A Note From Lynn Prentiss

August 2025

Dear UCAP Community, Friends and Partners,

As an educator, we have a lot to be grateful for. Soaring to the top of that list is the natural “start over” we get every new school year. Just like on New Years, educators at this time of the year are reflecting on last year, setting goals for the coming year and buzzing around with mixed excitement and anxiety to meet their new classes of kids. On behalf of our school community, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve our students and we look forward to the bright spots and learning moments every year brings!

This past December, we learned that we moved from a 1 Star School Rating to a 2 Star School Rating. Although that may not sound all that impressive, it is when you think about where we have been and who we intentionally serve. Over the last 3 years, our

• Daily Attendance has risen from 73% to 88%.

• Chronic Absenteeism has gone from 82% (meaning 82% of our students were absent 18 or more days throughout the school year) to 42%; Cutting it in half!

• Suspensions are down from 91 to 26, a 72% decrease. 

• Academic Growth on ELA and Math state assessments has increased on average 10% more kids getting closer to proficiency from the year before and the year before that and so on…

• We were able to make this move from a 1 Star to a 2 Star because of our work in growing our students’ mathematics skills and moving the achievement needle of our students who receive Multilingual Learner Language Support.

This year, we continue to strive towards excellence and improve outcomes for kids. To help us do that, we are

• Partnering with City Year to focus on the academic growth of students inside and outside of the math and ELA classrooms.

• Implementing the Chance at Progress (CAP) Program to keep kids connected to school even when they make suspendable mistakes.

• Growing our Multilingual Learner Language Program with the support of a teacher targeted to support their needs in and out of the classroom.

• Committing resources to having an Attendance Support Officer who works closely with stakeholders to ensure students come to school every day, on time and ready to learn.

• Focusing our advisors’ efforts on building a stronger home school connection.

I look forward to providing updates on all of this work throughout the year! A big thank you to all of the generous funders and grantors who provide UCAP with the necessary support to make it possible for us to ensure that we level the playing field for every student!

With great respect,
Lynn (LP) Prentiss
Executive Director