One Houston high school has set the standard for students, showing them, "YES", they can succeed.
YES Prep Public Schools celebrated a momentous occasion Friday, graduating 100 percent of its seniors. Not only that, but for the 10th year in a row every single one of them is accepted to a four-year college or university.
For that reason, YES Prep doesn't just call it graduation, the school calls it college signing day.
However, this achievement isn't because the school is flooded with top performing public school students with private school money. YES Prep is a free public school. Ninety percent of the kids are first generation college bound students and 86 percent of them are low-income. Furthermore, most students enter the YES system at least one grade level behind in math and English skills.
Friday they beat the odds and grabbed some national attention doing so.
One after another, seniors at YES Prep announced their acceptance to some of the nation's top universities: Vanderbilt, Cornell and Dartmouth, just to name a few.
Like so many of the YES Prep seniors, Steven Perez will be the first in his family to go to college.
"It feels great," said Perez, who will attend Washington Jefferson College next fall. "I really want to pursue my interests in education and go on to college and be successful. And with this school, YES Prep, I've been able to do this."
It's not easy to do this though. YES students start with a signed commitment to graduate and go to college. They have longer school days and extra homework. They have more school counseling and go on 20 college visits. In the end it pays off on college signing day.
"It's a big accomplishment. I'm somewhat surprised because I didn't think it would be possible," said Edgar Umanzor, who will attend the College of Wooster next fall. "If it weren't for YES Prep it wouldn't be possible."
Those possibilities aren't lost on President Obama's Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. He gave the keynote speech to the 126 graduating seniors.
"Year after year, grade after grade, sustained excellenceÂ… it's phenomenal," said Duncan. "And I want to learn from it and we want to shine a national spotlight on it. That's why we're here."
Among YES Prep graduates, 80 percent are either still in college or have graduated. For low-income students like these the national average is only 25 percent.
"My father's really proud of me and so is my motherÂ… and the rest of my family is really proud of me as well," said Umanzor.
To put it in perspective, HISD's graduation rate is around 64 percent.
The 126 YES Prep seniors earned more than $6 million in financial aid.
YES Prep Public Schools celebrated a momentous occasion Friday, graduating 100 percent of its seniors. Not only that, but for the 10th year in a row every single one of them is accepted to a four-year college or university.
For that reason, YES Prep doesn't just call it graduation, the school calls it college signing day.
However, this achievement isn't because the school is flooded with top performing public school students with private school money. YES Prep is a free public school. Ninety percent of the kids are first generation college bound students and 86 percent of them are low-income. Furthermore, most students enter the YES system at least one grade level behind in math and English skills.
Friday they beat the odds and grabbed some national attention doing so.
One after another, seniors at YES Prep announced their acceptance to some of the nation's top universities: Vanderbilt, Cornell and Dartmouth, just to name a few.
Like so many of the YES Prep seniors, Steven Perez will be the first in his family to go to college.
"It feels great," said Perez, who will attend Washington Jefferson College next fall. "I really want to pursue my interests in education and go on to college and be successful. And with this school, YES Prep, I've been able to do this."
It's not easy to do this though. YES students start with a signed commitment to graduate and go to college. They have longer school days and extra homework. They have more school counseling and go on 20 college visits. In the end it pays off on college signing day.
"It's a big accomplishment. I'm somewhat surprised because I didn't think it would be possible," said Edgar Umanzor, who will attend the College of Wooster next fall. "If it weren't for YES Prep it wouldn't be possible."
Those possibilities aren't lost on President Obama's Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. He gave the keynote speech to the 126 graduating seniors.
"Year after year, grade after grade, sustained excellenceÂ… it's phenomenal," said Duncan. "And I want to learn from it and we want to shine a national spotlight on it. That's why we're here."
Among YES Prep graduates, 80 percent are either still in college or have graduated. For low-income students like these the national average is only 25 percent.
"My father's really proud of me and so is my motherÂ… and the rest of my family is really proud of me as well," said Umanzor.
To put it in perspective, HISD's graduation rate is around 64 percent.
The 126 YES Prep seniors earned more than $6 million in financial aid.
