YES Prep is currently hiring for the 2021-2022 school year. For our future staff and teachers considering joining our YES Prep Northwest Secondary family, we wanted to give you a glimpse into Northwest and introduce you to the school’s principal.  

YES Prep Northwest Secondary, home of the Hawks, opened in August 2018 in Northwest Houston, near Highway 290 and Gessner Road. Currently serving sixth and seventh grade as well as the founding class of eighth graders, Northwest is situated to be a full-grown school, grades sixth through twelfth, in four years, school year 2024-2025. 

Meet Laura Dugan, founding principal 

Laura Dugan is the founding principal of YES Prep Northwest Secondary.  Before becoming principal, Laura was the Dean of Instruction for two years and Director of Academics for three at YES Prep Fifth Ward Secondary, an instructional coach with Teaching Excellence, YES Prep’s alternative teacher certification program, and taught third and fourth grade at an elementary school in HISD as a Teach For America corps member.  Laura has a B.S. from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Northwest Secondary’s school culture and goals 

How long have you been the principal of Northwest Secondary and can you summarize what your experience has been during that time? 

This is my third year as principal at Northwest.  I have loved watching our school grow from just sixth grade to a full middle school, and welcoming new HAWKS to our staff and student body.  Being a founding principal has given me the ability to see our campus grow in numbers, in student opportunities and in the experiences that our staff bring from outside of the classroom.     

What are your favorite things about Northwest Secondary?  

I love the HAWKS pride that our staff and students have.  At the beginning of the year each student is sorted into a house (Honesty, Action, Wisdom, Kindness, Service) and both staff and students are super competitive about which house is the best. We also have an experienced teaching staff who are super passionate about supporting students and families.  

What makes Northwest Secondary different from the rest? 

As a smaller school, we offer individual support to students through our class options, teacher interactions and Culture Team support.  Each teacher gets to know students on an individual level and can make connections in and out of the classroom.  We also focus on consistent family communication from Grade Level Chair updates, to our weekly Family Notes communication and amazing social media posts so that everyone stays in the loop on student progress.   

What type of teacher would be ideal for Northwest Secondary? 

An ideal teacher for YES Prep Northwest would be:  

• Driven to create change for students, no matter what. 

• Motivated to continuously improve and grow. 

• Ready to work with a team to improve student outcomes. 

• Excited to build relationships with all HAWKS, staff, students, and families. 

Describe Northwest Secondary’s culture. 

At Northwest, HAWKS work hard to exemplify our core values of Honesty, Action, Wisdom, Kindness and Service. Staff consistently collaborate with one another to create engaging lessons and develop a strong culture for each grade level on campus. HAWKS work hard to be high-school ready. We are committed to growth and ensuring that students have an excellent middle school and high school education.  

What are Northwest Secondary’s top priorities this coming year? 

A yearly priority is achieving our campus mission: YES Prep Northwest empowers all HAWKS to succeed academically, build character through community and advocate for a future all their own. In the coming year our goal is to launch an exceptional high school as our founding class enters ninth grade and become an “A” rated campus!  

Where do you want Northwest Secondary to be in five years?  

In five years our first two classes of students will have graduated! I would like Northwest to be a place where students are able to grow, build strong relationships with their peers, and develop their interests and passions as they prepare to graduate. I also want Northwest to be a place where staff feel challenged to grow and where they want to return year after year.   

Learn more about joining the YES Prep Northwest family

If you would like to join the teaching staff at YES Prep Northwest Secondary for the 2021-2022 school year, we invite you to join us for our upcoming Teacher Hiring Event on Tuesday, March 30, from 4:45 to 7 p.m. You will have the opportunity to do one-on-one interviews with Laura Dugan. Northwest Secondary is currently looking for teachers for English I, ELA 8, Biology, Algebra I, Math 7 and 8 and special education. To read more details about this event and to register, click here.  

To view ALL current career opportunities with YES Prep, visit our job board.