Slide Deck presented to propsective donors, board members, and community supporters during the lead-up to launch of Valiente College Preparatory Charter School, a 501c3 nonprofit public charter school serving low-income Latino communities in Southeast Los Angeles

1. Valiente College Preparatory Charter School
Opening August 2015

2. Valiente College Preparatory Charter School - Opening Fall 2015 1
Agenda
Board of Directors & Advisory Team
Vision, Mission, and Values
School Community & Student Demographics
School Design

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Our Vision, Mission and Values
Our Vision
 Valiente College Preparatory Charter School provides the communities of Southeast Los Angeles with a high
quality public education option, preparing students in grades 4-8 for success in high school and college.
Our Mission Statement
 Valiente College Preparatory educates students in grades 4-8 to lead lives of scholarship and integrity.
Our “ACTS” School Values
Our school culture and discipline systems are built upon shared values, which are taught to students at all grade
levels and embraced by teachers and staff. These values extend our mission beyond academic goals into the
realm of students’ character and integrity. Students learn that their character is expressed through ACTS:
• Accountability, Courage, Tenacity, and Service
Our Core School Design
 Developed in Full Alignment with the Building Excellent Schools (BES) “No Excuses” Model
 Rigorous Academic Goals Aligned to Common Core and Next Generation Standards.
 Small, Achievement-Oriented School Community
 Consistent Instructional Practices Adapted Responsively to Data
 Extended Time for Instruction and Support
 Focused Development of Ethical Beliefs and Actions

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The Building Excellent Schools (BES) Partnership
 Building Excellent Schools (BES) has trained entrepreneurs to
launch over 50 achievement gap-closing schools nationwide
through its BES Fellowship
 These schools are united in leadership training and alignment
with the BES Model
o Proven practices that have been utilized in schools with
documented success in closing the achievement gap
o A highly structured, academically rigorous instructional
program, dramatically increased instructional time, and
a relentless focus on literacy and mathematics, the BES
Model provides a college preparatory education for all
students.
Jacob Wertz: Valiente’s Founder & BES Fellow
 2013-14 Building Excellent Schools Fellow
 Creator & Director of The Urban Prep Fellows Program, a
year-of-service fellowship at Urban Prep Academies, a
network of all-boys charter public schools in the South Side
of Chicago which has annually achieved 100% acceptance
rate to 4-year colleges
The BES Model: 10 Core Principles
1. Firm belief that all students can
learn and achieve at high levels
2. Clear, outcome focused mission
understood by all, and evidenced
throughout the school
3. Highly visible leaders ensuring all
are focused on mission
4. Structured learning environment
and organization
5. Strong discipline code enforced
by all
6. Strong curriculum focus on skill
mastery
7. Frequent internal assessments
with data to drive instruction
8. Classroom practices promote
continuity and predictability
from one classroom to another
9. Clear and frequent
communications with parents
regarding student performance
10. Extended school day and school
year
Overview of BES

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BES: Los Angeles = High Performing Charter Schools
BES:LA Schools Serve Similar Demographics as LAUSD Southeast Schools
BES:LA Schools Dramatically Outperform LAUSD Southeast Middle
Schools
The BES LA Schools
 Equitas Academy: Pico-Union
 Endeavor College Prep: Boyle Heights
 Crown Prep: Historic South Central
 Valor Academy: Arleta and Pacoima
 Valiente College Prep: Southeast Cities

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CDE “Underperforming Schools” in the
Southeast
Gage Middle School (Huntington Park)
Orchard Academies 2C (Bell)
Southeast Middle School (South Gate)
Walnut Park MS A (Walnut Park)
 California Department of Education
(CDE) 2015-16 list of “1,000
Persistently Lowest Performing”
schools includes 4 southeast cities
LAUSD middle schools
 Just 5-10% of adults in the Southeast
Cities hold Bachelor’s degrees
 40-50% of adults in the Southeast
Cities do not hold a high school
diploma
 City of South Gate (population
100,000) has just 2 charter schools,
both K-5
“Underperforming Schools” in Southeast Los Angeles
The Need for A Quality Middle School in Southeast LA

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Southeast Cities’ Crisis in College Readiness
College Eligibility Benchmark at Southeast High Schools
Nationally, just 55% of Latino 9th graders
aspire to a Bachelor’s Degree – 20% lower
than the national average for all students.
Pew Hispanic Center, 2004
100%
30%
26% 25%
39% 41%
29%
Alliance Collins
(Charter)
Bell High School Huntington Park HS Int'l Studies LC Maywood Academy South East HS South Gate HS
UC/CSU Course Requirements for Admission (A-G) Fulfilled by
Graduates
LAUSD Average
Under 40% of graduates of Southeast LAUSD high schools are eligible to enroll in
California’s public universities
“In high-poverty environments, a student’s
middle grades experience strongly impacts the
odds of graduating from high school.”
Dr. Robert Balfanz, Johns Hopkins University,
2009
National Studies show pathways to college readiness for low-income Latino students begin to break
down in the middle grades

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The Valiente Way
Expectations of
Excellence in an
Underserved
Community
Extended Hours
for Rigorous
Instruction and
Support
College
Preparation for
Every
Student
Small School
Community

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Key Components of Valiente’s Design
1. Locate in an underserved area of Los Angeles
 Campus in South Gate, CA. Population 95,000
 Over 90% of students qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch
 < 8% of adults hold bachelor’s degree, < 55% hold high school diploma
2. Increase student time in classrooms and with teachers
 7:45am – 4:10pm school day (over 2 hours more per day than LAUSD)
3. Begin middle school integration early
 Serve grades 4-8 to close the gap in college readiness before students enter high school
4. Focus on college prep with emphasis on curriculum, particularly English and Math
 Two periods of daily English Language Arts
 Two periods of daily Mathematics
 Social Studies, Science, Independent Reading, P.E., Computers/Arts/Electives
5. Carefully phase growth plan to ensure quality education for all students
 Plan to open with 140 students in grades 4-5 (70 students per grade)
 Grow to 525 students in grades 4-8 over 5 years (105 students per grade)