An inner city Charter school in Chicago is earning props for having a perfect college acceptance rate in a city where the graduation rate for African-American boys is only about 40 percent.
The Urban Prep charter school says every single one of its African-American students — all boys — have been accepted to a four-year college program. What's more, just 4 percent of those seniors were reading at grade level as freshmen, reports The Christian Science Monitor.
So what's their secret?
For starters, the school has an extended school day adding up to a whopping 1,200 hours of class time each year, with a double period of English and mandatory extracurricular activities and public service. Founder and CEO Tim King says the school is founded on the four Rs: ritual, respect, responsibility and relationships.
But perhaps it's that final R that really helps push student performance the most. Faculty members, who are available by phone on nights and weekends, provide moral and emotional support to their students, many of whom have to deal with homelessness, family tensions and money problems. The school of about 450 students is in the violence-plagued Englewood neighborhood and many students have to cross gang territory every day.
"For us, it's not just about teaching new vocabulary words," King tells the Monitor. "We really do have to understand what is going on with this student outside school."
The school, which like most Charter schools is about 20 percent privately funded, also stands on formalities long lost in the public school system. Students are addressed formally, using their last name, and they wear coats and ties.
But the primary focus is on achievement, with college graduation (not just college admission) being the ultimate goal.
It's a winning formula. Last year, the school opened a campus in East Garfield Park — an African-American neighborhood on Chicago's West Side and this fall, it will open a third campus in the South Shore neighborhood.
By Darragh Worland
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