DCP teachers believe:

• ALL our students—no matter how far they may have wandered off the college track—are headed to college
• It is possible to inspire students who are performing 3-4 years below grade level and accelerate their learning so they graduate prepared them to thrive in four-year universities
• Data should be used to drive our decisions, improve our practices, and serve our students

Working at DCP can be frustrating, inspiring, and exhausting, usually all at the same time. But teachers are all buoyed by the knowledge that in every classroom, every teacher is hammering away; teaching, coaching and leading students toward college success.

Make no mistake about it: it takes a particular kind of teacher to succeed in this environment, one who is constantly working to maintain the balance between unwaveringly high expectations and the personal, supportive connection that our students need with their teachers. We need teachers who can reach students far below grade level and do the slow, painstaking work of building students' core skills and content knowledge to the point where DCP graduates go off to college confident and prepared.