Academy Prep Center

Links to : Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg | Academy Prep Foundation | Academy Prep Graduate Support Program

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The Story

Academy Prep Center of Tampa

Transforming Our Communities...
One Child at a Time.

Academy ...Puts Emphasis On 'Prep'
Tampa Tribune
Read
Marilyn Brown's article.

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Student Sponsorship
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208K PDF)

More Than a School

Academy Prep Center for Education was formed eleven years ago with its first school in south St. Petersburg. The Ybor Center, opened in 2003, replicates the success of our sister campus and celebrated its first graduating class in the spring of 2007.

In the Ybor neighborhood of our Center, less than fifty percent of the adults have graduated from high school. Too many young people live in conditions that expose them to crime, poor health, and strained family situations. They lack sufficient access to educational opportunities and to the life opportunities that will help them become successful adults.

At Academy Prep, we change these young people's lives by providing an education that is decidedly untraditional. Students receive four years of tuition-free, college-preparatory education in 5th through 8th grades. Students attend up to 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, 11 months each year. The school provides a demanding academic curriculum and a multitude of enrichment activities along with emotional support and social guidance. Students benefit from an additional eight years of graduate support that guides them continually through their high school and college careers.

Student hard at work In five years, the Center has seen remarkable results. Students often leap from below grade level when entering 5th grade to academic abilities equivalent to 11th and 12th grade levels even before their 8th grade year! Our students win chess, karate, and debate competitions; speak confidently to business professionals; perform Shakespeare on stage; do volunteer work in their communities; and attend school at the highest rate for middle schools in our county.

The Tampa community is extremely supportive of Academy Prep with over 20 corporate, educational, and non-profit partnerships. Over 7,200 hours of service time is given annually to Academy Prep from our families and community volunteers.

With our second graduating class in spring 2008, we intend to replicate our sister school's incredible success by keeping ninety-five percent of Academy Prep's graduates in high school, college, or careers.

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Low In Income, But
Soaring In Dedication

The Tampa Tribune
By Marilyn Brown
Published Tuesday, March 4, 2008

TAMPA - Before dawn, students begin pulling wheeled backpacks into their 1.9-acre weekday home wedged between a Cuban bakery and a dry cleaner, a scant block from traffic whizzing overhead on Interstate 4 in Ybor City.

The 10- to 14-year-olds in green or white polo shirts and navy pants or skirts mingle or sit on the walkway, propped up against block walls, reading, writing or chatting.

Daylight sneaks in as they shift to green metal benches under a sprawling oak, downing cereal and milk or just socializing. By the time they line up by grade and sex in front of their century-old schoolhouse, it's nearly 7:30 a.m.

Read Marilyn Brown's article Click Here ( 1M PDF)

AP Tampa Students Participate in Fit Families For Life

Pulling together a dynamic health collaborative, The Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation and BlueCross BlueShield of Florida designed and funded an 18-week course for the sixth grade boys and girls that complemented their fall running program initiated by The Lightning Foundation. The Children's Board of Hillsborough County also contributed funds for the course. Kicking off with a student knowledge assessment, students gobbled up both the healthy snacks and the healthy living know-how shared by an incredible group of partner volunteers and staff.

Click Here to read the latest news at 55 Seconds of Academy Prep

Focus on Success - 7th Graders Turn Their Destiny into Reality

This is the third year of our Focus on Success program. Through the volunteer efforts of our community partners, Charlie Poe and Jonathan Field, 7th grade students have explored goal setting, values and belief identification, decision-making, communication skills, and time and financial management.

This unique program concludes with a “Creating Destiny” session in which the students project their lives fifteen years into the future while attending an alumni party. At the gathering, students describe their occupation, talk about the challenges they have overcome, and share their experiences with each other since they graduated from Academy Prep.

Thanks to Charlie Poe and Jonathan Field for inspiring our students to turn their destinies into realities!

What's New?

AP Tampa Students Participate in Fit Families For Life
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Click Here (

338K PDF)

Judges Wow 8th Graders - 8th Graders Wow Judges!
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An AmeriCorps Teacher's Experience - Click Here To Read

2008 - 2009
School Schedule

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27K PDF)

Photojournalism club creates new student newsletter

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660K PDF)

Make a monthly commitment to Academy Prep through our new program offering electronic funds transfer!
Click Here for details.

Channel 13 News has a great story about one of Academy Prep's mentors, Labrawn Saffold,
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Take A Look At The
Newest APT Family Newsletter
(

320K PDF)

Click Here for archived
copies.

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