Urban Prep Academy, Lansing Charter, Holmes Foundation Academy

Urban Prep Academy, Lansing Charter Academy, Holmes Foundation Academy

Summary: These schools provided general information about the type of programs they offered and the quality of teachers. Urban Prep Academy is an African American Academy for boys in Chicago, Illinois. Their goal is to increase the graduation rate of African American boys in urban areas and overcome stereotypes. The programs at the Urban Prep Academy are specifically tailored for the boys' style of learning and the challenges present in an urban environment. Lansing Charter Academy is an elementary school in Lansing. Their programs focus on academic excellence, morals and values, parent involvement and student responsibility in the school and community. Lastly, Holmes Foundation Academy is a school in Flint that offers highly-qualified teachers, core classes, tutoring and mentoring programs like Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Response: These programs could be responses to many problems in urban environments. Many youth, especially minority males, get into trouble and distance themselves as far as they can from school and everything associated with succeeding academically because they don't feel like they belong or that anyone believes in them. Urban Prep Academy is a place where everyone believes in the future and abilities of minority students. Urban communities are usually home to many low income families, this means the parents spend a great amount of time working and less time involved in school. When parents aren't involved in schools then they don't have a voice in the different programs and policies that effect their child's learning experience. Lansing Charter Academy is a school where parent participation is encouraged and integrated into the classrooms. Being a minority student in an urban school can mean that people of their ethnicity aren't represented in textbooks or class discussions, leaving nobody for students to model after. Holmes Foundation Academy provides mentor programs where students find someone who has been through what they are going through and can relate to their struggles. I think these schools are doing a nice job of coming up with creative ways of dealing with the same old problems.