Pro-Vision All Male Charter School

 

First all Male Charter School in Texas

The Pro-Vision All Male HISD Charter School is an innovative single-sex school that targets young men in grades 5 through 9 who are experiencing academic difficulty, behavioral challenges, and other issues that have not allowed them to have success in a traditional school setting. Since it’s opening in 1995, the Pro-Vision School has gained valuable experience tapping into the hidden essence of what makes all human existences matter through purpose and meaning. Pro-Vision blends meaningful relationships with responsible adults, personal accountability and innovative education techniques that have enhanced the traditional school system curriculum. This blending of creative ideas has produced successful outcomes for numerous young men who come through the doors of the Pro-Vision School.

The key objectives of the program are designed to provide male students with the socio-educational support needed to break patterns of failure and despair as well as redirect them into a pattern of long-term success. The school provides young men with an environment that is designed to be smaller and more intimate in order to respond to their individual needs. The program nurtures students in a caring, regimented environment that places an emphasis on the creation of a healthy image, personal accountability, moral values, and other life management skills necessary for successful living. Pro-Vision combines academics, cultural enrichment, professional counseling, life skills training, mentoring, parent involvement, community service, sports and recreation into a comprehensive whole that not only keeps youth safe through an extended day but produces academically competent youth who gain a sense of belonging, leadership skills, and appropriate decision- making and critical-thinking abilities.

Pro-Vision serves young men who are considered at high risk for failure, not only academically but also in life. The young men we serve come to us facing a variety of issues and obstacles, which put them at a tremendous disadvantage in the pursuit of a normal, healthy adult life. To evaluate our effectiveness in combating these issues and assisting youth in turning their lives in a more positive direction, Pro-Vision takes a long-term, multi-year approach to measuring success. The program outcomes are designed to reflect a more comprehensive approach to developing the entire child. Therefore, Pro-Vision looks at four broad measures in determining a students progress, specifically:

Academic Achievement – A contributing factor to student’s success is their positive beliefs about their academic abilities. Our intake tests indicate that 95% of our students come to us reading two or more grade levels below normal and 55% score two or more grade levels below normal in math proficiency. However, after only one year in our program, an average of 43% of the students passed the reading comprehension component of the Stanford10 Test and 49% passed the Stanford 10 math component. After two years in our program these levels rise to 53% and 55% respectively.

School Engagement and Academic Self-Concept – When a young person begins to believe that school is an important aspect of their life, we believe that they will value school more and therefore misbehave less. Based on discipline and adjudication reports, at intake, 95% of our population has exhibited persistent or chronic disruptive behavior in traditional school and 5% have engaged in criminal activity. Via a written contractual agreement that is fostered during our intake process, the Pro-Vision School staff, the young man enrolling in our program, and his legal guardian(s) agree to take the necessary steps to manifest success in the student’s life. As a result, we have found that on average after one year in our program, incidents of negative behavior and criminal activity drop to 85% and 3% respectively. After two years the numbers fall even further, to 75% and 0% respectively.

Sense of Safety– Pro-Vision attempts to create a sort of sanctuary, a safe haven for students who may experience a very negative and even dangerous environment when they leave campus. By having a variety of programs that operate 10-12 hours per day and on weekends, our students have a place where they will have fun, build and maintain meaningful relationships with responsible adults and receive the nurturance that needed to sustain a healthy life. In addition to the regular school day, over 85% of our students voluntarily participate in at least one other Pro-Vision service that is offered.

Social and Developmental Growth – Teaching a child the social and development skills to positively participate and succeed in society is a very important aspect of Pro-Vision’s mission. Through our character education activities during the school day and our more comprehensive Manhood Development program, students gain the skills necessary to become a positive force in their families, communities, and society at-large. Over 25% of our students have met the stringent requirements necessary to join the Manhood Development program.

Since 1990 our programs have been successful in reversing cycle of poverty, violence, and despair that pervade the lives of our students. As a result, over 80% of our students graduate from high school and 24% are gainfully employed or enrolled in a post-secondary educational program.

As the school system is looked upon to do much more than to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic the Pro-Vision School strives to provide programs and services that allow public education, in partnership with families and the community at-large, to build the social and behavioral well-being of our children. The services offered by the Pro-Vision School infuse a positive life philosophy into its students; a philosophy that creates positive thinking. This broad spectrum of services work together to strengthen the mental, moral, and physical character of the young men we serve.