Joy, Honesty, and a Little Civil Disobedience: The real story behind the double-digit growth at Rocketship Rise

JaQuan Bryant, Principal, Rocketship Rise Academy | October 20, 2026

Students at Rocketship Rise Academy recently made double-digit leaps in math and ELA proficiency. Hear from Principal JaQuan Bryant on how treating parents as majority stakeholders, prioritizing student joy, and building a culture of deep human connection fueled this remarkable academic success.

Home / Education Reform / Page 9

Education Reform

Rocketship Ranks in The Top 10% on California State Assessment

by Preston Smith, Co-Founder & CEO, Rocketship Public Schools | September 22, 2016

The results are in! I am proud to report that once again, our Rocketeers across the Bay Area are beating the odds in both math and English Language Arts! On the 2015-16 California state assessment, Rocketship’s Bay Area network of 10 schools ranked in the top 10% in both math and English Language Arts among Read More

Why I’m an Education Reformer, by Board Member Alex Hernandez

by Beyond Editorial Team | September 16, 2016

Rocketship Board of Directors Member Alex Hernandez regularly writes for Eduwonk at Bellwether Education Partners. Recently, Alex wrote about why he got into education and what he sees for the future of our schools: I attended my neighborhood public high school in central California. The school was integrated through busing and, in the early 1990s, Read More

The Conversation on Race Our Nation Needs Happens in Classrooms Everyday

by Preston Smith, Co-Founder and CEO, Rocketship Public Schools | August 22, 2016

Every August, I visit all of our schools across the country to meet with our teams, listen to their vision for the year ahead, and celebrate the start of a new school year with our Rocketeers and families. My annual back-to-school road trip is one of my favorite moments of the school year. But this Read More

Getting Ready for School with Launch

by Jen Merz and Beyond Editorial Team | August 10, 2016

As we get ready to launch the 2016-2017 school year, we wanted to share our daily Launch, a loud, silly and loads of fun way we start our day. Each day we say the Pledge of Allegiance and declare proudly that we are all persistent and responsible Rocketship Rocketeers who are respectful of each other and Read More

Our Response to NPR "Hit Piece"

by Preston Smith Co-Founder and CEO, Rocketship Public Schools | June 29, 2016

Last Friday, NPR’s Education blog published what many are calling a “hit piece” on Rocketship Education. As co-founder and CEO, I am used to anti-charter attacks like this. But my staff and parents are not. They flooded my inbox over the weekend with outrage over the voices missing from this story. As for the voices included Read More

Joy, Honesty, and a Little Civil Disobedience: The real story behind the double-digit growth at Rocketship Rise

Education Reform

Categories: