Mission

At Uplift Education, student achievement is at the heart of everything we do.

Uplift's mission is to create and sustain public schools of excellence that empower students to reach their highest potential and inspire a lifelong love of learning, achievement, service, and responsible citizenship.

Charter schools are independently managed, open admission, public schools funded by the state. First approved by the Texas legislature in 1995, charter schools are run by private operators and boards, much like private schools, and can offer a more specialized range of curriculum. While publicly funded by the state, charter schools receive significantly less public funds than comparable traditional public schools. Despite this, charter schools are held to the same accountability standards as other public schools but do have more freedom over hiring and removing staff.

Like traditional public schools, charter schools are tuition-free, must publicly report their financial and academic performance, comply with all federal laws and most state laws and administer the state testing TAKS. There are some unique differences, however.

Unlike "magnet" schools, with applications to "screen" students, admission is open and based on lottery.
Focus on K-12 so we can vertically align curriculum.
Rigorous college preparatory curriculum features both Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs.
Empowered school leaders who can manage their budgets and make decisions about their staff.
More time-on-task. We have extended days and school years.
Dual board structure. We have an overall Uplift governance board to set overall strategy and policies while maintaining financial responsibility and accountability. Additionally, individual local boards for each of our campuses ensure appropriate focus on student and school performance, as well as contribute to local campus culture.

A culture that promotes positive, high expectations for our students and staff: Everyone is focused on learning and doing “whatever it takes” for our students to be successful
Mission-focused on “Shine through Life”: We view college as one step on our student’s journey to be productive, responsible leaders in the community
Empowered school leaders: Our leaders have the freedom to build their school’s culture, hire and remove their staff and manage their operating budget while being held accountable for their school’s results
Efficient centralized services that allow school leaders to focus on what really matters: Uplift’s central office manages HR, finance, facilities planning, fundraising, technology and PR on behalf of our schools at a cost that is meaningfully less than that often found within traditional school districts
Serve grades K-12: We believe in the importance of vertical alignment and that discussions about college need to start in kindergarten
International Baccalaureate curriculum: We have a rigorous college preparatory curriculum including IB and Advanced Placement classes
More time on task: We have extended school days and a multi-week Summer Leadership program
Data matters: We set goals at the student, teacher and leadership levels at the beginning of the year and actively monitor progress using regular assessments
Freedom to innovate: We encourage our teachers and school leaders to constantly identify and incorporate best practices into their classrooms and schools
Community-based dual board structure: Each campus has a local board of appointed community leaders to ensure more granular focus on student achievement

Uplift Education has a research-based, proven approach to education across our schools. Below are the core components of how we deliver on student achievement: