Democracy Prep Public Schools Australia

Founded in 2005 and opening our first school in 2006, Democracy Prep set out to prove what is possible for public education in America. Our flagship school, Democracy Prep Charter Middle School, first opened its doors in August 2006. By 2009, DPCS became the highest performing school in Central Harlem and was ranked the number one public middle school in New York City.

Democracy Prep Public Schools currently operates 22 high-performing schools and one program in New York City, Baton Rouge, San Antonio and Las Vegas educating 6,500 citizen-scholars. The incredible growth of the scholars is possible through the tireless and dedicated work of the educators who make up our DREAM Team.

By proving that students, regardless of what ZIP code they are born into, can perform at high academic levels, we seek to transform not only the lives of the students at Democracy Prep but also the expectation of what public schools can achieve.

Much has been said about the achievement gap, which Democracy Prep strives to close every day. However, very little is said about the “civic achievement gap.” National testing, academic studies, and political polling show that low-income, people of color are far less active participants in our democracy.

We believe that all public schools should place an explicit focus on preparing scholars to become active citizens and leaders in our democracy. Through civic initiatives, community engagement, speech and debate, and authentic student and family advocacy for more school choice, our scholars acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitude to change the world.

Each Election Day, elementary and middle school scholars run our “Get Out The Vote” campaign, standing on busy street corners wearing t-shirts and handing out flyers that read “I Can’t Vote, but You Can!” Since its inception, the campaign has encouraged thousands of Harlem, San Antonio, Baton Rouge and Las Vegas resident to get out and vote. Our scholars are the youngest in history to testify in front of the New York State Senate and Assembly, and the New York City Council.

The single most important first step in building great scholars is having great school leaders. Leader U is Democracy Prep’s school leadership training program.

Democracy Prep’s ability to provide an excellent education to scholars in underserved communities depends on our talent and more certainly, our leaders. Democracy Prep offers one and two-year programs to cultivate talent from multiple points of entry to develop the best leaders for current, new, and turnaround Democracy Prep schools. Through action, research, case studies, school visits, residencies, and ongoing coaching, Leader U provides a platform that helps leaders rise.

We actively recruit students who are the least served by traditional public schools and other charter operators, including English language learners and special education students. We provide these students with the same transformational education and support that we provide to all our students including all elective offerings.

In addition, just like a traditional public school and unlike many charters, we welcome new scholars at all grade levels at the beginning of each year. This provides students who have previously been left behind with the opportunity to embark on the path to college and civic success whenever there is an available seat at Democracy Prep.