University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men

University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men

Welcome to University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men1

UPrep HistoryFounded in 2010Located in the city of Rochester, NYBegan instruction with grades 7th and 8th

Uprep is currently in its fourth year of operation in Rochester, NY. It houses 7th through 11th grade in two different schools and will expand to 12th grade in 2014.2

School leadershipPresident Joseph Munno

Along with its board of trustees, Upreps charter was initiated by President Joseph Munno, and Director of Academics, Jay Costanza. Together the two men have nearly 70 years of experience in education, mainly with RCSD. 3

UPrep Mission StatementEstablish an all-boys school in the City of Rochester with an engaging learning environment and informed practices that are effective for young men. (UPrep) will ensure that students in Grades 7-12 graduate from high school with knowledge, skills, character and dispositions that meet and exceed New York State Learning Standards. Through individualized learning, substantive content, daily advisory, and continuous relationship building, students will master higher order thinking skills, productive life skills and develop the quest for learning needed for success in higher education and future employment in the global marketplace.

The latter half of Upreps mission statement states Through individualized learning, substantive content, daily advisory, and continuous relationship building, students will master higher order thinking skills, productive life skills and develop the quest for learning needed for success in higher education and future employment in the global marketplace4

CrewSubstitution for typical HomeroomCharacter developmentInteractionCommunicationTeam-building

To support growth through continuous relationship building, Uprep leaders began an initiative called Crew. It would substitute the typical homeroom found in schools across the country with a class founded on character development student to student interaction, public speaking and communication using a team-building approach.5

In The BeginningExpeditionary learning provided the training and curriculum to be executed in CrewProviding staff development periodically Monitor and provide feedback to teachers about their Crews

Crew was a program that was written by Expeditionary Learning. A company that works with schools to provide classroom and curriculum support. Crew was designed and trademarked by EL. They provide staff development to the teachers once a month. In the beginning, Uprep intended for their teachers to participate and follow the design EL had set forth.6

UPrep Strives for Excellence and Growth

A culture of learning, growing and succeeding each and every day-

- Principal, Joseph Munno

With a strong focus on innovation and excellence, UPREP vision has allowed the school to blossom and thrive. The schools reputation as a safe, caring environment generated by high quality and effective instructional practice soon forced the school to place many applicants on a waiting list.

7

Enrollment GrowsIn four years UPrep has increased enrollment by nearly 350% and employs about 40 faculty and staff.

Enrollment grew to, or above, capacity at each grade level and with each year the staff grew as well. Communication, which in the Entrepenurial stage of this school was not given much thought, needed to be given careful consideration in order implement change. Specifically clear and timely communication from the administration down.8

Need for ChangeStaff development becomes repetitiveLessons are not in tune with urban studentsUPrep drops EL Carries on Squad in-house

By the middle of the second year of operation, staff had found a repetition in the Staff Developments and arouse a resistance to squad as a waste of time. It was not meeting the needs of the students. Administration listened to its staff and dropped the EL version of Crew, and upon the vote of students, simply renamed it Squad.9

SquadSquad or Crew?Lack of VisionNo plan for change

The change was expected to take place over night. In fact the only difference between Squad and Crew is the name. At first the plans were written by another newly-hired staff member who did not take much time to introduce himself to students or staff alike. Obviously, he was not able to gain buy in either. There was not a sense of cohesion and Squad, to this current day, is merely a homeroom. Lessons for Squad have not been submitted to faculty in months, and Squad has been left by the wayside. 10

Why Did Squad Fail?VisionBuy-inCommunicationMonitoring of change

Changing from Crew to Squad first lacked a clear vision. Teachers were still questioning the importance of the lessons being written for the new squad program. When teachers did not buy-in, the students did not. Frustrated teachers spoke of their dislike amongst themselves which soldified, perhaps unintentionally, a strong resistance to squad activities. A lack of monitoring and time investment from the top down further reinforced that squad was not important. If teachers ceased to teach the lessons, no consequences came of their actions.11

Inconsistent Communication and DeliveryAs the school grew, leadership failed to communicate effectively to staff and studentsCommunication is PoorVision and mission unclear lack of student and staff involvement in new school traditions and policiesLack of follow through by change leadersLack of change management

During the Entrepreneurial Stage, not much emphasis was given to communicating effectively or confronting resistance, for that matter, because there were not many employees to communicate to. If a vision was lost in communication, it could simply be restated to the one or few who missed it without much time or effort lost. Also, not much foresight or reflection is placed into the process of a change. Within an organization such as UPrep where growth happened so fast; where it was once ok to make spur of the moment changes, a vision may now become unclear and unchecked and will hinder execution (for example consistency of school-wide discipline within the classroom, or the adopted lesson format).

12

Things to considerCollaborative VisionEstablish a committee Monitor ChangeCelebrationCommunicate (a lot!)

The change leaders at Uprep should use their teachers as a source of information to create a vision for the direction of squad. If the teachers do not buy in, neither will the students. A staff member should be hired who dedicated solely to building an authentic squad culture with authentic lessons, a direction, and who can create measurable outcomes along with a committee that represents the teachers. Communicate wins and progress to students and teachers through multiple outlets and celebrate squad achievement. Finally, communication of expectations, progress, and feedback should be a constant with time dedicated for faculty to attend meetings only about Squad.13