For the third consecutive year, Chicago’s Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men saw every single member of the senior class at its’ Englewood campus graduate with acceptance letters to a four-year college or university.
The accomplishment is no small victory for the original location of the charter school, which opened in 2006 with only four percent of its student body reading at grade level.
The school now operates three different sites, each with an all African-American student body, and each on a mission to prove young Black males can succeed despite their inner city surroundings.
“We are completely committed—laser focused—on increasing the number of African American males who have earned college degrees in our country,” Tim King, CEO and president of Urban Prep Academies, told the AFRO. “I know this isn’t the end. This is just one more milestone of many that our young men will reach.”
With a motto of “We Believe,” the school has been successful in replacing negative statistics with positivity.
“We feel the most effective way to realize our goal is by making sure our students are well prepared for college,” said King. “The next step is getting them into college and then getting them through college.
King, a graduate of the Georgetown University Law School, first became compelled to address the lack of diversity in the charter school realm after a short stint teaching in Washington, D.C. With the help of local school officials, King was able to obtain a charter and find sponsors to pump cash into his dream. Now, six years after opening day, the Englewood campus is not only surviving but thriving and awash in success stories.
“It set me up to be an adult. Learning how to handle things as a young man should, work with a team, and be a leader,” Nigel Bruce, member of the 2011 graduating class, told the AFRO. He said the school gave him an opportunity to cast off any doubt about the heights a Black man from a single parent home could reach.
“When I went there I realized my story wasn’t the only story like it out there. It was a great chance for me to meet people who had similar situations and prevailed.”
Students attend classes eight hours a day over 10 periods, with Saturday classes as well. Crisp school uniforms are a must and part of the military structure Bruce says sets the school apart from others his neighborhood friends attended.
Now a rising sophomore at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., Bruce says that his four years surrounded by strong African-American male teachers had an immeasurable impact on his life.
“Most of my teachers were African American males,” said Bruce, recalling his homeroom teacher, known at Urban Prep as a “Pride Leader.” “He was relatable and we could identify with him because he came from a similar situation and got a master’s degree.”
Commencement exercises for this year’s graduates were scheduled to take place June 15.
