Charter School Leader Caprice Young Accepts New Global Opportunity
Caprice Young, President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Charter Schools Association, has accepted a global leadership position with Knowledge Universe, a leading education company serving a wide range of students nationally and around the world. Young departs the Association, an organization she helped create, after a five-year tenure that saw the number of charter schools in California grow by more than 300 charter schools and enroll more than 100,000 new students.
“My joining Knowledge Universe represents an exciting opportunity to draw upon my experience with charters to create international K-12 models of success that will benefit countless numbers of kids all around the globe,” said Young. “I feel confident that I can begin doing this creative work while knowing that the charter school movement will continue on its upward trajectory of positively impacting the broader public school system.”
“This incredible grassroots movement is at the point where parents, teachers and local communities are taking back the school system through charter public schools – a milestone which seemed unattainable just five years ago,” said Young. “My role over the past five years has been to identify individuals with talents, bring them together and get them the resources they need to be successful for kids. The amazing leaders that have stepped forward over this period are now the ones driving this movement.”
“Reforming our public school system through the charter school movement is going to be a long, hard-fought battle,” added Young. “But it’s not a marathon; it’s a relay race. My leg of the race is done for now, and it’s time for me to focus on improving education in new ways.”
Young received the reins of the charter school movement in July, 2003, and the former president of the Los Angeles Unified School District forced the education establishment to recognize the vital contribution of charter public schools to the growing efforts to reform public education. The organization she has led would go on to establish quality standards for the movement, develop business services and products to help charter schools take advantage of economies of scale, target a growth strategy in high-need communities and become a major presence in Sacramento.
“The California and national charter school movement would not be where it is today without the leadership of Caprice Young,” said Rick Piercy, President of the Board of Directors for the California Charter Schools Association. “She built upon the longtime work of her predecessors in the movement and created a state association whose mission is based on positively impacting the broader public school system for all kids. While she will be deeply missed, she leaves a powerful movement and organization that stands ready to take on its next series of challenges.” Piercy added, “The board has already begun the process of finding the next leader of the Association to build on the extraordinary successes of Caprice and her staff.”
Young has accepted the position of Vice President, Business Development and Alliances with Knowledge Universe. In this position, Young will partner with national and global business leaders to identify, develop and implement innovative education approaches in the K-12 education sector. She will support the Knowledge Universe Global team’s efforts to create a framework for international expansion of its secondary and international schools. She will also create scalable business models and support the selection of talent development to launch new business ventures within the international sector. She will be based in Santa Monica, CA.
“We’re pleased to have Dr. Young join the Knowledge Universe family,” said Peter Maslen, CEO of Knowledge Universe Global. “Her experience in developing charter schools in California provides a useful expertise for us as we seek to develop innovative schools to better support the education of children around the world. Dr. Young’s successful track record in her role as CEO of the Charter Schools Association, where she led a movement of over 700 schools, will greatly enhance our ability to achieve our goals.”
“We recognize the opportunity to impact the development of innovative education solutions for children worldwide, particularly in the K-12 education sector,” said Felicia Thornton, CEO of Knowledge Universe U.S. “Dr. Young’s extensive experience, innovations and achievements in K-12 charter schools in the U.S. provide the foundation for driving best practices across our family of companies in the U.S.”
Young’s transition will take place during September. Handling her duties on an interim basis will be current Chief of Staff Peter Thorp. Thorp, former Executive Director of nationally-recognized Gateway Charter High School in San Francisco, also served as a founding board member of the Association and was previously President of its Board of Directors.
Young has indicated she will remain involved in the charter movement.
“As a parent of charter public school kids, I’m going to continue to be a vocal advocate on behalf of the movement,” said Young.
About the California Charter Schools Association
The California Charter Schools Association is the membership and professional organization serving approximately 750 charter public schools that serve over a quarter million charter school students in the state of California. An estimated 70 new charter schools are opening this fall. The Association’s mission is to increase the number of public school students attending high quality charter public schools. For more information visit the Association’s web site at www.myschool.org.
About Knowledge Universe
Knowledge Universe (KU) is a leading global education company serving a wide range of students, from infants and toddlers to primary and secondary students. Knowledge Universe employs proven teaching methods, rigorous curricula and sophisticated technology to serve more than 3,000 physical locations and a large online learning environment. For more information visit the KU website at http://www.kueducation.com.