2008 Annual Report

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Houston A+ Challenge develops leaders and ideas to transform public schools in the Houston region, for our children and for our future. Houston A+ Challenge is committed to ensuring that all public school students, no matter what their background, graduate high school prepared for success in college, career and civic life.

Our Strategy Research shows that nothing will impact our children’s chances at success more than the quality of their teachers, the effectiveness of their school leaders, and the strength of the partnerships between their schools, families and communities. We are the only local nonprofit dedicated to: •

Galvanizing and supporting cross-district networks of educators at all levels – from teachers to principals to superintendents – who are passionate about the need to transform our public schools and systems to improve student success.

Connecting these A+ educators with national and local experts, research-based innovations, funding, and public engagement that adds value and meaning to public education.

Evaluating the progress of our schools and school leaders in a collaborative, reflective environment, in order to coach and challenge them to higher levels.

Throughout our 11-year history, independent evaluators have found Houston A+ Challenge’s work has helped to improve student learning, narrow the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students, and spark widespread adoption of research-based teaching strategies and professional learning communities.1

1Houston Annenberg Challenge Evaluation Report: Lessons Learned on Urban School Reform (University of

Texas at Austin, University of Houston and Rice University, Dr. Pedro Reyes, Director & Principal Investigator, 2002) and Houston Schools for a New Society: Study of High School Restructuring (Dr. Pedro Reyes, Principal Investigator, University of Texas at Austin, 2006).


T H E P OW E R O F T H E N ET WO R K Public education is the foundation of our democracy. As this great nation looks to restart its economic engine, the stakes could not be higher for making our public schools work. Today, more than one million students attend public schools in the Houston metropolitan region. These children are the ones we’re counting on to develop new sources of energy. To take us back to the moon – and beyond. To care for us as we grow old. And to pass on to their children the values of education and democracy. At Houston A+ Challenge, we strongly believe that collaboration is the key to ensuring the success of this generation and those that follow. From parents to grandparents, from business people to elected officials, from kindergarten teachers to university leaders – we all have a role to play. That’s the power of the network. Since 1997, our nonprofit organization has served as the region’s advocate for public school transformation, providing a catalyst for innovations, an engine for systemic change, and a galvanizing force for public, private and corporate investment in local schools. A timeline of our major accomplishments appears on the following pages. Last year, 93 percent of our budget went directly to helping teachers, principals, and districts improve school leadership, teaching and learning for thousands of Houstonarea students. Our proudest achievements include:

an effort that gained enthusiastic support and investment from six districts within just six months;

Partnering with the National College Access Network to start a new, data-driven initiative to transform district practices and policies so that more students graduate high school prepared to enter college and to achieve success in college, career and civic life;

Witnessing Houston Independent School District’s expansion of a successful literacy initiative, originally co-created with Houston A+, which demonstrated that on-site skills coaching from a handful of content experts can improve instruction for hundreds of teachers and raise achievement levels for thousands of low-income students. In this year’s Annual Report, you will meet some of the outstanding individuals who are passionately engaged in this important work. We hope that their stories will inspire you to invest in our mission. We believe that together, we can continue developing new leaders and new ideas to transform the region’s public schools, for our children and for our future. We hope that you will join us.

Joe B. Foster Chairman, Board of Trustees September 2006 to October 2008

Launching an aspiring principal’s academy to recruit, prepare and support talented new leaders for the Houston region’s struggling secondary schools –

Ann Friedman Chairman, Board of Trustees October 2008 to present

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72% of students are

$30,700,000,000

In the next

30 years,

The loss in wages, taxes and

the numbers of white

productivity over the lifetimes

Houstonians over age

of all the Texas high school

65 will double. The younger

dropouts who didn’t walk

cohorts are disproportionately

“College-ready” graduates in the

across the stage with their

non-Anglo and far less

Houston region, Class of 2007:

peers in the Class of 2008.4

privileged.5

55% of White students 26% of Hispanic students 20% of African American students 22% of Economically 6

economically disadvantaged and

62%

are at risk of

dropping out in the five

Disadvantaged students

primary districts served by A+.3

The number of students who attend public schools in the 54 districts serving the g Notable Events During Houston A+ Challenge’s History 1997

Houston Annenberg Challenge

1998

First Reforming Schools

2000

K-5 Math Specialists Initiative

2002

Research shows achievement

founded as one of 18 sites answering

Summer Institute; first Critical Friends

launched; Partnership for Quality

gap closing for Annenberg schools;

The Annenberg Foundation's call to

Group training; direct grants of $1.55

Education team begins redesigning

Brown and Annenberg foundations

reform the nation’s public schools;

million awarded to 65 schools in 20

university-level teacher training

commit second round of funding to

investment from The Brown Foundation

Lamplighter Learning Communities

in Houston

renamed Houston A+ Challenge

2001

2003

stimulates local matching funds; first direct grants totaling $1.4 million awarded

1999

to 11 Beacon Schools

in grants to Beacon, Lamplighter

from New Visions in Leadership Academy;

Houston Community College co-create

Schools; National Speaker Series

high school reform efforts with Houston

Challenge Early College High School,

begins

Independent School District launched

the state’s first campus where students

through grants from the Carnegie

can earn a high school diploma and

Corporation of New York and the

a community college degree in five

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

years; 16 campuses in four regional

2

Second round of $4.64 million

First class of principals graduates

Houston A+, Houston ISD and


74%

of Houstonians

More than

half of all

95% The college completion

don’t believe that a high

new jobs created through

rate for students from the

school education is enough

2014

wealthiest families.

to get a good job in today’s economy;

will require at least

some college

experience.8

60% agree

rate for students from the poorest families.9

that a college education is

25% The college completion

needed.7

630,000

$1,000,000

The additional

number of students that need

The difference in earnings,

to enroll in college and

over a lifetime, between a

university by the year 2015,

college graduate and a high

just to close the gap between

school graduate. Just one year of college can increase

Texas and other states.11

10

lifetime earnings by 15%.

2

greater Houston region – nearly one quarter of all public school students in Texas.

districts join A+’s high school redesign

2005

network

as Critical Friends Group coaches

Specialist Initiative into four Houston

awarded A+ grants totaling $487,000

surpasses 1,000; principals trained

ISD middle schools; Preparing to

to innovate and replicate promising

through New Visions reaches 200

Dream college access initiative

practices in literacy, math and fine

launches in five local districts

arts; A+ launches new academy to

2004

Houston A+ helps fund and

Number of teachers trained

develop the region’s first electronic system to track students across districts; similar technology is picked up statewide to help identity dropouts; A+, Houston ISD and City of Houston launch first “Reach Out To Dropouts Walk”

2006

More than 100 teachers

2007

ExxonMobil expands A+ Math

2008

10 schools and two districts

recruit, prepare and support new

participate in the fourth annual Teacher

principals for the region’s struggling

Externship; A+ hosts series of public

secondary schools

forums on school finance; first small, internationally-themed high school opens in Houston ISD with support from Houston A+, Asia Society and HCC

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F U

MEN

+ORING U R E

When Steve Siebenaler took over as principal of Waltrip High School in 2003, he was faced with a daunting, but familiar challenge: a low-performing, urban campus, plagued by racial tensions, apathy and frustration.

wide, featuring a highly selective recruitment and selection process, a hands-on internship and active learning projects, and a cohort of peers who develop a supportive learning community.

“I was told, ‘Fix it,’ and handed the keys to the school. We’ve been in reform mode ever since.”

After four days on campus with Siebenaler, Fisher spends a day of reflection, analysis, scenario-building, cross-site school visits and continued learning with his peers and

The hard lessons Siebenaler was forced to learn on-the-job – how to build a shared vision, cultivate teacher leaders, and transform a toxic culture into one that elevates student learning – he now uses to mentor Reginald Fisher over an intensive, year-long internship through Houston A+ Challenge’s Regional Principal Leadership Academy. As one of 19 aspiring principals selected from more than 230 applicants, Fisher says his “whole perspective has been expanded” through the Academy, which launched in June 2008 with major support from Houston Endowment and The Brown Foundation. “The principal sets the whole tone for the school,” he says. “Whatever values he holds, the school holds. If he values instruction, that’s what’s going to get done.” Sixty-nine percent of principals and 80 percent of superintendents believe that traditional principal training programs are out of touch with current realities of the job, according to a recent Public Agenda survey. Houston A+ Challenge’s academy is modeled on high-quality preparation programs nation-

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Houston A+ Challenge faculty. The coaching and network support for Fisher will continue through A+ for at least two years, as the principal interns become leaders in their own schools. “This is a new generation of leaders,” Fisher says. “We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. It’s only after gaining this perspective that we can do something different.”

THE BIG PICTURE An estimated 160 principal vacancies need to be filled annually across the Houston region, and more than one-fourth of principal positions turn over each year in some districts. Teacher turnover increases with principal turnover, and these rates are highest at high-poverty secondary schools. Such instability has a direct and negative impact on student performance. At full capacity in 2012, Houston A+ Challenge’s Regional Principal Leadership Academy will provide high-quality training and support for upwards of 140 new and aspiring principals annually, supporting partner school districts, including Aldine, Houston, Humble, Spring, Spring Branch and YES Prep Public Schools.

THE POWER OF THE NETWORK Reginald Fisher takes a turn in the principal’s seat, with coaching support from Houston A+ Challenge’s Marshal Dupas, a retired principal (left), and mentorship from Steve Siebenaler, principal of Houston Independent School District’s Waltrip High School.


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N E

SUPPOR As the first in her family to attend and graduate from college, Susana Velis has a special understanding of the students she counsels at Aldine and Nimitz high schools. “My parents arrived in the U.S. with sixth grade educations,” says Velis. “When it came time to apply for college, they couldn’t help. I just struggled through it.” According to a 2008 survey, 70 percent of high school students in Aldine would be the first in their families to attend college – that is, if they manage to successfully navigate the maze of required classes, applications and essays, scholarship opportunities and financial aid forms. Yet traditional school counselors in Aldine Independent School District, as in many districts nationwide, have case loads of up to 400 students. Through the Preparing to Dream initiative – a joint project with Houston A+ Challenge and the National College Access Network – Aldine ISD is piloting a model to help more students find their way along the path to college. In 2008, Velis was hired as the district’s first full-time, campus-based College Access Coordinator, to augment the work of traditional counselors. In addition, 34 high school students and six classroom teachers were selected and trained to serve on “The Dream Team” – providing peer-to-peer and classroom-level assistance with motivation, application forms and follow-through.

Aldine ISD’s Director of Guidance Services, Dr. Charlotte Davis, says early results are positive – more than 1,200 students and parents attended the district’s College Night in 2008, up 33 percent from the previous year. “It’s a total transition,” Davis says. “Eventually we want to see this culture spread district-wide, to where everyone from the front office, to the bus drivers, to the custodial staff are talking about college.”

+ W O R K S

THE BIG PICTURE Aldine ISD is one of five school districts participating in the Preparing to Dream initiative, funded generously by Houston Endowment and TG, the state’s guarantor of student loans. Teams of school leaders, teachers, parents and students from Cypress-Fairbanks, Goose Creek, Houston and Spring Branch also developed innovative pilot projects based on a comprehensive analysis of student achievement data, college-going rates and trends, district demographics and current college access programs. Teams began implementing their plans in Fall 2008, assisted by nationally recognized data coaches and core team coaches of Texas educational leaders. Benchmarking data will be used to chart progress in improving student outcomes, and to fine-tune strategies during the three-year initiatives. Project details for all districts are online at: www.preparingtodream.org.

“Everything we do is meant to show our classmates they’re not alone in this journey,” says Carlos De La Torre, a senior who hopes to attend Georgetown University and become the first college student in his family. “Some people just need a little push.”

THE POWER OF THE NETWORK Trained as peer mentors, Aldine High School seniors Carlos De La Torre and Anamechia Joseph help College Access Advisor Susana Velis (center) provide scholarship information and application assistance to Aldine and Nimitz high schools’ 5,000+ students. Dozens of students and teachers at the two schools have become trained members of “The Dream Team.”

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+ EACHING R A N S F O R M I N G

Tell Angela Borzon a student’s reading level, and she can tell you his performance in science, social studies or math – and even his patterns of behavior. “Literacy has a direct correlation to achievement in all other areas. Knowing it and believing it are two different things,” says Borzon, a literacy coach at Furr High School in Houston ISD. “The science teachers here believe it.” Why? As a literacy coach, Borzon spends three hours each week with the science department – identifying vocabulary that may cause limited-English students to stumble, developing lab reports requiring essays as answers, and testing and revising research-based literacy strategies in science classrooms. After just a year of this work, students’ TAKS pass rates in science at Furr jumped more than 30 points, up to 68 percent in 2008. “We learned that by doing this, students perform,” says Rafael Betancourt, a chemistry teacher at Furr HS. “We had to change the mentality of teachers working as individuals. We became a team.” Borzon, a Teach for America alumna who left law school to return to the classroom, says the Critical Friends Group training she received from Houston A+ Challenge gave

1+1 8

her the tools to transform her weekly discussions with science teachers. She calls her experience with Houston A+ Challenge’s literacy coaches network “a transformational movement.” “It totally changed our attitudes toward instruction, by creating a space where we could collaborate,” she says. “The purpose is to not just accept the status quo in how schools function. We were taught not to be just managers, but to be leaders.”

THE BIG PICTURE What started as an innovative idea – using literacy strategies to improve classroom instruction and student achievement in all subjects – has become a districtwide investment in Houston ISD. Houston A+ Challenge provided funding, training and a support network for literacy coaches in all Houston ISD comprehensive high schools starting in 2003, through grants from The Brown Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and The Annenberg Foundation. Between 2003 and 2008, the percentage of ninth grade students meeting the Panel Recommended standard for reading has risen across the district, from 55 percent to 77 percent. In 2008, Houston ISD built on the successes of this model to develop a new, comprehensive, pre-K-12 literacy initiative – adding 42 campusbased literacy coaches to all middle schools, and 24 regional literacy coordinators who offer coaching and guidance to all district teachers.

THE POWER OF THE NETWORK Furr High School literacy coach Angela Borzon (front) and teacher Rafael Betancourt (left) continue the work of Houston ISD Adolescent Literacy Manager Tina Angelo (one of 28 original literacy coaches funded through the Houston Schools for a New Society Initiative) and Houston A+ Challenge’s P. Tim Martindell, who led the literacy coaches’ network for four years alongside Angelo in Houston ISD.


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T H E P OW E R O F T H E N ET WO R K Houston A+ Challenge supports peer-to-peer networks and academies to inspire, challenge and inform educators at all stages of their careers:

Regional Faculty for superintendents, higher education and community leaders Regional Senior Fellows for mid-level school district leaders New Visions in Leadership Academy for principals and assistant principals Regional Principal Leadership Academy for aspiring principals Content-focused networks for mathematics and literacy coaches Critical Friends Group training for classroom teachers Reforming Schools Summer Institute for school teams Regional Collaborative for High School Redesign for school teams

In 2007-08, A+ worked directly with more than 1,200 leaders at all levels through these networks and invested in 104 schools (45 high schools, 17 middle schools and 42 elementary schools) across five districts that serve more than 368,000 children.

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OU R I M PAC T Our initiatives provide teachers, principals and administrators with research-based resources, support and coaching to improve classroom and district practices. Since 1997, we have:

Raised more than $90 million to promote leadership, literacy, mathematics and fine arts initiatives, and whole-campus reform at 172 A+ network schools, impacting nearly 9,600 teachers and 151,000 students. Houston A+ staff provides program support, evaluation and financial oversight.

Trained more than 1,500 teachers and school leaders as Critical Friends, a movement University of Texas researchers identified as the key to guiding the “messy, professional conversations” that are vital to school improvement.

Demonstrated through our literacy and math initiatives that on-site skills coaching from a handful of content experts can improve instruction for hundreds of teachers, and

significantly raise achievement levels for thousands of low-income students.

Strengthened the knowledge and skills of more than 300 principals and assistant principals through our two-year New Visions in Leadership Academy.

Exposed more than 500 classroom teachers to the needs and expectations of Houston’s 21st Century workforce through our annual Teacher Externship Program. Teachers have developed workforce-relevant classroom lessons impacting more than 75,000 students.

Co-created four new, small high schools serving nearly 1,000 students in Houston ISD, including two international schools and the first early college high school in the state of Texas.

Exposed more than 3,000 Houston-area educators to national speakers, researchers and best practices via the annual Reforming Schools Summer Institute and yearlong National Speaker Series events.

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F I N A N C I A LS The following information was extracted from financial statements that were audited by an independent accounting firm. A complete set of audited financial statements is available on request. Houston A+ Challenge is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization. ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents Grants receivable Other assets

2007 13,191,977 2,690,734 61,386

2008 13,241,679 5,500,869 25,342

TOTAL ASSETS

15,944,097

18,767,890

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS Grants payable Other payables Total liabilities Net assets

3,148,391 226,330 3,374,721 12,569,376

1,492,083 441,094 1,933,177 16,834,713

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS

15,944,097

18,767,890

REVENUE Contributions Interest income Training fees

4,042,078 554,965 78,914

9,524,813 555,260 75,790

TOTAL REVENUE

4,675,957

10,155,863

EXPENSES Quality Teaching Leadership Development Community Engagement Communications Total program expenses Management and general Fundraising

4,740,704 1,153,545 491,215 201,830 6,587,294 246,758 70,091

3,651,109 1,181,234 509,617 146,259 5,488,219 370,069 32,238

TOTAL EXPENSES

6,904,143

5,890,526

-2,228,186

4,265,337

CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

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1% Fundraising 6% Management and general

5% Interest income 1% Training fees

94% Contributions

93% Program services

REVENUE

EXPENSES

20% 9% 2% 6% 1% 62%

Leadership Development Community Engagement Communications Management and general Fundraising Quality Teaching

62%

Quality Teaching (includes Literacy Coaches, Math

Specialists, and direct grants to schools supporting literacy, math and fine arts initiatives)

20% Leadership Development (includes academies for current and aspiring school principals, regionwide networks for central office leaders, Reforming Schools Summer Institute, Speaker Series and Critical Friends Group training)

9%

Public Engagement (includes Teacher Externships,

community forums and special events)

EXPENSES 13


DO N O RS J U LY 2 0 0 7 TO D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8 $2 Million The Annenberg Foundation $1.8 Million Houston Endowment $1.5 Million The Brown Foundation $100,000 Asia Society Bank of America ExxonMobil National College Access Network Shell TG $50,000 to $99,000 Coalition of Essential Schools Joe B. Foster Family Foundation JPMorgan Chase & Co. Washington Mutual The Wedge Group* $25,000 to $49,000 Chevron H-E-B United Way of Greater Houston The Wachovia Foundation $10,000 to $24,000 Houston Community College Houston Independent School District Spectra Energy

* Denotes In-kind Donation 14

$1,000 to $9,000 American General Life Companies Baker Hughes Jack and Annis Bowen Foundation Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation CenterPoint Energy Karen and William K. Crouch Barbara and Jonathan Day El Paso Corporation Harriet and Joe B. Foster The Friedman Foundation Jenard and Gail Gross Fund Halliburton Hewlett-Packard Marathon Oil Corporation The Steven and Sheila Miller Foundation National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Newfield Exploration Company Macey and Harry M. Reasoner The Samuels Foundation San Jacinto College Foundation Schlumberger Yava and Milton Scott Technip Victory Packaging Volunteer Houston Bill and Andrea White Houston Charitable Fund $999 and below Susan A. Bischoff and Jim B. Barlow Betsy B. and Joshua Breier Des Moines Public Schools Epstein Becker Green Wickliff & Hall, P.C. JP Kenny Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund Mary E. and Carl B. King P. Tim Martindell Sue H. McMurrey MFR, P.C. Rebecca and Gasper Mir III Karol and Daniel Musher Protectors Insurance Shari Riesenfeld Sherrie and Robert B. Sale Margaret Lotterhos Smith Tellepsen Builders Dr. and Mrs. Peter K. Thompson Vinson & Elkins LLP Elizabeth D. Williams


S C HOO LS & D I ST R I C T S S E RV E D 2 0 0 7 To 2 0 0 8 Houston ISD + Anderson Elementary + Askew Elementary + Benavidez Elementary + Bonham Elementary + 5 Braeburn Elementary + Browning Elementary Burnet Elementary Burress Elementary Daily Elementary + Elrod Elementary + Gross Elementary + Helms Community Learning Center Herod Elementary + Lantrip Elementary 5 Longfellow Elementary + McNamara Elementary + 5 Milne Elementary + Mistral Early Childhood Center + Moreno Elementary Neff Elementary + 5 Park Place Elementary 5 Piney Point Elementary + Port Houston Elementary Roberts Elementary Rodriguez Elementary + Sands Point Elementary + Scott Elementary Shadowbriar Elementary + Shearn Elementary + Sutton Elementary + Tinsley Elementary + 5 Twain Elementary Walnut Bend Elementary + Whidby Elementary White Elementary + Fondren Middle + Grady Middle 5 Hamilton Middle 5 Johnston Middle 5 Lanier Middle Long Middle + McReynolds Middle Pershing Middle Pin Oak Middle 5 Revere Middle + Sharpstown Middle + Austin High À Bellaire High Challenge Early College High Davis High

Kingwood Park High Quest High

DeBakey High 5 Empowerment High Furr High À Houston High À Houston Academy for International Studies International High School at Sharpstown 5 Jones High Kashmere High À Lamar High À Lee High À Madison High À Milby High À Reagan High À Scarborough High À Sharpstown High À5 Sterling High Waltrip High À5 Washington High À Westbury High À Westside High À Wheatley High À Yates High À Aldine ISD

Aldine/Kujawa Academy 5 Anderson Academy 5 Bethune Academy Hoffman Middle Houston Academy Reed Academy Shotwell Academy 5 Stovall Academy Aldine 9th Aldine High Eisenhower High 5 Alief ISD 5 Hearne Elementary 5 Alief Middle 5 Elsik 9th Elsik High 5 Hastings 9th Hastings High 5 Kerr High Taylor High Humble ISD

Pine Forest Elementary Atascocita High 5 Humble High 5 Kingwood High 5

Spring Branch ISD Pine Shadows Elementary Spring Branch Elementary Memorial High Northbrook High Spring Woods High Stratford High

Other Districts Cypress-Fairbanks ISD 5 Goose Creek CISD 5 North Forest ISD Spring ISD

Stafford ISD YES Prep Public Schools

Other Schools KIPP Sharpstown College Prep University of Houston Downtown

KEY

Campus Improvement Grant Fine Arts Grant Focused Impact Grant +

(math, literacy and/or fine arts) Literacy Coach Math Specialists Network

Preparing to Dream Reach Out to Dropouts Grant Reasoning Mind Mathematics Program 5 Reforming Schools Summer Institute Regional High School Network

Regional Principal Leadership Academy Replication / Innovation Grant À School Improvement Facilitator Small Schools Grant Teacher as Researcher Grant

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HOUSTON A+ CHALLENGE STAFF

Houston A+ Challenge Directors, from left: Alejandro Morúa, Sheri Miller-Wiliams, Scott Van Beck, Catherine Reed and Melissa Milios Davis

Tuan Amith Webmaster Betsy Broyles Breier Program Coordinator Imelda Cardoza Administrative Assistant Shundra Cannon Faculty Coach Melissa Milios Davis Director, Communications & Development Marshal Dupas Leadership Academy, Consulting Coach Debbie Emery Leadership Academy, Consulting Coach

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Lawrence Kohn Leadership Academy, Consulting Coach Donna O’Neil Administrative Assistant P. Tim Martindell Assistant Director, Leadership in Teaching Sheri Miller-Williams Director, Leadership Alejandro Morúa Director, Partnerships & Innovations Angela Prince Curriculum Specialist Rena Ramirez Faculty Coach

Catherine Reed Director, Finance Bonnie Roberts Leadership Academy, Consulting Coach Terrie Roberts Events Coordinator Lisa Stein Administrative Assistant Scott Van Beck Executive Director Mike Webster Program Coordinator


B OA R D O F T RU ST E E S AS O F D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 8 FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER Maconda Brown O’Connor, Ph.D. First Vice President, The Brown Foundation

BOARD MEMBERS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Bill Crouch Managing Director, Human Resources Information Systems Continental Airlines, Inc.

CHAIR Ann Friedman, Ph.D. Community Volunteer

Susan A. Bischoff President Houston Public Library Foundation

PRESIDENT J. Victor Samuels Founder Victory Packaging, Inc.

Jonathan Day Of Counsel Andrews Kurth LLP

SECRETARY Thomas L. Elsenbrook Managing Director Alvarez & Marsal Buisness Consulting, LLC

Joe B. Foster Founder Newfield Exploration Company Roberto Gonzalez Vice President Employment & Training Centers, Inc. Shawn Gross President SAJG Investments, Inc.

Harry M. Reasoner Partner Vinson & Elkins LLP Yava D. Scott Senior Vice President Siebert Brandford Shank & Co., LLC Bobby Tudor Chief Executive Officer Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. VJ Turner, Jr. Manager ExxonMobil Corporation Andrea White Community Volunteer Rosie Zamora President Houston Wilderness, Inc. ADVISORY BOARD

Gasper Mir, III Founding Principal MFR, P.C.

Leonel Castillo Mayor’s Office City Hall (Retired)

Karol Musher, M.A., CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist Texas Children’s Hospital

Michael Dee Investment Banker

Maconda Brown O’Connor, Ph.D. First Vice President The Brown Foundation

H. Devon Graham, Jr. President R. E. Smith Interests, Inc. Jenard M. Gross President/Owner Gross Investments

ANNUAL REPORT CREDITS

Melissa Milios Davis Writer and Editor Edge Creative Strategies Design Ben Tecumseh DeSoto Photography

2 Texas Education Agency, Region 4 Educational Service Center, 2007-08. 3 TEA Region 4, 2007-08. 4 Alliance for Excellent Education, “The High Cost of High School Dropouts: What the Nation

Pays for Inadequate High Schools,” 2008. 5 Houston Area Survey, 2008. 6 TEA Region 4, 2007-08. 7 Houston Area Survey, 2008. 8 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 9 Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY, November 2008. 10 First in the Family, U.S. Census Bureau data. 11 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.


2700 Southwest Freeway, Suite B Houston, TX 77098-4607 713-658-1881 www.houstonaplus.org


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