VCP Culture

At VCP, we rally around a school and workplace environment that we describe as joyful, urgent, and intentional. We focus staff development on practice and execution, and we know there’s power in consistency. To equip our team with common language and help define the most important characteristics driving our joyful, urgent, intentional culture, Team VCP grounds ourselves in the following Core Observable Behaviors (COBs).  

High performing employees throughout VCP:

• Fully Engage and Contribute to the Team with a Positive Sense of Urgency and No Excuses.
• Have a Personal Commitment to Excellence and the End Result. 
• Present and Pursue Sustainable Solutions as Opposed to Dwelling on Problems.
• Do What They Say They Will.
• Are Respectful, Honest and Straightforward.
• Continuously Improve Self and Organization. 

All team members receive ongoing support and feedback on their execution of these behaviors as part of their quarterly snapshot conversations with their manager and the formal evaluation process.

VCP Beliefs 

• Our team is what sets us apart.
• Great teaching will close the opportunity gap.
• We can change the story on education in Arizona and encourage a commitment to long-term teaching.
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Vista College Prep is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness. Diversity is crucial for effecting lasting change and we believe it is one of VCP's greatest strengths. Additionally we believe that the full potential of our diverse network is reached when we are an inclusive community. We strongly believe that demographics do not determine destiny and that all students deserve a quality education. Educational equity is achieved when there is both a commitment to academic achievement and racial justice. As a result, we hold ourselves accountable for ensuring that it is this commitment that drives our decisions, policies, and practices.

We strive to model inclusion, listen to diverse perspectives, and above all respect each other's differences - scholars, families, and staff. Each of us has a role to play in advancing our mission here at Vista College Prep. We will continue to do hard things, redefine what is possible and ensure we are leading with empathy, modeling courage, and every day, working with purpose so that all scholars have the opportunity to achieve their dreams.

Curriculum

What does justice look like in the context of our curriculum?  We first must ask what the research shows to be disproportionately true of typical classrooms serving low-income and minority students.  In 2018, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) released “The Opportunity Myth,” a report based on following 4,000 students in 5 diverse school systems.  TNTP found that most students—and especially students of color, those from low-income families, those with mild to moderate disabilities, and English language learners—spent the vast majority of their school days missing out on four crucial resources: grade-appropriate assignments, strong instruction, deep engagement, and teachers with high expectations.  Students spent over 500 hours on assignments below their grade level - nearly half the school.

At Vista College Prep, we understand that in order to get a different outcome, we as educators must think differently, act differently, and most importantly have a different set of beliefs about what our students deserve and are capable of.

First, we believe that grade level work is equity work.  To close the opportunity gap between our students and their more affluent peers, our students must be presented with opportunities to productively  struggle in all subject areas, frame their own perspective and critically  discuss grade level texts.  Vista College Prep carefully selects curricula that gives students daily access to rigorous content and ensures that all teachers receive ongoing professional development to be able to support all students in accessing that content.  Vista College Prep also ensures that students below grade level receive additional supports and interventions to make significant academic gains.

Second, we value and protect social-emotional development, including development of identity and personal value structures.  Vista College Prep builds dedicated time into the weekly schedule for leadership development, social emotional skill building,  and deep relationship-building with their peers and teachers.  We place so high a value on this aspect of our work that our school-based staff engage weekly as a team in the same social emotional work.

Third, we continue to turn a critical eye to where we can continue to improve the diversity of experiences, perspectives and identities in our curriculum.  Our students deserve to see themselves represented in the texts they read and the history they learn.  They also deserve the opportunity to experience perspectives outside their own.  Students deserve to encounter characters with various abilities and identities in culturally specific contexts where the difference is not in fact the narrative, and to see representations of difference that hold space for beauty, joy, and excellence.   In the 2020-2021 school year, Vista College Prep is in the process of auditing our curriculum to identify areas where we can do better and make impactful changes for the upcoming school year. 

Finally, we seek to leverage these components to create learning environments that leverage students’ cultural funds of knowledge and value their lived experience as an integral part of making meaning within academic content.  We hold a high bar for student discussion and seek a diversity of perspective. Equitable curriculum is not equitable unless it is delivered intentionally, and Vista College Prep is committed to engaging in culturally responsive teaching practices to support student and teacher growth.

VCP's Strong Staff Retention

• Since opening in 2013, VCP has averaged 87% year-over-year staff retention.
  
• VCP attributes our strong staff retention to a few key factors, including coaching and support for all staff members, collaborative relationships with VCP families, strong student achievement results, and positive school culture.
  
• In quarterly staff engagement surveys, 95% of VCP staff report:
  
  • "My coach or manager gives me action-oriented feedback that helps improve my performance."
    
  • "VCP is a place where anyone, regardless of background, can do their best work."

VCP Salary Comparisons

• Among all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Arizona has the largest pay gap between the average teacher salary and overall statewide average salary, with the starting rate for teachers at $34,473 and the average salary at $49,290.
• Starting with the 2019-20 school year, VCP increased our starting teacher salary to $40,000.
• All staff at all levels of experience are eligible for annual increases in their salary.

VCP Interview Process: What to Expect

• Step 1: Apply by submitting your resume. If possible, send along a cover letter and video of yourself in the classroom as well.

• Step 2: Participate in a first round phone screen to share more about your goals and experiences.

• Step 3: Participate in a second round video interview, discussing your reflections on videos and scenarios that we’ll share with you ahead of time to help us get to know you better and to give you an opportunity to learn more about VCP.

• Step 4: Tour one of our schools, teach a demo lesson on campus, and debrief your lesson. Your in-person interview will simulate the experience of joining Team VCP and provide further opportunities for mutual assessment of fit.
  
  
• Step 5: Share reference information and complete any final steps as required for the role(s) you’re applying for.

If VCP's mission, vision, and culture align with what drives you, please fill out the form below and a member of our team will be in touch with you shortly.