Our Core Values
Our Core Values
Below you will see how we live these values day in and day out.
All students have extraordinary potential.
Every single student, no matter how far they have fallen behind, has the potential to achieve college and life success.
How we live this value:
By middle school, low-income students in our poorest neighborhoods have been tracked into a vicious cycle of failure, having fallen well below grade level and lacking the support they need to overcome their current disconnect from school.
ACE is wholly focused on these children and works diligently with these students and their families to show them that college is possible. As they begin to have trust in themselves and the possibility of academic success, they begin to both envision a college future and take the steps necessary to get there.
- Every child that comes to ACE is recruited because they are below grade level and disengaged from the school community.
- The ACE student body is 92% low-income, 50% English learners, 93% first generation college students.
Students who demonstrate a growth mindset are more willing to embrace taking risks, to learn from initial failure, and as a result, place themselves on a path to continuous improvement, which is the essence of optimism. The link between growth mindset and optimism is a vital part of our approach.
What is special about ACE is that our work around growth mindset extends to families who must believe that effort leads to success for themselves and their children. ACE supports this by illustrating our fundamental belief that at ACE, their children will achieve at a high level. We then collaborate with families to allow them to improve the school and their own child’s academics.
- "I always worried about my daughter. She never liked school and lacked confidence. At ACE, slowly but surely, she started receiving awards for her growth and began to hold her head higher. That made me realize there was nothing wrong with her, she just needed the right help. She grew from a 3rd grade reading level to a 5th grade level in 1 year.” -ACE Parent
Growth mindset work is just as crucial with teachers; at ACE we aspire to have all teachers recognize the immense academic potential of every child, no matter the problems they face or how far behind they are. Further, for staff to deliver a world-class education, they must have a growth mindset about their own abilities to improve their practice.
- "I fundamentally believe that any student can learn anything. All understanding or the capability to understand is inside everybody's brain. As an educator, it is my job to figure out how students can access that knowledge and understanding they already have. So instead of telling them, I help them construct their own path." -Aaron Srugis, Assistant Principal at ACE Empower Academy
ACE sets high expectations and provides rigorous curriculum because we know our students can rise to the challenge. Students are pushed just beyond what they are comfortable with, but are not so overwhelmed that they give up. While this trajectory to success may take time for many students, by the time they have spent several years with ACE, students are learning to excel.
- ACE 8th Graders' Math Proficiency Rate is 5 times higher than neighborhood schools.
- By 8th Grade, 76% of ACE students are growing more than one grade level each year or have caught up to grade level.
- 90% of HS Graduates meet UC/CSU requirements (compared to 24% at district schools).
At ACE, students and families learn that they don’t need to hide their fears or skills gaps—they come to see that ACE exists to meet their needs and help them overcome their personal and academic challenges. In addition, ACE acknowledges that a big part of a child’s lack of success and/or lack of interest in school is environmental. ACE students are devoid of role models that go to college and they don’t have adults that they trust telling them that college can make them successful. We tackle real mental obstacles and help students see their own worth in society.
- 75% of school leaders across the ACE network are bilingual, bicultural Latinos who have a strong personal connection with the communities we serve.
- ACE specifically looks to recruit staff that are are: 1) fluent in Spanish; 2) grew up in a community like East San Jose; 3) have worked in a school similar to ACE for at least two years. Our students come with issues from their struggles outside of the classroom that affect their self-image and ability to concentrate. Our teachers are able to identify with them and what they’re going through.
“This is serious, this is not a game, this is life-changing.”
- ACE Parent
Every student deserves to feel confident that they belong in school.
ACE creates a welcoming community focused on growth to help students, especially those who have been neglected, see they belong in school.
How we live this value:
Even though our target children and families can be difficult to reach and engage, and the challenge of teaching struggling students can be significant, we stay true to our mission and focus all our energies on students that are truly the farthest behind. These students are the hardest to convince that they belong in college, but we know they belong there.
The fact that they are behind and poorly served is the very reason that we want them to join our schools. When they start at ACE, many students are mistrustful of school, having deeply internalized years of negative feedback and academic neglect. By the time they graduate from ACE, they are transformed—ready to engage with college and the world.
- ACE specifically recruits students who are failing in school; we encourage thriving students to look to options other than ACE
- Our community engagement practices build trust with the most vulnerable populations; for example, over 20% of ACE students have Special Needs, which is double the District averages and far higher than charters in the region
We serve families who may be initially resistant and suspicious, whose experience with schools may have been very negative and who have, as a result, naturally come to see schools as a place of tension and failure. It is precisely these families that ACE hopes to attract.
To rebuild trust and address years of neglect, a deeply interconnected community is built through genuine, respectful and supportive relationships.
- The only way to truly start changing a mindset is to break down the barrier of skepticism. Building trust involves constructing authentic relationships. This is crucial to our mission, and it takes time.
- By intentionally building a Culture of Optimism, we cultivate a sense of belonging for many of our families that have never felt a part of a school.
- Through a Culture Calendar filled with activities that celebrate students' incremental growth, we constantly demonstrate our belief that our students belong in college.
- Parents are not just spectators of our optimistic culture, but active participants involved in building their skills and taking ownership over their school, partnering with our school and each other, to create the best schools possible for their children.
ACE teachers become a counselor and a true mentor to students. Since school has previously been a place of mistrust and neglect, ACE teachers go the extra mile, by staying late after class and even conducting home visits. By creating an authentic relationship, the student becomes comfortable voicing their goals and pushing themselves academically.
- “My teacher became a counselor and a friend. I could tell her anything and she gave me good advice. She always motivated me to never stop and keep pushing myself.” - Ivan Xavier, ACE Graduate ‘17
Teachers don’t only connect with students—they connect with the whole family. We listen to parents and collaborate with them in building the school and its culture. Most of our families have not previously been involved with schools or felt a part of a school community, so we make them feel important, wanted and respected. By instilling confidence in parents, they, in turn, instill confidence in their children.
- "Before ACE, I didn't like visiting my son's previous school. I felt uncomfortable and ignored. When I asked to talk to teachers, no one ever called me back. At ACE, as soon as I walk on campus, everyone is happy to see me. If I want to talk to a teacher, I see them right away or that same day. The staff always say they want to see me more, so now I come to meetings even though I work late." -ACE Parent
“The teachers are like family.”
-Jose Urbino, ACE Student
Once a student independently realizes their potential, they are ready for life.
By learning optimism, self-confidence and ambition, students are poised to thrive in college and beyond.
How we live this value:
ACE utilizes a robust Student Engagement System to create an optimistic and celebratory environment for students. This begins with 100% engaging and well-managed classrooms, along with opportunities for students to engage in self-reflection and goal setting. Students experience individual positive incentives, celebrations of incremental improvement, and opportunities to explore their own interests and identity.
- ACE is as serious about measuring the quality of its Culture of Optimism as it is about measuring students’ academic skills: twice a year, a visiting team comes to each ACE school and spends the day assessing whether every classroom and every element of campus life meets ACE’s exacting standards for using every opportunity to build optimism in children.
Given the gaps with which students enter, making rapid academic growth is paramount. Every class is fast-paced and urgent, communicating how important learning is. Ambitious, reachable goals allow students to be aspirational about making progress to attain college-readiness while also experiencing success, which breeds confidence.
- In middle school, ACE sets a goal for every child - 1.5 years of growth per year. This goal gives every child something they can aspire to and sets them on the path to reaching grade-level proficiency. In high school, students participate daily in College Seminar. College trips, ethnic studies class and mentors also allow students to see they belong in college.
- By 8th Grade, 76% of ACE students are growing more than one grade level each year or have caught up to grade level.
We teach our students that diligent effort and hard work is needed to achieve goals. Our students learn to invest Ganas (a Spanish word meaning effort, or desire) into all they do. The highest awards that students receive at ACE are the Ganas Awards, given at each school to the students who make the most growth. This culture of honoring growth rather than focusing only on the high-achievers encourages students (and their families) to see that the effort that they are putting in is worthwhile.