YES Prep Public Schools

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YES Prep Public Schools is a network of public, open-enrollment charter schools located in Houston, Texas. The YES program is a university-preparatory program for grades 6-12.

[edit] History

YES (which stands for Youth Engaged in Service) began in 1995 as Project YES. Chris Barbic founded the program at Rusk Elementary School in the Houston Independent School District after completing two years at Rusk with Teach for America. Since 1998, YES Prep has been operating under a state charter. YES graduated its first senior class in 2001, and since then has sent 100 percent of its graduating seniors to four-year colleges.

Beginning in 2003, YES opened a second campus in northeast Houston, eventually expanding to the five campuses operating today. Over 2,000 students are served by the following schools:

  • YES Prep Southeast: located at 353 Crenshaw Road, the original YES campus serving grades 6-12.
  • YES Prep North Central: located at 13703 Aldine-Westfield, serving grades 6-10.
  • YES Prep Southwest: located at 4411 Anderson Rd in Houston, serving grades 6-9.
  • YES Prep East End: located at 3401 Hardy Street, serving grades 6&7
  • YES Prep Lee: located at 6529 Beverly Hill Lane (within Lee High School through a partnership with HISD), serving grade 6.

The YES schools have been subject to many recent accolades, including ratings of Exemplary and Recognized by the Texas Education Agency for 8 consecutive years, ranking as Houston's best open-enrollment high school by the Houston Chronicle, and a place on Newsweek's Best High Schools in America list for both 2006 (ranked #88) and 2007 (#38).

In 2008, YES Prep Southeast Campus was ranked the number one high school in the Greater Houston Area by Children At Risk.[1]

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