Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
There's no question that economically and educationally disadvantaged schools must overcome significant obstacles to narrow gaps with other schools.
When such a school is ordered closed by the Texas Education Agency for low academic performance, it can leave students, parents, and educators second-guessing whether state officials accurately measured a school individually with its A-F rating system.
That's what some at Essence Preparatory School on the city's Far East Side say happened. The last day of class ever was Wednesday for some 400 students in grades pre-K to eighth. Some teachers packed up their belongings in their classrooms on Thursday.
Schools are measured by the TEA through test scores and academic improvement from year to year. There are also comparative analyses done among like schools, with some consideration on whether they have closed gaps among learners on a campus.
Essence Preparatory received a grade of F in 2022-23, a D in 2023-2024, and an F again in 2025. These were evaluations from within a five-year span that then allowed the TEA to revoke the charter license.
Now the school has closed after four years. Program Director Kevin Shandey said they just needed more time to recover from COVID, fast student growth, and other factors common to the area, including single-parent households, hunger, and a lack of sleep.
"If we just had a little more time to really prove what we're able to do, I think the story would definitely be different," said Shandey.
Still, he hopes the school has laid a foundation for the students to build upon no matter where they go to class next.
Damika Burton, the school's family engagement director, said this week has been sad.
"I mean tears, even among us with tears," she said of her fellow educators. "Letters. We've been getting all kinds of notes on our ClassDojo (messaging system) It's just been really sad."
Burton said many of the teachers come from the same neighborhoods as the students. Both Shandey and Burton said they will continue to work as educators, a field with high turnover and attrition rates.
The TEA doesn't measure if students feel safe or at home on a campus. Parent Dannisha Hamilton said her three kids, ages 5, 6, and 13 felt that way at Essence Prep.
She praised the staff and the educational progress she saw in her kids.
"It's a sad day because I feel that the love, the attention, the learning. My fear is that the kids, what they receive here, they won't get that opportunity again.
Burton said one of her children begged her to pick them up on the last day of school as late as possible so they could be among the last to leave the campus.
