Get to Know Jaclyn Stephens
After Jaclyn Stephens’ two-year commitment as a 2007 Phoenix corps member, she returned to her hometown of Cleveland to become a founding teacher for a new charter school called Village Prep. Three years later, she leads a K-3 school that serves 360 scholars and will continue to grow into a K-4 serving a total of 450 scholars. It was her Teach For America experience, Jaclyn says, that helped prepare her for this rapid path towards leadership and allows her to coach her staff to understand what effective teaching and learning looks like.
While Village Prep has not yet been tested by the state, early indicators show the school is working. In the 2011-2012 school year, 93% of students scored average or above average in reading and math on the Terra Nova, a nationally-normed assessment. The numbers are exciting, but it is the individual stories that are truly exhilarating. In 2009, Kenneth, an introverted boy, was struggling in reading. He was afraid to participate and would shut down when he couldn't pronounce words. After receiving extra tutoring and working relentlessly at home and school, he was still behind going into first grade.
Fast forward to the spring of 2012. Kenneth, once the lowest-achieving reader in the school, reads at grade level and participates in class. He carries a chapter book so he can read during any spare moment. It's success stories like Kenneth's that keep Village Prep motivated. The school is thrilled to welcome its first cohort of corps members this year to join the Village Prep team!
Region Timeline
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During the American Civil War, Cleveland becomes an industrial giant and is vaulted into the first rank of American manufacturing cities.
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Cleveland becomes the nation’s fifth largest city and enters a decade of prosperity.
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Cleveland makes a steady recovery during the Great Depression thanks in part to its hosting of the Republican National Convention and the Great Lakes Exposition.
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The city’s population peaks at one million. It will decline from that point on.
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Race-fueled riots erupt in the predominantly African American community of Hough in Cleveland. The riots will contribute to decades of disinvestment and thousands of people and jobs fleeing the city to the suburbs.
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Carl B. Stokes is elected mayor of Cleveland, becoming the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city.
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Cleveland becomes the first U.S. city since the Great Depression to default on its financial obligations. It will remain in debt until 1987.
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Desegregation begins in Cleveland schools. The school system will operate under court order until 1995 when the state is ordered to take over management of the district.
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Cleveland is working to rediscover its entrepreneurial past. The education and medical district of University Circle has created 1,000 new jobs per year since 2005, and between 2001 and 2006 the venture capital investment in the region increased more than fivefold.
