BUILD something GREAT
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ll kids deserve access to an excellent education. Yet, three of four low-income students are behind grade level by fourth grade. Rocketship is building an innovative school model that propels student achievement for over 7,000 Rocketeers in underserved communities across the country. Our rapidly growing network of teachers and leaders are on a mission to eliminate the achievement gap in our lifetime. We are challenging conventional approaches to teaching and collectively working to redefine and elevate the role of teachers in the 21st century. Teachers at Rocketship are at the heart of our Rocketeers’ academic achievement and our collective impact on the communities we serve. We are committed to supporting our teachers to grow their skills while driving student progress. We have built robust training and development programs to ensure that everyone — from a first year teacher to a tenth year veteran — continues to grow as an excellent teacher, leader and agent of change. At Rocketship, you are joining a network and a community committed to excellence. If you are looking for the chance to drive transformative change in underserved communities and contribute to a national movement to eliminate the achievement gap in your lifetime, look no further than Rocketship.
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Rocketship operates excellent schools in California’s Bay Area, Milwaukee, WI, Nashville, TN & Washington, DC.
Rocketship Education is a non-profit network of public elementary charter schools serving primarily ething great low-income students in neighborhoods where access to excellent schools is limited. We believe truly transformative schools do more than educate students; they empower teachers, engage parents and inspire communities.
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Together, we can eliminate the achievement gap in our lifetime.
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ROCKETSHIP’S 3 PILLARS Rocketship educators are tenacious. We are hungry to learn and grow in our pursuit of excellence. Together, we are reimagining the traditional school system for today’s needs and tomorrow’s opportunities. Our philosophy is based on three core beliefs about transformational schools.
EXCELLENT TEACHERS & LEADERS Transformational teachers and leaders are at the heart of our organization and fuel our success. Teachers specialize by content area, which allows us to prepare and develop impactful learning experiences for our Rocketeers. Purposeful and personalized professional development is woven into teachers’ everyday activities in the form of intensive, customized oneon-one coaching made possible by our low teacher to school leader ratio of six to one.
PERSONALIZED LEARNING Rocketship is rethinking the traditional school model to meet the unique needs of every child. With a blend of direct instruction, scaffolded practice opportunities, targeted small group instruction and adaptive online learning, our Rocketeers realize their full potential. Our focus on planning and data propels student achievement – our Rocketeers grow over 1.5 years in a single school year – setting them on the path for success in middle school, high school, college and beyond.
ENGAGED PARENTS The power of our partnership with parents underlies our collective impact. Rocketship develops parent leaders in our schools to become lifelong advocates for their children and their community. Whether volunteering in the classroom, hosting a teacher for a home visit, organizing a field trip or meeting with elected officials to address inequities, Rocketship parents are leaders at home, at school and in their community.
PERSONALIZED LEARNING Dynamic classrooms and data driven instruction allow our teachers to maximize time for personalized learning. Rocketship teachers are always striving to reach the right student with the right lesson at the right time. Unlike traditional elementary schools, students at Rocketship rotate between teachers who are content experts specializing in humanities or integrated math. Within the classroom, students receive large group instruction, experience small group and team learning and receive targeted intervention from their classroom teacher 1 . Students also rotate into Rocketship’s learning lab for adaptive online learning, additional small group instruction, team learning and targeted intervention — all led by Rocketship tutors. In our daily enrichment blocks, students participate in physical education and the arts 2 .
ENGAGED PARENTS Each fall, our teachers and leaders visit the home of every Rocketeer to learn about their students and their families. This annual ritual means a few long days...and some delicious home-cooked meals. But it is also a cornerstone of our ability to deeply engage our parents in their students’ performance. Rocketship parents are leaders in our schools and in their communities. From leading read alouds in the classroom 3 to advocating for more great schools in their community 4 , engaged parents are at the center of our work.
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ROCKETSHIP’S ROTATIONAL MODEL
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SAMPLE 3RD GRADE SCHEDULE
Launch: 7:45 Universal Breakfast: 8:00
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Enrichment: 8:20 Humanities: 9:00 Lunch & Recess: 12:00
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Integrated Math: 12:40 Break: 2:10
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Learning Lab + Tutoring: 2:20 Dismissal: 4:00 After-School Program: 4:10
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Rocketship teachers specialize in either humanities or integrated math, giving our Rocketeers exposure to different educators every day and allowing our teachers to perfect their practice and build relationships with a diverse group of children. While students are in enrichment classes or the learning lab, grade-level teams have time to plan together. Within our innovative rotational model, Rocketship teachers drive gap-closing growth for our Rocketeers every year.
1.7 years
average Rocketeer growth in mathematics on the NWEA MAP
1.5 years
average Rocketeer growth in English Language Arts on the NWEA MAP
EXCELLENT TEACHERS Teachers at Rocketship continuously strive to master their craft. They are perpetual learners, embrace change and engage the power of parent involvement to drive gap-closing growth for our Rocketeers.
ONE TO ONE COACHING Coaching is a collaboration at Rocketship. Our team of school leaders provide instructional frameworks, professional development and real-time coaching for teachers every single week. Just as our teachers invest their time and energy in the growth of their students, we invest our time and energy in the growth of our teachers.
TEAM COLLABORATION Content specialization means teachers develop lesson plans alongside other talented teachers. Our teacher teams collaborate on classroom management strategies, co-plan content and work together to deeply engage parents in our students’ performance and school culture.
CAREER PATHWAYS Your professional growth is central to our collective success. We prioritize developing leaders from within and have invested in multiple career pathway programs. Our robust leadership programs offer teachers the opportunity to grow their management and leadership skills, taking their career and impact to the next level and beyond.
EXCELLENT LEADERS School leaders are the backbone of Rocketship’s impact. Our leaders are charged with driving academic achievement and building a rigorous college preparatory culture for our Rocketeers.
LEADERSHIP INCUBATOR Every assistant principal works closely with their principal to lead and implement the instructional vision for one to three grade levels. APs manage and coach teachers by leading data analysis cycles, regularly observing classrooms, providing continuous feedback and co-planning units of study and lesson plans aimed at increasing educator effectiveness. We invest deeply in the professional development of our APs to prepare them to take on school leadership in our growing network.
RISING LEADERS The Rising Leaders program is an opportunity for professional development in leadership skills, management frameworks and mindsets that are essential to your current and future role at Rocketship. Rising Leaders learn as a part of a community of dedicated teachers who reflect on and grow their leadership capacity to prepare themselves for the next step on their leadership path in the classroom, as a school leader or on our Network Support Team.
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ethinking
elementary school from the ground
up.
Excellent Teachers & Leaders build great schools
Personalized Learning
meets the needs of every student
Engaged Parents
transform communities
rsed.org/joinus Bay Area • Milwaukee • Nashville • Washington, DC
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