Bronx Preparatory Charter School

Bronx Preparatory Charter School is a public middle and high school in the South Bronx. Comprised of students in grades 5-12, Bronx Prep graduated its first class of seniors in June 2007. [Bronx_Prep_Website] The school is located in a modern facility designed and constructed specifically for Bronx Prep at 3872 Third Avenue. The founder and first executive director of Bronx Prep was Kristen Kearns Jordan, who passed her position to Dr. Samona Tait-Johnson in 2007. The position of director was subsequently renamed head of school. The high school principal is Fred Givens, and the middle school principal is Jacqueline King-Robinson. Bronx Prep was founded on the belief that all children in America deserve an education enabling them to fulfill their potential and realize their dreams. Bronx Prep opened its doors in 2000 with its inaugural class of 100 5th and 6th graders. As one of fourteen schools chartered by the SUNY Charter Schools Institute out of ninety applicants in 1999, Bronx Prep was one of the first schools to be re-chartered for a full five-year term in 2004. Bronx Prep will reach full capacity of 700-800 students in grades 5-12 by 2011.

The combination of a middle and high school makes Bronx Prep unique among charter schools in New York City. This was done to prepare students for enrollment at competitive colleges. The mission of the Bronx Preparatory Charter School is to prepare underserved middle and high school students for higher education, civic involvement and lifelong success through a structured, caring environment of high academic expectations.

Charter schools are public schools which receive public funds though operate independently from local school boards. Bronx Prep is accountable to the SUNY Charter Schools Institute and the charter is up for renewal every five years. Students for Bronx Prep are selected through a lottery system and enter Bronx Prep as fifth graders. Selected students attend middle school at Bronx Prep for grades 5-8, and then, upon successful completion of requirements, are then promoted to Bronx Prep's high school.

The high school at Bronx Prep has many similarities to other New York City public high schools. Students at Bronx Prep take Regents exams in all of Juntheir core subjects. High school students, called visionaries and luminaries, attend college trips across the country. Bronx Prep also offers Advanced Placement courses, including AP Calculus AB, AP English-Language, AP English-Literature, AP Biology and AP Statistics.

Bronx Prep students participate in extracurricular activities in the Charter School Athletics League and the National Forensics League. Some extracurricular activities at Bronx Prep combine the middle school and high school. Extracurricular Activities available at Bronx Prep's include:

*Theater
*Student Council
*Speech/Forensics
*Math Team
*Cheerleading
*Middle School Boys and Girls Basketball, High School Boys Basketball
*Soccer (Co-Ed)

One hundred percent of Bronx Prep's first high school graduating class, in 2007, were accepted to four year colleges. The colleges to which these students earned admission include: Georgetown, NYU, Holy Cross, Syracuse, Fordham, SUNY-Albany, CUNY-City College, Hunter College and Lehman College.

The second graduating class continued this record of success by earning admission to Harvard, Stanford, NYU, and many other prestigious colleges and universities. Additional marks of success include winning the CSAL middle school boys basketball championship, success at the 2007 National Junior Forensics League Middle School National Championships, and a New York state champion speaker. For additional information about Bronx Prep, visit the school's website, [http://www.bronxprep.org bronxprep.org] .

References

* [http://www.bronxprep.org/about.html]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E1DB133EF933A05756C0A9629C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fC%2fCharter%20Schools POSTINGS: At Third Avenue and East 172nd Street; Charter School Rises in Bronx On Hill of Gifts] , NYTimes, May 30 2004,
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E1FF93B5B0C758CDDAF0894D9404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fC%2fCharter%20Schools Repetition + R
] , NY Times, June 6 2001
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B1EFB3D550C708EDDA10894D8404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fC%2fCharter%20Schools New Curriculum in Bronx Is Built on an Ideal] , NYTimes Aug 23, 2000,