Urban Prep Charter School Sees 100% College Bound Rate For First Graduates

Feature Photo: 

Urban Prep Charter Academy is a different kind of school in Chicago. Founded in 2006 by Tim King, the school was meant from the start to put inner city youth into a better place: colleges.

The school has done exactly that. Out of 150 freshman who started in 2006, 95 lasted all four years at Urban Prep and another 12 students transferred in after freshman year.

The 107 seniors who make up the graduating class have achieved a remarkable 100% college acceptance rate.

This is even more remarkable considering that only four percent of the Class of 2010 was reading "at or above grade level" when they began attending the school in 2006.

Urban Prep is well-known for being an extremely strict. Students are required to wear ties and blazers to school, the school day lasts two hours longer than it would in public school, and Urban Prep is the nation's first all-male charter school.

The students also repeat an oath each morning.

We believe. We are the young men of Urban Prep. We are college bound. We are exceptional, not because we say it, but because we work hard at it. We will not falter in the face of any obstacle placed before us. We are dedicated, committed and focused. We never succumb to mediocrity, uncertainty or fear. We never fail because we never give up. We make no excuses. We choose to live honestly, nonviolently and honorably. We respect ourselves and, in doing so, respect all people. We have a future for which we are accountable. We have a responsibility to our families, community and world. We are our brothers' keepers. We believe in ourselves. We believe in each other. We believe in Urban Prep. We believe.

Students are also assigned mentors, a crucial factor when the most attendees are from single mother households and live is bad neighborhoods. Urban Prep staff are given cell phones that students or parents can call day or night.

Urban Prep opened a second Chicago school in the East Garfield Park community in 2009, which currently only enrolls only 9th graders and a third campus will open in the fall in the South Shore community.

Eventually, Urban Prep plans to open a total of six schools in the Chicago area, serving 3,000 students in grades 9 to 12.