SKY Partnership Compact

The SKY Partnership Compact is a collaborative partnership among Spring Branch ISD (SBISD), KIPP Houston and YES Prep Public Schools to bridge educational opportunities for children in Houston, Texas. The compact is part of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s multi-year initiative to support the design and implementation of district-charter collaboration.

SBISD enrolls about 33,000 students from Houston’s west-side neighborhoods. The school district has two self-created public charter schools, both of which the Texas Education Agency (TEA) rates as Exemplary. These two district-public charter schools have more than 200 students collectively on their waiting lists. The growing list raises the level of importance of the collaboration for the Spring Branch community. The collaboration also allows the district to better utilize building resources and meet a five-year goal of doubling the number of graduates earning a technical degree, two-year Associate’s Degree, or four-year Bachelor’s Degree from a college or university. The partnership maintains a goal of launching the first year of a KIPP and YES Prep school-within-a-school program for the 2012-2013 school year at Landrum and Northbrook middle schools, respectively, in SBISD.

KIPP Courage College Prep at Landrum Middle School will begin their program with a cohort of 105 fifth-graders in the fall of 2012-13. Students will be housed in SBISD’s Landrum Middle School, attend core subject classes taught by KIPP teachers, and benefit from SBISD elective classes. KIPP students will benefit by participating in an extended year model, attending school more hours per week to focus on areas in which they struggle academically, and by building character skills needed to prepare for rigorous college-prep coursework.

YES Prep at Northbrook Middle School will begin during the 2012-13 school year with a cohort of 130 sixth-graders. This program will be housed on the second floor of SBISD’s Northbrook Middle School. Students will receive personalized attention and support from dedicated YES Prep teachers who will follow a rigorous college-prep curriculum. Students in this program will also attend a two-week summer program before starting school in early August, and attend school more hours per week than those in a traditional middle school. In addition, YES Prep Northbrook students will participate in Northbrook Middle School electives, clubs and sports to enrich their academics.

Graduates of the Grades 5-8 KIPP Courage College Prep at Landrum Middle School and Grades 6-8 YES Prep at Northbrook Middle School programs will matriculate to YES Prep Northbrook High School. This new program will be designed to maintain the rigor, character building, college-and-beyond efforts, and thinking that characterize both charter programs.