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The parents of  young black men in Loudon Country, Washington D.C. didn’t want their children  left behind in the school system so they decided to do something about it. The Washington Post reports that parents of 16 boys banded together and created Club 2012. The parents not only had high expectations for their children, but they taught their children to have high expectations for themselves. Club 2012 spread to other children, girls included, and another school, and parents and teachers worked together to keep students focused on school.

The strategy was simple: Get parents involved, set high academic expectations, encourage positive peer pressure.

The execution was intensive: They organized twice weekly homework clubs at school and monthly meetings at parents’ homes. They tracked their sons’ grades and test scores and pored over research about the causes and effects of the achievement gap. They set up study skills workshops, etiquette training and father-son rap sessions.

They visited colleges, traveling to the University of Virginia, Howard University and Harvard Medical School — all before high school started.

And they partnered with their teachers and principal, inviting them to meetings and events.

At the beginning of the school year, some parents sent letters introducing their son to his new teachers, describing his personality and work habits and explaining that they expected “nothing short of excellence” and that the teacher could count on their “unlimited support.”

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