Pathways to Opportunity

YES Prep operates small and personalized elementary and secondary schools that enable our teachers and school leaders to build transformative relationships with students. By creating a family-oriented culture on every school, our students feel valued and supported throughout their elementary school and secondary school careers.

From day one, our students are held to higher academic standards than students in traditional public schools across the country. YES Prep uses the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards (TEKS) as a floor, not a ceiling, when setting the bar for student achievement. Students are assessed multiple times during the school year to identify gaps in learning, and interventions are implemented based on the results. Additionally, all of our students are required to take the SAT multiple times and take at least one Advanced Placement (AP) course before graduating. 

To ensure college readiness, YES Prep offers accelerated instruction to specific groups of students during the school day, after school and in the summer to support them academically. At our elementary schools, students benefit from both daily whole and small group instruction to meet individual student reading and math needs.

YES Prep elementary students have physical education (PE), art, music, STEM lab and library core enrichment programming as well as 1:1 laptops to support personalized reading instruction at school and home.

YES Prep secondary students have access to a wide range of life-changing extracurricular activities that enhance their middle and high school experiences. These opportunities include:

Spring trips where students explore colleges in and out of Houston as well as out of state to experience what it’s like to be on a college campus.

Summer programming options such as YES Prep’s summer intervention and enrichment programming for elementary and secondary students, Wonderworks, School for Ethics and Global Leadership (SEGL) and a variety of study abroad options.

Over the past 25 years, YES Prep has developed one of the most innovative college counseling programs in the country with one focus – college graduation. Our unwavering commitment to this goal originally began in sixth grade but now begins at pre-Kindergarten and continues on well after students leave YES Prep. 

Juniors and seniors receive one-on-one advising and continue to receive ongoing support once they graduate to ensure they matriculate, persist and graduate college. This comprehensive support ensures that students not only gain academic excellence but also develop into well-rounded individuals ready for success in college and beyond.