Rocketship Transformation Prep Celebrates New Campus in Northside Milwaukee

by Beyond Editorial Team

Founding families at Rocketship Transformation Prep recently celebrated the opening of their new, six-acre campus in northside Milwaukee. With big smiles, cheers, and confetti, Rocketeers cut a bright red ribbon and crossed over into their newly remodeled school at 5501 N. 68th Street. Formerly in the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, Transformation Prep’s bright and beautiful facility offers a larger, vibrant, child-friendly space for students to learn and grow in.

“We are so proud of our new home,” said founding Principal Kourtney Vang. “Our school families and their children deserve this safe, clean, beautiful space that facilitates joyful culture and strong learning.”

Principal Vang kicked off the event illuminating how critical the community has been in helping Transformation Prep evolve to best serve local students.

“Community is a word thrown around a lot. It can mean many things. But to us, community means our school, families, and every member of our Silver Spring neighborhood. It means coming together to change the narrative on the kids on the northside who for so long have been given little and had even less expected of them. Rocketship Transformation Prep came to this community because we know ALL kids, no matter their zip code, deserve a great school.”

Personalized Learning for Every Student

About 60 community members attended the celebration along with Milwaukee Bucks mascot, Bango. Tynetta Oliver, Rocketship parent and the school’s office manager, shared her moving story at the event, which was highlighted on the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

Tynetta began working for Rocketship in 2016 when she was an expectant mother and recent graduate of Alverno College. Inspired by the mission, she helped recruit some of Transformation Prep’s founding families. When her daughter, Amari Lee, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder turned four, Tynetta felt both the mission and inclusive classrooms would help her excel.

“The mission to close the achievement gap was something I needed to be a part of,” said Tynetta. “Rocketship was also the choice for my daughter. The inclusive classrooms inspired me. I felt like I needed a school for my daughter where she could be included.”

Unlike many public schools, Rocketship students who need special education services spend majority of their school day with their peers alongside special education specialists who augment the teacher’s lessons based on the student’s needs. With this inclusive approach, students with disabilities are exposed to the same Common Core aligned instructional program as their typically developing peers.

New Opportunities for the Silver Spring Community

With Transformation Prep’s new campus comes more expansive learning environments, allowing the school’s population to serve up to 400 Rocketeers in total.  A second phase of renovations will transform the former church sanctuary into a gymnasium and cafeteria by August 2020, where students can enjoy meals and playtime together. The new campus also aims to serve as a hub for the larger community.

“We’re not just a school – Rocketship Transformation Prep is a community resource for the entire northside. In partnership with Carmen Northwest, we’re offering students high-quality K-12 school options to get to and through college,” said Principal Vang. “Working with the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, we’re making sure our families have all the resources they need to thrive–including food, healthcare, and childcare. And together with the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, including the Westlawn Housing Project and Choice Neighborhood Initiative, we are exploring ways to use our expansive green space as a resource hub and host community events on campus.”

You can explore our impact in Milwaukee and learn more about Transformation Prep here.

 

Published on November 14, 2019