Jo Ann Simmons: Successes of the UT Tyler University Academy K-12 charter school

Mike Landess: For UT Tyler Radio, I’m Mike Landess. UT Tyler’s University Academy began in 2012 as an open enrollment STEM charter school. In the years that have followed, it has racked up numerous national recognitions and success stories, and it serves well over 800 students on three different campuses. Dr. Joanne Simmons became superintendent in 2014. She’s our guest today. Welcome.

Jo Ann Simmons: Thank you.

Mike Landess: You had quite a background in public education before taking the helm at University Academy. Could you have imagined where the program would be today?

Jo Ann Simmons: Yes, I could. Because of the relationship with the University and having that, I think it was key and instrumental in the program being successful, whereas in a traditional ISD, a lot of times you partner, at times with different organizations, but knowing this was part of UT Tyler, I knew it could be special.

Mike Landess: Well, it’s turned out to be quite special. I mean, I know that you’re very passionate about preparing students to enter the global workforce. How is that happening at University Academy?

Jo Ann Simmons: Well, we’re very proud of all of our accomplishments, of working with all of our students, and so when a student enters our doors, no matter if they’re a kindergartner or they’re in 12th grade, we’re always talking to them about being university ready. We’re introducing them to key components of the University. We’re talking to them about skill sets that it takes to be successful in life, and so, having that relationship again with the University and being able to identify those key traits that our students are going to need in order to make that transition — we tell all of our students that we want them to transition into a setting, a university setting, where they can then explore different career paths. Many of our students at the high school level — there’s two career paths for them to explore: biomedical and engineering. And so it’s a great opportunity for our students to really come and see full circle of what is the skill sets that they need. And so we’ve had a lot of successful students transition, and we recently had some of our first students who graduated University Academy graduate UT Tyler.

Mike Landess: Oh, that’s exciting. Now how popular are STEM programs across Texas?

Jo Ann Simmons: Well, I think they’re extremely popular simply because there’s a shortage. There’s a shortage of individuals who want to explore that pathway, and that was really the intent of the University Academy. The UT Tyler recognized early on that there was a shortage. There was not only a shortage in their program, there was a shortage across the state and individuals, both young men and especially women, wanting to explore STEM. And so creating an organization that focuses on STEM that invites both young men and young ladies to explore those STEM pathways, is definitely unique.

Mike Landess: My guess is that most people know what STEM stands for, but give it to us anyway.

Jo Ann Simmons: So it’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Mike Landess: And it’s interesting that that is a subject that, or an avocation, that has only come to light probably in the past 20, 30 years.

Jo Ann Simmons: Sure, I think that you and I are sitting here today, and we both have our careers. And the careers that we’re preparing our students for today don’t even exist. So when we talk to our students, when we talk to our teachers, come together. I think it’s always important to understand that we have, to be very open. And so ensuring that our students have those skill sets, so it prepares them for whatever that career path is and whatever that job is. I mean, there’s jobs that exist today that I didn’t even think about when I was exploring my personal career path. They didn’t even exist. And so, I think that’s something we always keep in mind with our students.

Mike Landess: In addition to your role as superintendent of the University Academy, you’ve taken on the role of Charter School Superintendent Mentor. Now, what does that entail?

Jo Ann Simmons: So early on, Charter Schools are fairly new. And so, as an individual steps into the role of a school superintendency, as I did — my first role as a school superintendent was at UT Tyler University Academy. There were growing pains, you know. I came from a traditional ISD. I stepped into, you know, as a principal in Tyler ISD and then transitioned here at UT Tyler. And so serving as a mentor is really, it’s a way for me to give back to individuals who are first-time superintendents. Maybe they’ve been only in a traditional ISD, they don’t have any Charter School experience, or maybe this is, they’ve always been in a Charter School, but they’ve never had the role and responsibility of the superintendent. So it’s just an opportunity for me to mentor, coach an individual, help them, give them someone to network. And I always say that sometimes I feel like I learn more from them than they learn from me. And that’s oftentimes the partnership in a mentorship.

Mike Landess: How well did University Academy get through the pandemic? And are there still issues being faced in the classroom?

Jo Ann Simmons: Oh, wow, that’s a fun one. So you know, the pandemic was something that set a lot of people back. But because we were already one-to-one, and meaning all of our students already had devices. If you recall, there was just a huge panic because kids didn’t have devices and how were they going to work remotely? We were already one-to-one. And so that hurdle was already, we’d already jumped that hurdle many years prior to the pandemic. And a lot of our students were already working remotely. At that time, we did something called “flipped learning.” So the student would oftentimes, in the evening time, they’re at home, learning is what we would like to call instead of the known “homework.” The student would, after school, after the traditional in-person setting face-to-face, they would then go home and log in, and either view a video that the teacher had posted, or review some notes that the teacher had posted. So that, we had already started that ahead, and so it really just took us fine-tuning it. And our teachers, I have to say, did an amazing job at that time of just stepping in and making the adjustment and creating that relationship. Many of our teachers would, you know, did live Zoom, synchronous learning and asynchronous learning with all the students. So I don’t think it was as big of a hurdle, although there were growing pains for all of us. I think that we were in a better position than most.

Mike Landess: What are some of your goals for University Academy over the next few years?

Jo Ann Simmons: I think there’s many goals. I think one is that we would love to continue to create that stronger relationship with UT Tyler where we’re doing some hands-on research, where college professors are coming in and looking at what we’re doing and possibly doing research. Some of our high school students are even engaged in research as well. We’re looking to explore, in regards to facilities. Currently, we’re working out of modulars. What we’re doing right now within the walls of our facilities, I always say that because we may not have the prettiest facility on the outside, but what’s happening inside that classroom is the reason why that we are some of the top performing schools in the state of Texas.

Mike Landess: Our guest has been Dr. Jo Ann Simmons, superintendent of UT Tyler’s University Academy. To hear this conversation again or to share it, go to KVUT.org. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio.

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