Education isn't one size fits all. Every student at YES Prep has unique needs and our programs are designed to address them individually. YES Prep is particularly proud to serve English language learners (ELL).
ELLs Success
As a public charter school, we are well positioned to provide the services that launch English language learners into academic and lifelong success. That’s true of charter schools across Texas, where nearly 120,000 English language learners are learning and thriving. That's 31% of all charter school students, compared to 22% of all public school students statewide. YES Prep currently serves 9,036 ELL students, which comprises 53.4% of the total student population.
YES Prep is committed to providing exceptional support for our emergent bilingual (EB) students. Through our dedicated efforts, we have achieved remarkable results with this student population meeting their academic goals and performing on par with their non-Emerging Bilingual peers on assessments. On our last state assessments, TELPAS 2023, 39% of emergent bilingual students made progress in English Language Proficiency, outperforming the state goal of 36%.
Teacher Development
Our success stems from training teachers with essential skills and strategies and integrating language acquisition coaching into our teaching methods.
Director of the Emerging Bilingual program, Tanisha Tate states that she is proud to say that we have uplifted the vision for a seamless integration of Emerging Bilingual supports into our curriculum, ensuring that all content areas are equipped to meet the unique needs of our students.
“Our clear vision, collaboration with key stakeholders and unwavering accountability have been instrumental in creating an environment where our EB students thrive. We are relentless in our pursuit of excellence and remain committed to the success of every student at YES Prep,” says Tate.
Tiffany Thai ‘24 is a notable example of the English Language Learners program success at YES Prep. Tiffany is a senior at YES Prep West Secondary who speaks Vietnamese at home and entered school as an emergent bilingual student in 6th grade. She has since transitioned out of the program and excels in four Advanced Placement classes: English language, government, environmental science and calculus. She's also a longtime member of the orchestra program, where she plays violin. Tiffany appreciates how West is a small community where she receives extra individualized attention and support — a place where people care for each other.
“Tiffany is a FANTASTIC student. She's incredibly driven, has some of the best independent study skills I've ever seen, and extremely kind and mature. She has been super challenged in APES and getting used to the level of difficulty but has asked for feedback all year in her writing and multiple choice that has led to success. She's studying advertising at the Moody School of Communications at UT.” – Madalyn Crowley, AP (Advanced Placement) environmental science Instructor
“One of the things I love most about Tiffany is that she can speak up for herself in a mature and respectful way. She is so responsible and always uses feedback to improve herself. After Covid, once Tiffany was placed back in orchestra, she struggled to re-learn the notes and skills. She took every opportunity to ask for help and practiced with tutorial videos to learn her part. After all her hard work, I was proud and confident to move her to the first violin section where she has flourished as a leader.” – Chrissy Lucivjanksy, Orchestra Director
Our bilingual (and trilingual!) graduates enter the world with unique perspectives, new ways of thinking and valuable skills. We’re proud of our YES Prep English language learners who continue to show us that there is no limit to what our students can achieve.
To learn more about our English Language Learners Program at YES Prep, click here.
(Click here to learn more about what Texas Charters are doing to help ELLs succeed!)