

1. Launching a Girls’ Public School: Leaders’ PerspectivePaula Harris, Trustee member, Board of EducationDelesa O’Dell Thomas, Principal Jyoti Malhan, Dean of InstructionHouston ISD

2. Young Women’s College Preparatory AcademyEstablished Fall 2011

3. Leaders’ Perspective The First All Girls Public School in a large Urban School District Our Biggest Challenge “COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER BUY IN”

4. 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

5. HISD's Single-Sex Schools: Not Quite a Hot Ticket . (Jan. 27, 2011) Houston Chronicle http://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. …

6. 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 genderschoolseblast for all parents who applied

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 10 REASONS TO ATTEND YWCPA • The HISD Advanced Placement magnet school • Rigorous college preparatory curriculum with all Core coursework Pre AP/AP • Highly qualified experienced teachers with master’s and doctoral degrees • Personal MacBook laptops for every girl • College tours starting in 6th grade • Free mandatory STEM based summer camps for all girls starting in 6th grade • Partnership with IPAA for creating a Petroleum Academy at YWCPA • Two years of high school foreign language credit in Middle school • Algebra for all by 8th grade (15% of our girls take Algebra in 7th) • Dual credit classes in 11th and 12th grade

12. Enrichment & the Arts After School Programs • Strings • Volleyball/basketball/lacrosse/soccer clubs • Photography • Theater • Step Team • Dance • Clown Art • Science Club • History Club • Cheerleading • Mentoring

13. 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)

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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 MatterReaching 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. A Right to Choose Single-Sex Education Current Research & News

17. 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 !!!

18. STAAR 20127th Grade Data READING DATA MATH DATA WRITING DATA

19. STAAR EOC 2012Biology Data

20. Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy2012 EOC Summary STAAR End of Course (9th grade)

21. Our Campus 1906 Cleburne, Houston TX, 77004

22. Young Women Today, Leaders Tomorrow

23. Foundation for the Education of Young Women Our Core Values • College Preparation • Leadership • Wellness Skills

24. 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

25. YMCPA & YWCPA • Extended lunch • PTOs collaborate • Socials/dances • Service learning projects • Leadership Events

26. 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.

27. W We will prepare and apply to the best!!!

28. Our girls at the Apple store Golf as an elective class

29. History Fair winners and STEM Exposure

30. Walk for Juvenile Diabetes Visits to Rice & other Universities Partnership with IPAA

31. Introduce a girl to Engineering Day at Exxon Doctor’s day Outreach at YWCPA

32. Stem Camp at Tyler

33. FEYW Schools Houston Fort Worth Dallas San Antonio Austin Lubbock

34. We are a…

35. Contact Information Paula Harris, HISD Trustee pharris@slb.com Delesa O’Dell- Thomas, Principal dthomas1@houstonisd.org Jyoti Malhan, Dean jmalhan@houstonisd.org WEBSITE http://schools.houstonisd.org/YWCPA

36. Questions and Answers