Our Work is Permissionless || The Yass Prize
When I first learned about the Yass Prize, I was blown away by the intentional principles that guide the efforts to find, reward, celebrate and expand best-in-class education organizations:
Sustainability - meaning your practice can be funded independently without continual philanthropy by utilizing public programs that fund the entity where students are learning, regardless of sector.
Transformational with innovative new approaches that employ 21st century knowledge and technologies, changing the way students are educated and rich in content that is relevant and impactful across all communities.
Outstanding, or demonstrably successful by every measure that matters.
Permissionless — meaning your work requires no permission and is free to exist and thrive without dependence on regulatory bodies whose rules are often at odds with parent demands and student needs.
Our school district has been named as semifinalists for the prestigious Yass Prize, which is considered the Pullitzer of education innovation!! We are utterly honored, grateful, and so excited to be seen and validated for what we have always known to be true. We think that we were made to win!
The STOP principles are beyond inspiring to me - and they are at the heart of everything we aspire to do in our work at Detroit Prep and Detroit Achievement Academy!
In my role as Head of School at Detroit Prep, this looks like supporting our district- and schoolwide efforts to create sustainable systems for our adult crew – from maximizing our daily schedule to include common prep time to allow for grade level collaboration, to working with our leadership teams to develop and sustain teacher leadership pipelines and opportunities, to working with our staff-led Sunshine Committee to plan monthly celebrations for our teammates - coming together for birthdays, holidays, and life milestones. It looks like viewing our transformational work along three dimensions of student achievement: culture & character, mastery of knowledge and skills, and high quality work in our student led conferences and celebrations of learning. It looks like our amazing teachers and Directors attaining outstanding academic and socio-emotional results - outpacing our city, county, state, and national comparison groups in academic outcomes like standardized test scores.
The principle that is top of mind for me right now, though, is permissionless – the ways our innovative model and support from our network team and school board allows us to employ a “whatever it takes” theory of action while working together to support and develop every student as a learner, leader, and world-changer. Our crew commits to holistically supporting each child, and this permissionless approach makes that truly and authentically possible.
It looks like Ms. Fiske, our Director of Upper School, revamping our Friday specials to be authentically elective, with students choosing clubs that align with their true passions and interests and our incredible Upper School and Specials teams sharing their own passions and interests - advanced art and music, school newspaper, French, GSA, yoga, graphic design, and advanced math - to show student’s what’s possible. It’s our wonderful school social workers, Ms. Briana and Ms. Aly, coordinating a Giving Tree during the winter holidays to ensure every family can celebrate with meaningful gifts, and a parent-organized Costume Closet so that every child has something special to wear for Halloween.
It’s our Operations and Student Support Team nurturing family groups called Groves, named for our six Habits of Character - where families and households are organized into smaller groups geographically, to create carpools, encourage resource sharing, and facilitate long term relationships. It’s our fabulous teachers like Ms. Rebecca, Ms. Johari, Mr. Terry, Ms. Munira, Ms. Gloria, and Ms. Abbey offering tutoring, coaching, and sponsoring after school activities outside of the school day. It’s Mr. Steffon leading a weekly boys group to teach essential life and communication skills.
The countless ways our school community goes beyond what’s often considered possible within and beyond the school day is seemingly endless, and embodies the permissionless way our team supports the whole child.
- Jen McMillan, Co-Founder & Head of School