Since its establishment in 1998, YES Prep Public Schools—a tuition-free, public charter school system—has opened 17 schools throughout the Houston area. Its 18th location is slated to open this August at 14741 Yorktown Plaza Drive, Houston, in Cy-Fair ISD’s attendance boundaries near Gessner Road and Hwy. 290. According to YES Prep, the school system's existing 12,600-student population is 96 percent African-American and Hispanic and 87 percent economically disadvantaged. In CFISD, about 63 percent of students are African-American and Hispanic, and 49 percent are economically disadvantaged. YES Prep Northwest will open with an inaugural class of up to 155 sixth grade students and add one grade level each subsequent year until the school comprises grades 6-12, School Director Laura Washington said. Open seats are filled on a first-come, first-served basis until schools reach capacity. Seats are still available at YES Prep Northwest for the 2018-19 school year, and families can apply online, Washington said. When there are more applicants than seats, YES Prep uses a lottery process to accept students at random. Once all seats are filled, applicants are placed on a waitlist. Applications for the 2019-20 school year open Nov. 1. Washington said while a board of directors and CEO run YES Prep Public Schools, there is a common goal between the charter school system and public ISDs. “Our goal is to educate children and support families in that process,” she said. The school’s mission is to prepare each student for a four-year college experience, she said. YES Prep requires high school students to take the SAT or ACT exam and at least one Advanced Placement course before graduating. Free transportation will be available to students living in YES Prep Northwest’s attendance boundaries, but students living outside those boundaries can also apply to attend the campus. Students will be able to join various clubs on campus, and starting in the 7th-grade year, they can participate in athletic programming. Washington said she plans to offer an activity period in which students will take physical education and computer classes. “Right now, our [extracurricular activities] are in the planning stages,” she said. “We’re waiting to see what our student population is and what their interests are. We want to make sure students have a say and parents have input.” A three-day new student orientation process will kick off Aug. 13 at the new campus. Washington said she has hired a full staff of eight teachers who each have at least one year of teaching experience. Officials also plan to have a full-time learning lab specialist to work with students who have Individualized Education Programs, and a full-time student support counselor on staff by the start of the school year. Charter schools in Texas, like public schools, receive funding from the state based on average daily attendance. They do not receive funding from property tax revenue. Although charter schools are accountable to the state, they have freedom from certain regulations that public schools have to follow, including the requirement that all teachers be certified. According to demographers at Population and Survey Analysts, 3,091—or 2.6 percent—of the total 117,977 K-12 students living in CFISD’s boundaries currently attend charter schools. About 95 percent of students living in the district’s boundaries attend CFISD schools. Two percent attend private schools, and less than 1 percent attends nearby ISDs, PASA reports. Washington, who currently serves as Director of Academics at YES Prep Fifth Ward, said she is looking forward to building community partnerships in the northwest Houston area. “We’re really excited to learn more about the community around us [and] to partner with families and businesses as well,” she said. For more information, call 713-972-4605 or visit www.yesprep.org/schools/northwest.