Aldine ISD, Yes Prep collaborate to launch i Aspire college counseling program in AISD

In an effort to increase the number of students who apply to and graduate from a four-year college, more than 150 ninth graders at Eisenhower Ninth Grade School will participate in the i Aspire program, a collaborative initiative between YES Prep Public Schools and Aldine ISD to bring a proven college counseling model and robust college-going culture to students at Aldine ISD’s Eisenhower High School. The i Aspire program will be implemented at Eisenhower Ninth Grade School during the 2015-16 school year. In 2016, the program will expand to serve Eisenhower High School and eventually serve more than 400 students each year.

“We are excited about the prospects of this new endeavor to encourage our students to start thinking about college sooner rather than later,” said Aldine ISD Superintendent Dr. Wanda Bamberg. “College readiness is one of our district’s main focuses and we believe i Aspire will be one more tool we can use that will help prepare students for college. We look forward to working with YES Prep on this new undertaking.”

The free program consists of classes all four years of high school using YES Prep’s college seminar curriculum as well as individualized college counseling to support students through the college application process. The program also includes Princeton Review SAT preparation that would otherwise cost students $1,000.

“Students need to understand what college success looks like, what obstacles they will face, and what it will take to overcome those obstacles,” said Rhiannon Killian, Senior Director of College and Career Initiatives at YES Prep. “That’s the basis of our programming. It teaches students a new way to view themselves, to instill in them a college-going identity and, over their four years of course work, a true belief that they can be successful in college.”

Students enrolled in the program and their parents sign a commitment form, pledging to apply to at least one four-year college or university and to enroll in at least one honors course during high school.

The two Broad Prize-winning districts are working closely to ensure the program is a success. Aldine’s Aquilla Aubrey, the Administrator of the i Aspire Program, and YES Prep’s Elizabeth Hernandez, Program Manger for Aldine and YES Prep Compact, have been recruiting students together and jointly interviewing teachers for the inaugural year of i Aspire classes. And once hired, those teachers will participate in six professional development days with the YES Prep college counseling team during the 2015-16 school year.

YES Prep also stands to gain from this partnership.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Aldine ISD to make this program a reality,” said Mark DiBella, YES Prep Houston Superintendent. “We also hope we can learn more from i Aspire as time goes on about what it takes to help all students be successful in college and continue to refine our programming. Like the leaders of Aldine ISD, we want to develop a program that is scalable and sustainable for as many Houston students as possible.”

Enrollment for the i Aspire program is now open to all students who will be attending Eisenhower Ninth Grade School next year. For more information and to register, go to www.yesprep.org/iaspire.

YES Prep is an open enrollment public charter school system founded in 1998 that serves students in grades 6-12. With more than 9,000 college-bound students across 13 campuses, YES Prep is a system of high-performing public charter schools, proving that students from underserved communities can achieve at the highest academic levels. YES Prep’s mission is to increase the number of students from underserved communities who graduate from college prepared to lead. YES Prep has consistently been ranked among the Top 100 high schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report and was named the “Most Outstanding Charter School System in the Nation” by the Eli and Edythe Broad Founding in 2012. For more information about YES Prep, please visit www.yesprep.org.

Located approximately 15 miles north of downtown Houston, the Aldine Independent School District covers 111 square miles in North Harris County, with approximately 9,500 employees (4,400 of whom are teachers) who serve approximately 69,800 students. One of the 11th largest school districts in Texas, Aldine ISD is a multi-ethnic district that reflects the diversity of the Houston area. The district includes a variety of communities, from rural, to suburban, to commercial and industrial. Aldine ISD is home to 76 campuses: one Even Start center, eight Early Childhood/Pre-Kindergarten Centers, 32 elementary schools (grades K-4), 11 intermediate schools (grades 5-6), 10 middle schools (grades 7-8), five Ninth Grade Schools, five traditional high schools (grades 10-12), one Magnet high school, one night high school, one early college high school, one alternative education center and one dropout prevention center. Aldine ISD’s Board of Trustees was named the Region 4 Honor Board in the summer of 2013 and in September of 2013 the Board was named one of five Honor Boards in the State of Texas. In 2009, Aldine ISD was named the winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education. It marked the fourth time in six years that Aldine was one of five national finalists for the prestigious award. The Broad Prize for Urban Education is awarded to urban school districts that make the greatest overall improvement in student achievement while reducing the achievement gap across ethnic and income groups. By being named the overall winner, Aldine ISD was awarded $1 million in scholarship money.

Additionally, in May of 2008, the district was named the winner of the H-E-B Excellence in Education Award among large school districts in Texas and was awarded $100,000.