Career-Readiness
Across 3 Cities

Aspire needed career-readiness enrichment — fast

Aspire Public Schools encompasses 36 schools over 3 main locations — The Bay Area, Central Valley, and Los Angeles — serving over 15,000 students. The Coronavirus pandemic left students suffering the effects of learning loss, and the Expanded Learning Team wanted to use California's ELO-P funds to provide impactful career-readiness programs that created real opportunities for students.

Testing the waters across 3 schools

As a new partner, the team decided to let Work ED prove their claims with 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 students be themselves.

“Before Work ED, there was a lack of staff and lack of support for the middle school kids in afterschool.”
_{– Andrei Stvistal, After School Manager, Capitol Heights Academy}

Expanding to 11 schools across 3 regions

Following the pilot's success, Work ED expanded across 11 schools across 3 regions with only 2 months of lead time. Work ED's core culture and proven hiring method ensured only staff with the right drive and mentality were brought in — maintaining the same level of impact and culture at every new site.

“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}

Pivoting when challenges arose

One newer school was particularly challenging for student behavior. Work ED deployed its most experienced staff and worked closely with the school site to develop a unique plan. Over time, the collaboration paid off — Work ED's weekly internal reports showed a gradual reduction in issues and an increase in student performance.