About 100 high school boys clad in red ties, white button downs and khaki pants filed into the auditorium Monday morning at Urban Prep Academy’s Englewood campus for the first day of school.
“There’s been turmoil everywhere about the possibility of Urban Prep closing,” Principal Ron Bryant told students and faculty. “But we are open — you are here. We are going to be exceptional at everything that we do.”
“And we are going to be the fantastic, beautiful Black and brown young men that you have always been,” Bryant added before applause broke out.
Throughout the summer, there were doubts that the all-boys charter school would be permitted to open its Bronzeville and Englewood campuses for the 2023-24 academic year. Urban Prep has engaged in a monthslong legal battle with Chicago Public Schools over its charter status following allegations of financial mismanagement and sexual misconduct by a former administrator. CPS sought to replace it with district-run Bronzeville-Englewood High School — a move students and parents criticized.
Cook County Judge Anna Loftus sided with Urban Prep in July, ruling that CPS violated a state law that there be a moratorium on school closings, consolidations or phaseouts until January 2025. CPS has appealed the decision.
“Closure of these unique campuses would be a significant loss to the Bronzeville and Englewood communities as well as the particular school communities,” Loftus said in her ruling.
One of the students excited to be back for his senior year is Joshua Smith. The 18-year-old said he was a little stressed during the summer, contemplating what school he might attend and talking to football coaches about their programs.
“It’s a relief,” he said. “I play football here and my connection with the team, I couldn’t make that with another team within a year.”
Smith said he started at Urban Prep in Englewood his freshman year because it’s where his parents wanted him to go. But since then, he’s met great friends and enjoys the school’s extracurricular activities. In addition to football, he plays chess and runs track.
“It’s the energy here,” Smith said. “Everybody here is like family.”
Troy Boyd, Urban Prep’s chief operating officer, said “justice prevailed” in Loftus’ July decision and that the school never stopped preparing for students to return. But he said there were some challenges, including hiring new staff to replace those who left due to job uncertainty and re-enrolling students who were enrolled in the Bronzeville-Englewood High School.
“The incoming ninth grade process was very different this year than what it’s been,” Boyd said. “Our Englewood and Bronzeville campuses were removed from the GoCPS process last year so we had to run that ourselves, so it was really engaging those families, engaging our returning students.”
Boyd said 100 to 125 students have enrolled so far at the Englewood campus and 150 to 175 at the Bronzeville campus, a number he attributed to “so much uncertainty about what was going to happen.” However, he said about 95% of students from last year returned.
“We are confident that we do have a full staff to address the current enrollment,” Bryant said, adding that he’s hired six teachers since he started as principal this month.
CPS spokesperson Samantha Hart said while the district’s appeal is pending, it will follow the judge’s order requiring that Urban Prep have the same resources and support as previous years. She said more than 130 students enrolled in the proposed Bronzeville-Englewood High School, but that it isn’t viable to open anymore.
“The district’s focus remains on ensuring that all CPS students have access to high-quality educational opportunities in their neighborhood as we open doors Aug. 21 for the 2023-24 school year,” she said.
The July ruling was the latest in the lengthy legal proceedings. In June, an Illinois appellate court decided that Urban Prep’s two South Side campuses could remain open while a lawsuit challenging the closure was making its way through the Cook County Circuit Court.
In April, the Illinois State Board of Education denied repeated appeals by Urban Prep to take back control of the campuses after CPS revoked its charter status in October 2022. The district watchdog substantiated misconduct allegations against the charter network’s former CEO, Tim King, and found multiple violations related to governance. The investigation also found that only one-third of Urban Prep teachers are certified and the charter failed to provide adequate special education services for disabled students.
On the first day of school, Boyd said he’s ready to move past the legal disputes — and the “exorbitant” legal fees — to get back to normal. He touted the school’s 100% college acceptance rate, saying every graduate has been accepted to a four-year college for the past 14 years.
“It is specifically for young Black men, young men of color. It’s impossible to underscore how important that is,” Boyd said. “Every day we see that Black families across Chicago think it’s important for their young men to come and get an educational experience that’s catered to them.”
