Entire Sr. Class of All Male, African-Amer. Public School Accepted to 4 Year Colleges

[acedawg00-02]

Wasn't sure where to post this. Didn't want it to be overlooked. Please feel free to move it -if necessary.


Charter school's seniors: They're all in
EducationNews.org


The entire senior class of 107 students at Chicago's only public all-male, all-African-American high school has been accepted to four-year colleges.

Urban Prep Academy senior Keith Greer, along with his classmates, celebrates the news they will receive a free prom in Chicago because 100 percent of the graduating class was accepted into 4-year colleges or universities. (Tribune photo by Heather Charles March 5, 2010)

Four years ago, Bryant Alexander watched his mother weep.

She stared down at a muddle of D's and F's on his eighth-grade report card and threatened to kick him out. He had barely passed elementary school, and high school wasn't even on his radar.

"Something just clicked," Alexander, now 18, said. "I knew I had to do something."

On Friday, Alexander proudly swapped his high school's red uniform tie for a striped red and gold one — the ritual at Englewood's Urban Prep Academy for Young Men that signifies a student has been accepted into college.

As the Roseland resident and 12 others tied their knots, Chicago's only public all-male, all-African-American high school fulfilled its mission: 100 percent of its first senior class had been accepted to four-year colleges.

Mayor Richard Daley and city schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at the all-school assembly Friday morning with congratulations, and school leaders announced that as a reward, prom would be free.

The achievement might not merit a visit from top brass if it happened at one of the city's elite, selective enrollment high schools. But Urban Prep, a charter school that enrolls all comers in one of Chicago's most beleaguered neighborhoods, faced much more difficult odds.

Only 4 percent of this year's senior class read at grade level as freshmen, said Tim King, the school's founder and CEO.

"There were those who told me that you can't defy the data," King said. "Black boys are killed. Black boys drop out of high school. Black boys go to jail. Black boys don't go to college. Black boys don't graduate from college.

"They were wrong," he said.

Every day, before attending advanced placement biology classes and lectures on changing the world, students must first pass through the neighborhood, then metal detectors.

"Poverty, gangs, drugs, crime, low graduation rates, teen pregnancy — you name it, Englewood has it," said Kenneth Hutchinson, the school's director of college counseling, who was born and raised in Englewood.

He met the students the summer before they began their freshman year during a field trip to Northwestern University, the first time many of them had ever stepped foot on a college campus. At the time, Hutchinson was Northwestern's assistant director of undergraduate admissions. Inspired by what he'd seen, he started working for Urban Prep two months later.

"I'm them," he said Friday as he fought back tears. "Being accepted to college is the first step to changing their lives and their communities."

Hutchinson plays a major role in the school, where college is omnipresent. Students are assigned college counselors from day one. To prepare students for the next level, the school offers a longer than typical day — about 170,000 minutes longer, over four years, than other city schools — and more than double the usual number of English credits, King said

Even the school's voice-mail system has a student declaring "I am college-bound" before asking callers to dial an extension.

The rigorous academic environment and strict uniform policy of black blazers, red ties and khakis isn't for everyone. The first senior class began with 150 students. Of those who left, many moved out of the area and some moved into neighborhoods that were too dangerous to cross to get to the school, King said. Fewer than 10 were expelled or dropped out, he said.

At last count, the 107 seniors gained acceptance to a total of 72 different colleges, including Northwestern University, Morehouse College, Howard University, Rutgers University and University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Alexander was accepted to DePaul University.

While college acceptance is an enormous hurdle to jump, school leaders said they know their job isn't done; they want to make sure the students actually attend.

To that aim, King said, staff made sure that every student has completed the dreaded Free Application for Federal Student Aid, lest the red tape deter them.

Later in the year, the school plans to hold a college signing day where every student is to sign a promise to go to college, he said. Staff will stay in touch through the summer and hopefully in the first years of school.

"We don't want to send them off and say, ‘Call us when you're ready to make a donation to your alma mater,' " King said. "If we fulfill our mission, that means they not only are accepted to college, but graduate from it."

For now, students are enjoying the glow of reaching their immediate goal.

Normally, it takes 18-year-old Jerry Hinds two buses and 45 minutes to get home from school. On the day the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana was to post his admission decision online at 5 p.m., he asked a friend to drive him to his home in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

He went into his bedroom, told his well-wishing mother this was something he had to do alone, closed the door and logged in.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he remembers screaming. His mother burst in and began crying.

That night he made more than 30 phone calls, at times shouting "I got in" on his cell phone and home phone at the same time.

"We're breaking barriers," he said. "And that feels great."

[DrPhil]

I saw this on some show the other day, so it has received some media attention.

Ths is great. I hope this public school keeps up the good work and other public schools are able to get the resources to have similar successes.

Sidebar: This reminds me of when I met some of the cuties in the Harlem Boy's Choir after a performance in the early 90s. Cuties, indeed. Anywhoooo, the Choir prided itself in giving these boys second chances and celebrated when a group of them was going to college.

[NinjaPoodle]

This is WONDERFUL!!

[G-Kue 1911]

Great article and outcome!

@ Dr. Phil...read an article about the Harlem Boys choir ending in Dec...it was great reading about it history but sad reading about the end!

[Senusret I]

This story has appeared many times in my FB news feed and it has yet to impress me.

I don't like charter schools. Most of them juke the stats with the liberty to pick who they want to attend and expel those who aren't meeting their standards. This one claims less than ten people from the freshman class were expelled. I don't know, sure. Whatever.

I will be impressed when a public school with open admissions can say the same thing -- but even then, I'm more interested in black men being happy, healthy, and productive members of society than them necessarily going to college.

To expound a little further -- if these men were so far behind just four years ago, I somehow doubt that the majority will be adequately prepared for college just because they got in. I'd be interested in comparing a list of where the young men were accepted with the acceptance rates of those schools.

Yeah, I'm a Debbie Downer, shoot me.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

This story has appeared many times in my FB news feed and it has yet to impress me.

To expound a little further -- if these men were so far behind just four years ago, I somehow doubt that the majority will be adequately prepared for college just because they got in. I'd be interested in comparing a list of where the young men were accepted with the acceptance rates of those schools.

Yeah, I'm a Debbie Downer, shoot me.

David Downer, Negative Norman, BOOOO Brady.

I agree with this part of your post. I wondered the same thing but then I remembered that I have my own biases of certain types of colleges and universities.

[DaemonSeid]

Either way, better to hear about them going to college than being the nightly news murder statistic.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Either way, better to hear about them going to college than being the nightly news murder statistic.

If those are the only 2 options.

[acedawg00-02]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

...I'm more interested in black men being happy, healthy, and productive members of society than them necessarily going to college...

I totally disagree with your blurb. There is a strong link between education and happiness. "If the pleasures of the uneducated can be at least as intense and plentiful as those of the educated, then it would be irrational for anyone without an education to pay any price for education."

There are some variables to this story…as there are with most scenarios. However, I will not debase or marginalize the efforts of these young men...they are paying a price – I applaud them.

So, is it better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied? Is it better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied?

The post is about 107 young black men having a chance to further their education...not 107 young men who were murdered, or being sentenced for drug trafficking or possession.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by acedawg00-02

There is a strong link between education and happiness.

No.

There is a relationship between higher education and socioeconomic status, which is correlated with quality of life. None of these automatically result in HAPPINESS.

[ZTA72]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

No.
There is a relationship between higher education and socioeconomic status, which is correlated with quality of life. None of these automatically result in HAPPINESS.

So true, according to an article I read a few years ago. The article followed about 20 winners of the Florida Lottery. None of them was really *happy* even though they had a drastic improvement in socioeconomic status. More than a few of the winners said their life was much worse since they had money and some even stated that they wish they hadn't won.
More education and a better quality of life, however defined, is a good thing, though.
Food for thought...

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by ZTA72

So true, according to an article I read a few years ago. The article followed about 20 winners of the Florida Lottery. None of them was really *happy* even though they had a drastic improvement in socioeconomic status. More than a few of the winners said their life was much worse since they had money and some even stated that they wish they hadn't won.

Wow. This general topic would make a good thread.

Originally Posted by ZTA72

More education and a better quality of life, however defined, is a good thing, though.
Food for thought...

The bolded is a good thing, especially when the other option is being murdered or sentenced for drug trafficking or possession.

[xp2k]

I read another article about this school, and from what I understand, the average ACT score for the graduating class was a 15!!!

Thats dismal. That means a lot of these students arent prepared for college level work.

Getting these men into college was a good start (though not everyone is meant for college), but I'm concerned of how well they'll do there academically.

Oh well...at least it start....

[acedawg00-02]

Originally Posted by xp2k

I read another article about this school, and from what I understand, the average ACT score for the graduating class was a 15!!!

Thats dismal. That means a lot of these students arent prepared for college level work.

Getting these men into college was a good start (though not everyone is meant for college), but I'm concerned of how well they'll do there academically.

Oh well...at least it start....

"The average ACT score of Urban Prep's all-black male student body -- 16.1 -- is below the Chicago Public Schools average of 17 ...Johns Hopkins seemed more impressed with [one graduate's] 3.8 GPA and his extracurricular activities than his ACT, said Henderson, who will probably attend another college that is offering him a better financial package. "The ACT does not determine how smart you are,'' he said."

I grew up in a rural setting...my mother is an educator...so, I had someone who stayed on my a$$ and wouldn't accept anything less than honors or AP courses.

These children come from an urban/inner-city setting, and I'm quite sure that they do not have the exposure, resources or home environment conducive to academic success.

This is a start...they can only improve from here...

[xp2k]

Originally Posted by acedawg00-02

"The average ACT score of Urban Prep's all-black male student body -- 16.1 -- is below the Chicago Public Schools average of 17 ...Johns Hopkins seemed more impressed with [one graduate's] 3.8 GPA and his extracurricular activities than his ACT, said Henderson, who will probably attend another college that is offering him a better financial package. "The ACT does not determine how smart you are,'' he said."

I grew up in a rural setting...my mother is an educator...so, I had someone who stayed on my a$$ and wouldn't accept anything less than honors or AP courses.

These children come from an urban/inner-city setting, and I'm quite sure that they do not have the exposure, resources or home environment conducive to academic success.

This is a start...they can only improve from here...

I agree with you 100%! You have to start somewhere..and maybe the younger graduating classes will improve.

And also thanks for finding the correct statistic...I was lazy and should have looked it up.