The Power of “Prep for Prep”
Prep for Prep has been quietly changing the lives of students of color from New York ever since it was founded in 1978. Gary Simons, its founder, was a teacher from the Bronx who believed there were students from low-income neighborhoods around the city not reaching their potential. Fast-forward 45 years and Prep for Prep, now under the leadership of Ruth Jurgensen, a former educator with extensive school leadership experience, is still as committed as ever to its mission of creating a diverse generation of future leaders.
Kesha Jackson-Yara, who lives in a Manhattan NYCHA development, had never heard of Prep for Prep when she took her daughter, Fatimatou, for a routine checkup at her pediatrician. Her doctor, a graduate of an independent school in Manhattan, told Ms. Jackson about Prep for Prep and the esteemed schools its students were regularly placed in. Families could apply to Prep for Prep themselves or, alternatively, a teacher or guidance counselor could nominate a student for consideration.
Soon after, Ms. Jackson-Yara completed the online application for her daughter.
“Prep for Prep is an educational access and leadership development organization,” Ms. Jurgensen, Prep’s CEO, explained. Its cornerstone program is the Preparatory Component, which offers two 14-month-long courses of study that aim to prepare students for the environment and rigor of independent school. The first, for 5th and 6th grade students, was designed to prepare students to be placed in one of the independent day schools that Prep partners with around New York City in 7th grade. The other, known as PREP 9, prepares 7th grade students for a place at a partnering boarding school in the Northeast in the 9th grade.
There are no fees associated with Prep for Prep, and students who receive spots in independent schools can, depending on their financial need, have some or all of their tuition costs covered by those schools.
But such a lucrative opportunity doesn’t come easily, and competition into Prep is stiff.
Ms. Jackson-Yara’s daughter Fatimatou, who goes by Fatima, was enrolled in public school when her mother applied. Prior to this, she had also gone to a charter school. “She was doing good,” Ms. Jackson-Yara explained, “but it wasn’t where she needed to be.”
After Fatima was accepted into Prep, she and her mother learned that Fatima’s former math teacher, recognizing that Fatima was excelling, had also nominated her for the program.
“The type of students we look for are really excelling academically,” the Director of Communications at Prep for Prep, Angela Johnson Meadows, pointed out, “but aren’t being challenged in their current environment.”
The Preparatory Component is designed to prepare students to enter prestigious independent schools. In addition to classes on typical school subjects, students take a range of specialized subjects to prepare them for the rigors of independent school and prepare them for leadership roles, covering everything from Latin to “Problems and Issues in Modern American Society,” a class that focuses on social issues. After being placed at their independent school, Prep students can take advantage of internships, Entrepreneurship Camp, and opportunities to travel abroad. All Prep students are assigned a mentor (a current student) during Preparatory Component and then a counselor who helps them navigate their new environments when they start at their independent school.
“It was hard,” Ms. Jackson-Yara noted, explaining her daughter’s rigorous 14-month course of study.
According to Fatima: “It was a fun time to be there, but it’s definitely a lot of work. I think that as you went along the journey, it became easier.”
Once a student starts thinking about applying for college, Prep assigns a guidance counselor who assists the student throughout the process. After they’ve been accepted into a college, Prep’s Undergraduate Affairs team continues providing support. Not only is it deeply important that Prep students have all the resources and supports they need to be successful in the program, Ms. Jurgensen pointed out that each staff member is committed to Prep’s mission and its students’ success.
“It makes a huge difference when supporting kids for so many years that students are met with the excellence that we’re asking our students to have as well,” she added.
After college graduation, students are eligible to become members of Prep’s alumni association, an expansive and diverse network that students can draw on for advice and opportunities.
“Students,” Ms. Johnson Meadows explained, “maintain relationships with Prep for Prep and with each other for years after.”
For Ms. Johnson Meadows, Prep prides itself on providing students with extraordinary access to beneficial resources, programs, and opportunities. And its mission extends far beyond its Upper West Side offices. Prep is constantly trying to build and maintain relationships with the schools and communities from which it draws its students. Teachers continually refer students to Prep, as do former students, who spread the word in their communities.
Last summer, Prep hosted a stall at NYCHA Family Day events at Bronx River Houses, Rutgers Houses, Pomonok Houses, East River Houses, and Carver Houses so families could learn more about the program.
Strengthening the partnership between NYCHA and Prep for Prep has always been front of mind for Annika Lescott-Martinez, NYCHA’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Vice President of Finance. Ms. Lescott-Martinez is a graduate of Prep for Prep, so when she began at NYCHA in 2018, she wanted to make sure that residents knew they could take advantage of educational opportunities like Prep.
Ms. Lescott-Martinez, who is both the youngest and only the second Black person to hold her current position, traces a direct line from her success as CFO to the education, professional development, and leadership skills she gained during her time in the program. “The thing that Prep gave me was the ability to believe in myself and to know that I can do hard things,” she said.
Since she connected NYCHA’s Community Engagement and Partnerships team with Prep, the relationship between the two organizations has flourished. Whether it’s through Family Day events or outreach via resident associations, she believes that the relationship can continue to develop, and that more families will continue to apply and participate.
“There’s a lot of bright children that come from NYCHA,” Ms. Jackson-Yara added. “Sometimes, like me, they didn’t know about Prep. If I could help a family to get the opportunity that my child has had, then why not?”
Joseph Pabón, a trustee on Prep for Prep’s board and president of its alumni association, grew up in a NYCHA development in Manhattan. He found out about Prep via classmates at his Talented and Gifted school in Harlem, who had just completed their first summer at the Prep program. One of Mr. Pabón’s teachers nominated him, and Mr. Pabón was accepted, graduating from the program in the early 1990s.
“It’s hard to deny that it hasn’t shaped the trajectory of every aspect of my life since I’ve been in it,” Mr. Pabón noted.
For him, the importance of the role that Prep was going to play in his life became apparent when it came time to apply for high schools.
“When I actually started visiting the private schools, seeing their campuses, or seeing the size of their classes and the environment,” he said, “then I started to understand that this wasn’t the same experience as I would have gotten if I had stayed in the neighborhood school I was zoned for.”
Mr. Pabón credits Prep with preparing him to enter a world different from the world in which he’d grown up. Prep, he said, “forced me to enter environments where I was not comfortable and had to learn to be comfortable in.”
Although initially uncomfortable in that new environment, Mr. Pabón noted that he, like his peers, thrived in their new schools. He has since worked in – among other fields – real estate, finance, and now in law as a paralegal. He believes in and has seen firsthand the value and diversity of perspectives that students who grew up in public housing can bring to these programs.
“I’ve been in these boardrooms long enough,” he said. “I feel like they were the ones missing that perspective. They are the ones that need to hear from people like me. Not only do I deserve to be there, but I am actually making this program better by being able to bring that experience, and that identity, to this situation. The more and more people who can get to that earlier, the better off they’ll be.”
During her first summer at Prep, Fatima recalls taking a class called Conclave, which she believes set her up for success at her private school. The class, which gave students a space to discuss their thoughts, feelings, and concerns about entering private school, counseled students through the process of adapting to their new environments.
“One piece of advice that really stuck with me,” Fatima said, “was that if someone is experiencing difference from you and sees that as a bad thing, they shouldn’t – because everyone is unique in their own way.”
For Ms. Johnson Meadows, seeing students adapt and thrive in their new schools is one of the most meaningful aspects of working at Prep.
“You’re able to see the outcome and the impact of the program,” she said, “from being able to see where students start off and where they go. Knowing that Prep for Prep played a role in that is the most satisfying thing for me.”
Programs like Prep for Prep continue to make education in New York more accessible, equitable, and diverse, and the program’s constantly evolving student body reflects the city’s everchanging makeup. According to Mr. Pabón, this is one of Prep’s greatest achievements.
“If anything, that’s going to be the legacy of that program as it evolves,” he said. “To change the nature of that classroom so that it’s no longer as uncomfortable as it was when I went into that private school in 8th grade.”
Ms. Jurgensen sees an opportunity for both NYCHA residents and Prep for Prep to continue to be enriched by one another.
“Some of our most exceptional students and alumni come from NYCHA housing, which is really indicative of the kinds of families and support that students have before they even get to Prep for Prep,” Ms. Jurgensen noted. “We understand that there are many structures and supports in place for NYCHA residents and we want to amplify and provide even more resources, particularly when it comes to education and leadership development for kids who are residents.”
Ms. Lescott-Martinez echoed this sentiment, and encouraged residents, as Fatima and her mother did, to “bet on themselves” when applying to programs like Prep for Prep.
Ms. Jackson-Yara, who has recently gone back to college to finish her degree in education, wishes that she found out about Prep sooner. She has two children older than Fatima, and two younger, and she is constantly trying to ensure they receive the best possible education that they can.
“This school is preparing [Fatima] for college,” Ms. Jackson-Yara said. “It’s opening up a lot of doors for her, and I’m so happy I found Prep.”
She believes strongly that programs like Prep can offer her daughter, and other children growing up in NYCHA developments, a better education and more opportunities. “An educated person is a powerful person. You think differently, and you want more out of life.”
“I think Fatima is a phenomenal young woman who has a bright future ahead of her, and she’s not unlike many kids who live in NYCHA,” Ms. Lescott-Martinez said. “Her mom, Ms. Kesha, is not unlike many mothers, fathers, grandmas, aunts, uncles, and caregivers at NYCHA. We all want the best for our students, and as the CFO of NYCHA, I want the best for our families.”
Parents, apply now for Prep for Prep here.
Check out this video about Fatima’s story: