They Were Definitely Wrong

When Tim King founded the Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men within earshot of the Dan Ryan Expressway on Chicago’s Southside in 2006, he knew the statistics. Two-thirds of the black boys in the Chicago Public School system would drop out. Fewer than 10 of his initial class of 150 could read at grade level.

“There were those who told me that you can’t defy the data,” King told Duaa Eldeib of the Chicago Tribune last week. “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 added.

And were they ever. Of those 150 students in the first class, which will graduate this spring, 43 didn’t last. Most of those moved or transferred out, but of the 107 who remained? Last week King announced that all 107 have now been accepted to a four-year college or university in the fall. One-hundred percent. Seventy-two different institutions, including the likes of Howard and Morehouse, Northwestern and Rutgers. And the total of scholarship and grant dollars is over $2 million.

Urban Prep, which has been recognized internationally, was the first public charter high school for boys in the United States.

“Life at Urban Prep Academy isn’t easy,” writes Roy Exum of the Chattanoogan. “It is designed not to be. Students take twice the load in English, for example, that other Chicago high schools do. They go to school earlier, get out later, and do more while they are there than any other school in Illinois.”

According to NBC Chicago, Urban Prep is open and available to its students about 2,500 more hours over the course of four years than traditional schools in Chicago.

At there is a special ceremony for those who are accepted to college.

Dressed in their uniform of black blazers and khaki pants, seniors are presented with a special red-and-gold striped ties in exchange for their traditional red one upon acceptance. Mayor Richard M. Daley was on hand last week to address the assembly as the last of the seniors swapped out ties.

“I never had a doubt that we would achieve this goal,” King said. “Every single person we hired knew from the day one that this is what we do — We get our kids into college.”