For the past few years, the start of the school year at Prospect Schools has become synonymous with two traditions. Teachers and staff come together in late August at the “Start of Year (SOY) Celebration,” an event for staff to build community, get excited about the year ahead, and have fun together. Then, on the first day of school, red carpets are rolled out at each school to give Prospectors an entrance befitting the stars that they are.
Earlier this month, when we welcomed our students for the 23-24 academic year, we did so in our 15th school year as an organization!
While much has changed in 15 years, our mission remains constant: we are one united k-12 college preparatory community where excellent teachers prepare a diverse student body to have a positive impact on society and a lifelong passion for learning, and everything we do is in support of this mission.
This past summer, we focused on setting the foundation for a robust collective learning and development year. In July, we hosted our Operations Summer Institute to provide meaningful professional development for our Operations teammates. In early August, we hosted our first-ever Leadership Institute, where we gathered all leaders from across our schools for four days of learning and GROWth. We also hosted our annual New Prospector Retreat for teammates joining our community.
Throughout the many years of our history, we’ve grown in a physical sense. But investing in the GROWth of our big Prospectors will always be our most critical investment to ensure we can GROW our little Prospectors and continue to prepare a diverse student body to have a positive impact on society and a lifelong passion for learning. In that spirit, our theme this year is simple—We are Many trees in one big forest, and together, we GROW.
You can enjoy photos from both Prospect traditions below.