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Transforming
Our Communities...
One Child at a Time. |
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Opportunities
to Invest in a Child
For the full brochure, Click
Here (
.7 M PDF) |
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MORE
THAN A MIDDLE SCHOOL
 In
our Tampa Bay community, many remarkable young people
dream of a real opportunity for success and fulfillment.
These children are talented, creative, and have the will
to transform their lives – lives that will in turn
transform our community. However, these kids live in some
of the poorest areas of Ybor and East Tampa. Most live
in single-parent households and know few people who have
graduated from college. Many of their families live day
to day struggling to make ends meet. These tenacious young
people live among us - just down the road.
In our own back yard, there is a place that offers a real
opportunity for these children. The Academy Prep Center
for Education provides one of the most unique education
programs in Florida. We are more than a middle school.
At the core of our mission, Academy Prep provides an exemplary,
college preparatory middle school education coupled with
a comprehensive set of life changing services, while closely
supporting our graduates all the way through high school,
college and into their careers. This combination of strategies
helps guide Academy Prep students to a life fulfilled.
Discovering a proven academic model for similar children
utilized across the country, the NativityMiguel Network
of Schools, Academy Prep leaders started the St. Petersburg
Center in 1997. Encouraged by the first Center’s
success, the Tampa Center opened in 2003, renovating a
century-old historic landmark – Ybor City’s
first grammar school.
Academy
Prep’s 5th—8th grade students:
 
• must be eligible for the free or reduced-price
federal school meals program, setting their income near
or below the U.S. poverty line.
• attend school
up to 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, nearly year round
in small classes of no more than 17 boys or 17 girls,
with most classes taught by gender.
• receive
a full range of academics, including preparatory level
English, literature, mathematics, science, social studies,
writing, art, drama, library skills, and computer lab
• participate each day in afternoon enrichment programs
including classes and programs in dance, music, karate,
chess, various sports, art, Scouts, career development,
social skills, leadership skills, and community service.The
day closes with a mandatory study hall from 5-6 pm.
• take part in required Saturday field trips, community
service activities, and an 11th month program in June.
• are served by a variety of corporate and non-profit
community partners and individuals with over 9,000 hours
of volunteer time - a third of that service completed
by our families.
• are closely supported by our Graduate Support
Services staff, helping each graduate and his/her family
through the opportunities and challenges of high school
and college. |
Mission
To inspire and empower economically disadvantaged urban
students to be future community leaders through a rigorous
middle school program coupled with ongoing graduate support.
Vision
To be the premier Tampa urban middle school which prepares
hundreds of economically disadvantaged students to achieve
academic success and become community leaders.
(back
to top) |
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 Scouting
for Fun at Academy Prep Center of Tampa
Judge Chris Altenbernd has been active
with the Boy Scouts of America "forever," he
says, but this is his first time as Scoutmaster. He leads
Troop 100 at Academy Prep in Tampa, with
help from Assistant Scoutmaster Rocky Milburn. The troop
began last October with the 5th grade boys. This year,
the core group will be in the 6th grade, and they will
welcome in a new group of 5th graders. Click
Here to read more of 55 Seconds of Academy Prep |
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Academy
Prep Students Honored
In Three Local Art Shows
This spring and summer, the artwork of Academy Prep students
has been featured in three local art shows - the Morean
Arts Center in St. Petersburg, the Ybor School of Visual
and Performing Arts Gallery at the Hillsborough Community
College Ybor campus and the Florida Museum of Photographic
Arts in downtown Tampa.
Click
Here to read more of 55 Seconds of Academy Prep |
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| Thank
you to our 8th Grade Community Partners! |
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| Mataldi Morris delivers
his opening remarks for Mock Trial. |
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We had several work-based
learning classes for our 8th grade through
the support of Community Partners Ogden
and Sullivan Law Firm, St. Joseph’s
Children’s Hospital, and Capital One
Auto Finance.
Through this interaction
the students learned problem-solving, decision-making
applications, hands-on work experience,
job skills, and career opportunities. |
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| Brianna Wharton and
Volunteer Lawyer Ms. Abraham work on
her cross examination for the Mock Mediation.
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Students
participate in a problem solving practicum.
>
< Students learn the different
job roles during a Mock ER. |
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Boy
Scout Troop 100 Heads to the Woods
  Did
you know that Academy Prep’s Boy Scout Troop 100
is lead by the Honorable Chris Altenbernd and other
volunteers the Judge has recruited? The troop meets
every Tuesday working on projects to reach the rank
of Second Class.
 The
troop spent a full Saturday exploring Croom Trail north
of Tampa. The hike was a requirement to reach the rank
of Second Class and the boys even prepared a meal together.
Judge Altenbernd shared these
thoughts…
“The young men in Troop 100 are model scouts,
and the troop has been a wonderful experience for them
and for the adult leaders. If these Fifth Grade scouts
can stay in the troop through Eighth Grade, I think
many of them will reach the highest rank, Eagle, and
develop leadership skills that will serve them for the
rest of their lives.”
 Thank
you to the great leaders of Troop 100!
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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)
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Identifying and
Reporting
Professional Misconduct
Click
Here |
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