Build Up

Build UP is the nation’s first and only early-college workforce development high school. It provides low-income youth with career-ready skills through paid apprenticeships with industry-aligned secondary and postsecondary academic coursework, leading them to become educated, credentialed, and empowered civic leaders, professionals, homeowners and landlords.

​Over the course of six years (following the 8th grade), students participate in a full-time program that takes the place of high school and college. They spend half of their time in an academic setting-gaining knowledge that is directly applicable to their paid apprenticeships in the real estate and construction sectors. Additionally, Build UP apprentices work together to rehab blighted, abandoned homes into like-new duplexes. During the course of their six-year program, students earn a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in their chosen field.

Build UP’s flagship site is located in Birmingham, Alabama’s, Ensley neighborhood, and is expanding to Titusville, another high-need Birmingham community. Build UP ultimately plans for its model to scale nationally. To learn more about Build UP, click here.

Fugees Academy

The Fugees Academy has a unique goal, to educate refugee children in an environment that understands their unique challenges. These children are left behind in a traditional public school system. They come to the United States after being forced to flee their home countries. Most have lived through traumatic experiences and have spent time in refugee camps, where education is neither a priority nor an option.

Lacking the support and guidance they need to succeed in traditional public schools, these refugee children drop out of school and never learn English, develop fundamental academic skills, or identify themselves as a valuable part of American society. Fugees Academy has campuses in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, Columbus, Ohio, and with expansion schools in planning, with plans of a nationwide expansion of their school model.

To learn more about Fugees Academy, click here.

Kuumba Preparatory School for the Arts

Kuumba Preparatory School of the Arts is an African-centered private school located in SE Washington D.C. Kuumba offers a year-round non-traditional program in an intimate setting for academics, culture, and the arts.

KPSA’s goal is to assist children in developing their character and artistic talent through holistic education. Our objective is to reach the whole child by helping them develop in the areas of theatre, music, dance, poetry, and song. We use the arts to stimulate learning.

To learn more about Kuumba, click here.