How Aspire achieved their goals with Work ED

Started by one of the co-founders of Netflix, Aspire Public Schools has, since 1998, had the aim of creating more college and career-readiness focused Charter Schools in low-income, urban neighborhoods across California. Aspire Public Schools now encompasses 36 schools over 3 main locations: The Bay Area, Central Valley, and Los Angeles, serving over 15,000 students. 

Growth Mindset, integrity, equity. Values that Aspire and Work ED share.

As well as college-preparedness and career-readiness, Aspire aims to provide equitable opportunities for its students, and to break barriers in neighborhoods with underserved populations.

However, the Coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns left students across America suffering the effects of learning loss—and research has shown that this impact was worse in areas and populations that were already behind before the pandemic. 

Thankfully, California is one of the best-funded states for education, and leads the way in extended learning funding through its Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P).

But Aspire’s Expanded Learning Team wanted to use those funds in a way that stayed true to their values; to provide opportunities to students to make up for learning loss in a way that helped develop their college or career readiness, and that provided equitable access and support within their student community.

The team wanted an agile company that could quickly fill the gaps in the career-readiness offering of their enrichment programs. Staffing and logistics would have been an extra strain at a time when educators everywhere were struggling after the pandemic.

Work ED seemed like an ideal solution: a fully-staffed suite of programs targeting modern career-readiness skills, with a focus on student equity and social-emotional development.

Aspire students learning modern workplace skills in one of the Work ED programs. Copyright Work ED.

"Before Work ED, [there] was [a] lack of staff and lack of support for the middle school kids [in after school]."

Andrei Stvistal, After School Manager, Capitol Heights Academy, Aspire Public Schools

As Work ED was a new partner for Aspire, the team decided to test the waters and let Work ED prove their claims by running a small pilot program across 3 schools. Work ED responded quickly, meeting the unique needs of Aspire’s population and delivering programs that students loved, run by staff who let the students be themselves.

It was a win.

Work ED staff create an environment of psychological safety where students feel safe to express themselves and learn their own way. Copyright, Work ED.

"What made me want to continue with Work ED was the relationship and bond I built with the staff."

Andrei Stvistal, After School Manager, Capitol Heights Academy, Aspire Public Schools

So the team decided to test Work ED’s promise to scale customized programs, and engaged Work ED to expand their programs across 11 schools across 3 regions.

It was a huge jump in scale and there was a lead time of only 2 months. Would Work ED be able to expand so quickly while maintaining the same level of impact and culture?

They did. Another win.

Aspire students gave Work ED staff and programs the thumbs up. Copyright Work ED.

The team realized that Work ED can expand so rapidly where required due to their core culture and mission, which meant that when Aspire’s demand increased, Work ED were able to rapidly deploy and hire staff on the ground, using a proven hiring and training method that ensured only staff with the right drive and mentality to support students and deliver memorable experiences were brought into the fold.

The result? Students enjoying programs and gaining life-changing soft skills across Central Valley and the Bay Area charter schools.

The parents noticed the difference in their students, too. And, as anyone involved in charter schools knows, parents that opt for charter schools often do so because they expect a high quality experience for their child that will help propel them towards college or a promising career.

Aspire students working in teams under the careful guidance of Work ED staff. Copyright, Work ED.

The Aspire team also benefitted from Work ED’s Teaching Assistant Internship program—where high schoolers can gain paid work experience while mentoring the younger members of their community, providing community growth potential. 

The team were particularly impressed by Work ED’s ability to adapt to challenging situations.

One newer school was particularly challenging for student behavior. Work ED was able to pivot and deploy its most experienced staff to that site, who were able to work closely with site staff to develop a unique plan (that included adding “hazard pay” for the on-site Work ED staff” as an added incentive to continue working patiently and attentively with the students). Over time, the collaboration and dedication of school-site and Work ED staff paid off. Students felt that the Work ED staff were treating them as individuals, and they experienced the power of collaboration and support. Work ED’s weekly internal report system showed a gradual reduction in reported issues, and an increase in student performance.

Thanks to Work ED’s rapid scalable approach and demonstrated ability to adapt to challenges, the Expanded Learning Team delivered on their goals of adding impactful career-readiness programs to their roster, with the relationship set to continue in the 2023-24 school year.

Work ED staff helped Aspire students discover who they wanted to be, and gave them the encouragement to achieve it. Copyright Work ED.

Testimonials:

“My son’s been very interested in [video games] and I believe that this is a springboard for him going into that field of expertise.”

Parent

“The Work ED program is really good, it’s a way for your child to learn something new, something different. We enjoyed it and we’re hoping you guys come back again so he can do it again next year!”

Parent

“This program was so great, I loved it, all the teachers were so nice!”

Student

“We were having fun the whole time while still working!”

Student

“It was super fun! After I joined, I feel like I know more about game designing.”

Student

“I would tell [my friends] that it was really fun and that they missed out!”

Student

“Overall, the Work ED program is a unique place, and it taught me a lot … I would recommend it if you want to be a video game developer when you grow up.”

Student