History:

Uplift Education was established in 1996 and was one of the first authorizations granted to open a charter school in Texas.  Led by Rosemary Perlmeter and a group of active parents and teachers, Uplift opened its first school in 1997, North Hills Preparatory in Irving, Texas. 

In 2004, founders decided to expand on their initial success to form Uplift Education and with a generous gift from the Communities Foundation of Texas, opened their first inner city school, Peak Preparatory (later renamed Uplift Atlas Preparatory).  

Current Network: 23,000 students in grades PreK through 12th grade; 45 primary, middle, and high schools on 21 campuses in 6 cities – Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving, Arlington, Grand Prairie, DeSoto.

Structure:  

Charter school led by a CEO and an appointed Board of Directors 

Demographics:

72%  Hispanic American  |  15%  Black  |  8% Asian  |  3% White  |  2% Other 

Income Status:

80% of students economically disadvantaged 

College Attendance:

100% of graduates accepted to college since 2002 (first graduating class).  
85% college matriculation 
78% first generation college attendees 

Academics:

Uplift utilizes the International Baccalaureate as its curriculum for all students.  33 of its 45 schools are fully authorized IB schools, and 100% of its high schools which include 12th grade offer the IB Diploma Programme.  The remaining 12 schools, which are newer schools to the network, are in the candidacy or consideration phase to become fully authorized. 

TEA Rating:

B (86) for the network for 2022 

Accolades:

All eligible high school name among best high schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report 

Nine high schools were named by the Jay Mathews Challenge Index among the top half of 1% of high schools in the nation, respectively, in terms of success and demographics.