The nation’s first all-male charter public high school, Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men – Englewood Campus, opened just over four years ago. I led a team of educators to design and open this school because I saw the need for new and better educational opportunities in low-income African-American communities. Nationally, data shows that over 50 percent of black boys drop out of high school, and according to the American Council on Education, only 37 percent of African-American male high school graduates will go to college. A University of Chicago study found that only one in forty African-American boys in Chicago Public Schools will complete college by age 25.
Urban Prep’s students reflect the makeup of the school’s surrounding community – all are African-American, and most come from low-income homes. National statistics might indicate that our students are destined for failure — but at Urban Prep and across the country, this trend is beginning to change: high numbers of urban black boys are gaining admission to college. At Urban Prep, 100 percent of the students in our first graduating class are headed to four-year colleges.
What’s the difference? Urban Prep and successful schools like it across the country are no ordinary public schools; they are part of a new breed sprouting up in urban public education: high performing charter schools. Charter Schools have long held the promise of promoting innovation in schooling. And sometimes, innovation means just doing what makes sense: having students spend more time in school; providing a learning environment that promotes achievement; focusing on core subjects; and creating a positive school culture.
MSNBC’s REHEMA ELLIS REPORTS ON THE SUCCESS OF URBAN PREP ACADEMY
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Urban Prep’s extended school day means that students spend over 72,000 more minutes in the classroom over the course of four years than do their traditional public school counterparts. Ninety-four percent of this year’s Urban Prep graduates read below grade-level when they entered as freshmen, so this extra class time is critical to providing our students with the resources to catch up.
Our all-male model provides for a more-focused educational setting and allows for the removal of the gender stereotyping which can prevent boys from achieving academically. Moreover, our teachers are able to tailor their lessons and teaching style to the specific ways that boys learn.
Our focus on core academic subjects like math, science, and a double-period each year of English, equips students with the essential knowledge which higher learning is based upon. Students can’t succeed in high school or in life if the material they’re taught isn’t relevant or interesting, which means that we must work that much harder to connect material—whether it be math, science, or European History—to the students’ lives.
But most importantly, Urban Prep’s unique school culture builds upon ritual, respect, relationship, and responsibility to create a welcoming, inclusive learning environment where African-American boys can feel comfortable opening their minds. At Urban Prep schools, students encounter college-educated black male adults on a daily basis; they are shown and taught that there are clear pathways to success beyond what the media or their neighborhoods may show. Through the Urban Prep culture, our students come to understand the connection between their own actions and the broader community. They feel safe, nurtured and encouraged to achieve.
All these factors combine to give an Urban Prep school a very different vibe than our neighboring traditional public schools. So often in public schools, gangs, delinquency, chaos, and failure are the story for black boys. At Urban Prep, we provide a counter-narrative by making our young men feel welcomed, valued, challenged, inspired and excited to learn. Given this type of opportunity, black boys everywhere—just like those at Urban Prep—can and will succeed.
