Village Preparatory School: Woodland Hills Campus (VPWH) is located in the Kinsman-Woodland Hills area of Cleveland and serves about 300 students in grades K–3. VPWH is a part of the incredibly successful Breakthrough Schools network. Even with its early successes, recent events are pointing VPWH and Breakthrough Schools toward an even brighter future.
First, VPWH has hired Fran Trujillo as the head of school. Fran joined VPWH at the end of 2013, having recently led a pre-K–8 grade charter school in New Orleans. Fran has over thirty years of experience as an educator and over twenty years of experience as a head of school. Drawing from her vast experience, Fran embraces the importance of partnerships in learning. Fran passionately shares the Breakthrough philosophy that scholars grow and learn when their families and the school develop close partnerships.
In addition, the high-performing Breakthrough Network is undertaking an ambitious expansion, known as the “20/20 Plan.” The plan calls for Breakthrough to open more new schools to bring its network to twenty schools serving over 7,000 students by 2020. The bold plan has plenty of support from various parties, such as the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), the office of Mayor Frank Jackson, and the Cleveland Transformation Alliance. It also has support from a collection of talented and accomplished members of the community through its Friends of Breakthrough group.
Fordham recently profiled the signs of promise emerging from the important work that all of these groups have joined to together to accomplish on behalf of the students and families of Cleveland. Village Preparatory School :: Woodland Hills Campus, its dynamic new leader, and its parent network—and all are vital catalysts in the changes to come.