鈥淚 felt loved while I was on campus by my professors,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚 felt affirmed. I saw people who looked like me aspiring to complete higher education, and telling me, 鈥業 want to be a doctor, I want to be an educator or a lawyer.鈥� 鈥�

Johnson is now looking to make that experience possible for a new generation of students of color, as the founding principal of the first early college high school in New York City inspired by historically Black colleges and universities. HBCU Early College Prep High School, which opened in Queens, New York, in fall 2025, is part of a broader effort to create innovative, community-driven and accelerated high schools designed in the style of HBCUs like Delaware State.

Students will graduate with not only a high school diploma, but also an associate鈥檚 degree and a guaranteed spot at Delaware State, founded in 1891 and ranked 10th overall among all HBCUs today. Just as important, they will experience a unique school culture modeled after Delaware State and other HBCUs. In fact, by their junior year students will be taught directly 鈥� but remotely 鈥� by Delaware State professors for certain courses.

Although New York City is home to more than 100 higher education institutions, it has no HBCUs. In fact, there are none in all of New York state.

鈥淵oung people of color just are not being exposed to HBCUs at all,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淲e’re not even talking about HBCUs,鈥� whose distinguished list of graduates include former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and actor and producer Samuel L. Jackson, to name a few. 鈥淎nd if we are, we’re either discrediting them, or we’re telling students that they can’t afford it, or they don’t give scholarships 鈥� none of which is true.鈥� 

That concern is echoed in UNCF鈥檚 recent , which finds that many K鈥�12 students 鈥� especially students of color 鈥� still lack meaningful exposure to HBCUs. The report underscores the urgent need for clearer, intentional pathways connecting young people to these historically Black institutions.

The new school, and the broader effort to develop HBCU-inspired high schools, is made possible with support from a partnership between UNCF (formerly the United Negro College Fund), the XQ Institute and Transcend, a national nonprofit that helps to design and support innovative schools. This coalition of organizations is also in the early stages of transforming an existing New Orleans public school into an HBCU-inspired, early college high school, with other communities also being explored for such efforts.

鈥淭his work only happens because of the strength of the partnership,鈥� said Sarah Navarro, the chief of schools and systems for the XQ Institute. 鈥淯NCF brings deep expertise in what makes HBCUs so powerful for student success. Transcend supports and facilitates the design process with communities. XQ ensures the model is built to transform high school 鈥� not just launch a single school. 

鈥淭ogether, we鈥檙e not just opening a new campus. We鈥檙e building a scalable model for how high schools across the country can connect students to college, culture and opportunity in a lasting way.鈥�

Key hallmarks of HBCU Early College Prep include accelerated coursework, youth voice and choice, real-world learning and a deep connection to the local community.

Students are taking college courses beginning in ninth grade, with teachers receiving training by faculty at Delaware State, said Shawn Rux, a senior executive director in the Office of New School Development & Design at the NYC Department of Education, a key partner of the coalition. Eventually, those students will take virtual classes with Delaware State professors.

鈥淭he 鈥榠ntentionality around the school design鈥� is key to this enterprise,鈥� said Sekou Biddle, vice president for advocacy at UNCF. As part of the effort, the team asked, 鈥淲hat is it that we know about the HBCU experience that is so catalytic for students? And what if we were intentional about bringing those elements into high school?鈥�

鈥淚t’s around [school] culture, it’s around instruction, but then it’s around bringing those principles to life,鈥� Biddle said.

Channeling the 鈥楬BCU Magic鈥�

To Rux and others, it鈥檚 not just the academic challenge; it鈥檚 the combination of that rigor with a strong, positive school culture that nurtures students and provides them a thoughtfully designed support system.

鈥淚 call it the HBCU magic,鈥� said Rux, a Delaware State alumnus himself.

A valuable resource and reference point for the design of the new school came from a 2020 UNCF report, Biddle said.

鈥淗BCUs are often overlooked as sources of effective methods for producing high-achieving Black students, although their existence is based on this very premise,鈥� the Imparting Wisdom report notes. 鈥淗BCUs have been engines for ingenuity, academic excellence and social justice for decades, and the strategies and practices they implement can inform educational practices and systems.鈥�

The report identifies a series of recommendations based on three 鈥渂est practices鈥� among HBCUs including: cultivating nurturing support systems with a high level of student and faculty interaction; leveraging African American culture and identity; and setting high academic expectations and an intentional college-going culture.

Competition to attend the new public high school was fierce, with some 1,000 applicants for about 100 seats. The school will grow each year, as it progresses from having ninth graders only to eventually a full slate of students in grades 9 through 12.

To apply, students are required to not only submit their academic credentials (including test scores), but also write a short essay about the Amanda Gorman poem, 鈥淭he Hill We Climb,鈥澛燼nd submit a video statement about themselves. While many students in the new class attended other New York City public schools previously, some came from private and parochial schools, according to Johnson.

鈥淥ur school is actually bringing students back into the public school system,鈥� she said.

Designed for Belonging

Among those to earn a spot at the new Queens public school are ninth graders Mya Williams and Chance Thomas.

Mya, an aspiring veterinarian, was attracted to the school after hearing about it at a school assembly. Principal Johnson had been visiting middle schools to drum up interest.

鈥淪he talked about how we would get an associate’s degree at the end of our four years, and we would get college credits,鈥� Mya said. 鈥淎nd that really caught my attention.鈥�

Both students describe their new school as academically demanding, but also supportive.

According to Chance, the school is cultivating students鈥� work ethic and valuable skills like time management. 鈥淭hey definitely push us with the workload and the expectations, because a lot of our peers [at other schools] don鈥檛 have that,鈥� she said. 鈥淓xpectations are really high, but our professors [how teachers are referred to] are really supportive.鈥� 

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 good that we鈥檙e challenged,鈥� Mya said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 preparing us for college.鈥�

The two students also highlighted the 鈥渉ouse鈥� system, akin in some respects to sororities and fraternities, or to the student houses featured in the Harry Potter books and films, an analogy offered up by Principal Johnson. In fact, HBCU Early College Prep uses a point system like Hogwarts School, with rewards for those that amass the most. But in this case, the houses are named after well-known HBCUs like Spelman College and Howard University.

The experience 鈥渂uilds a sisterhood and brotherhood within those houses,鈥� Chance said.

“Listen to how these students talk about their school. They’re describing rigor and community in the same breath,” said Aylon Samouha, co-founder and CEO of Transcend. “That’s not an accident. That’s the result of intentional design.鈥�

鈥淲hen students feel like they belong to something meaningful,鈥� Samouha said, 鈥渨hen the adults around them have high expectations and real support structures, engagement stops being something you have to manufacture. It becomes the natural byproduct of a school that was designed with students’ full humanity in mind.”

Coming 鈥渉ome鈥�

It didn鈥檛 take long for ninth graders at the new school to experience Delaware State firsthand. In November of last year, HBCU Early College Prep organized a field trip for students over homecoming weekend.

During the visit, the ninth graders toured campus and participated in a pinning ceremony with the college president. Over time, students will have the chance to attend career fairs and other activities at Delaware State, said Kareem McLemore, the university鈥檚 vice president for strategic enrollment management and international affairs. And, they will be earning college credits from the institution each year.

The high schoolers also had a chance to meet with upperclass students at an existing early college high school located on the Delaware State campus to better understand the accelerated model.

As part of the model, each student also is paired with a 鈥渟uccess coach,鈥� an upperclassman from Delaware State who can provide remote support, including tutoring and personalized academic advising.

As a brand new school with only ninth graders right now, HBCU Early College Prep is still early in its journey. But Principal Johnson, Rux from the city education department and their coalition partners are aiming high:

鈥淲e just want to make sure,鈥� Rux said, 鈥渢hat when students walk out that door at the end of their four years, they鈥檙e fully prepared to really take on the world.鈥�

Disclosure: is a financial supporter of 社区黑料.

As if that weren鈥檛 enough to keep her busy, she worked with legislators to co-write three climate bills for the Indiana General Assembly, raised $87,000 to support student journalism programs as director of , and helped secure winning votes for Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett in a critical municipal race.

It鈥檚 the kind of r茅sum茅 you鈥檇 expect from someone twice her age. Yet when you ask how Maiga got here, she doesn鈥檛 talk about awards or titles鈥攕he credits her high school.

Maiga is a graduate of Indiana-based , designed in partnership with , a nonprofit working to modernize the high school experience. In 2016, only 12 graduates from Indianapolis Public Schools enrolled at Purdue University, the state鈥檚 flagship postsecondary institution. Determined to change course, the community came together to create PPHS, a project-based, STEM-focused high school serving students citywide.

In its first graduating cohort, the school single-handedly tripled the number of Indianapolis public high school graduates entering the university. The network of now three schools has become a statewide model helping to shape policy across Indiana. 

It鈥檚 that flexible, out-of-the-classroom thinking that defined Maiga鈥檚 four years at PPHS鈥檚 Englewood campus. The school gave her the opportunity to discover her passions with interest-driven classes and meaningful internships, shaping her skills and, ultimately, helping her chart her future.

One of those opportunities was the , a pitch competition that gives local high school students a chance to develop their entrepreneurial skills while learning from business leaders and investors. Magia, who had honed her professional skills at PPHS, was well prepared. She and her Compleyes.ai co-founder walked away with first place鈥攁nd a $25,000 check.

鈥淗igh school was so important to me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like if you talk to a traditional high school student, they probably don鈥檛 feel heard enough in educational decisions鈥攖hat鈥檚 pretty different when you talk to students at my school.鈥�

Instead of taking four years of English classes, Maiga interned with a legal organization where she practiced the same reading and writing skills鈥攑erhaps with even more rigor鈥攚hile gaining immersive, practical experience and class credit.

鈥淧eople think internships are in addition to what you do in the classroom, like joining a sports team or an extracurricular, but they鈥檙e not,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n my internship, I did essentially the same things I did in a lot of my English classes, but it was more technical and advanced.鈥�

Work-based learning let Maiga imagine a career on her own terms鈥攁nd redefine what success meant along the way. Growing up, she鈥檇 always loved the humanities, but her family鈥攚ho immigrated from West Africa when she was in fifth grade鈥攙alued more conventional, financially secure paths. 鈥淭hese roles didn鈥檛 fit the traditional idea my family had of a successful career.鈥� 

That perspective began to shift during Maiga鈥檚 time at Purdue Polytechnic. Through hands-on learning and exposure to a variety of industries, she began to see that success had many definitions, opening her eyes to the range of possibilities after graduation. 鈥淚t was really important because it showed me there are different career paths where you can have a lot of impact.鈥�

The experience didn鈥檛 just change Maiga鈥檚 mindset 鈥� it also helped bridge a gap between her and her family. 鈥淭hat was the one thing standing between us,鈥� she said. By seeing the kinds of professional paths Maiga could pursue, her parents began to understand that her interests in the humanities could lead to real, fulfilling work. 鈥淢y experience at PPHS helped us get closer.鈥�

Maiga鈥檚 story is a testament to what鈥檚 possible when schools give students room to explore, fail, and redefine success for themselves. For her, work-based learning wasn鈥檛 just an academic exercise鈥攊t was an invitation to connect her passions to real-world change. 

Today, Maiga continues to lead the charge at as the company evolves and grows while also supporting Mayor Hogsett as an intern. And, of course, she is beginning her next chapter at Cornell.

As she looks ahead at her future and future generations, Maiga hopes more students get the same chance to learn on their own terms. She believes that when young people are empowered to explore their passions, they not only transform their own lives but also shape the communities around them. For Maiga, the journey is only beginning鈥攁nd she鈥檚 determined to make sure others can start theirs, too.

Disclosure: is a financial supporter of 社区黑料.

Their public school, in Oakland, California, prioritizes project-based learning to equip its students with tangible skills and real-world experience that can help them succeed in college and beyond. Extended learning opportunities, ranging from site visits to internships, aren鈥檛 extracurriculars 鈥� they are a cornerstone of the curriculum.

Students, parents, and academic leaders place tremendous value on such opportunities. Nearly nationwide express interest in participation in work-based learning. In fact, a found that teens consider 鈥渟kills for future employment鈥� the most important priority in their education.

High-quality work-based learning opens doors for students to discover a wide variety of careers, gain meaningful, career-connected experience, and graduate not just with a diploma but with a clear sense of direction and the concrete skills to match. And yet offer formal work-based learning programs.聽

Founded in 2019, Latitude is quickly proving what鈥檚 possible when students step outside the classroom and into real-world learning. It accelerates students鈥� paths to success, outperforming state and national trends. About 70% of Latitude鈥檚 seniors feel ready for life after graduation 鈥� nearly double the national share of students who remain unclear about their career expectations, a figure that has doubled in the past decade.

Jesus鈥� and Alexis鈥� journeys are a prime example of how work-based learning can shape a student鈥檚 future. During their first year at Latitude, a worksite visit sparked an unexpected passion for aviation in the two teens. 鈥淚 really just fell in love as soon as I walked into the hangar,鈥� Jesus recalls. When the time came to decide on senior-year internships, both students chose Wingler鈥檚 Aviation at Hayward Executive Airport, where they became immersed in everything from airplane mechanics to aerodynamics. Now Jesus attends the College of Alameda, where he is pursuing a license to become an aviation mechanic. Alexis, for his part, is pursuing a bachelor鈥檚 in aviation from San Jose State University. By graduation, he plans to be a fully licensed pilot.

I sat down with both students to hear firsthand about their experience and understand the impact of work-based learning on high school students.

Before you started your internship with Latitude, what were you thinking about the future?

Jesus: I was torn between going to college, which I wasn鈥檛 really interested in, or pursuing a trade, which I wanted to do. I always knew I wanted to be someone in the trades: welding, plumbing, something like that. But I wasn鈥檛 100% sure.

Alexis: I had decided I wasn鈥檛 going to go to college. I was committed to going to trade school, joining a union, and going from there.

What was it about Latitude that attracted you?

Jesus: I was never really big on classrooms. I didn鈥檛 love learning from books. I really liked that Latitude took a hands-on approach. It opened my eyes. I really valued working on projects, so that鈥檚 why I chose it. I knew “This is the school for me.鈥�

At Latitude, you were exposed to a range of professions before your teachers worked with you to define your path and select your internship with Wingler鈥檚 Aviation. Tell me about those first few days as interns.

Jesus: At first, we didn鈥檛 know anything 鈥� it鈥檚 an airplane!

Alexis: There was definitely a 鈥渨ow鈥� factor. I had wanted to stick to something so general, like plumbing, but now I was going to work on airplanes. It opened my mind. It鈥檚 a whole different world that not many high schoolers get to explore.

How did the journey unfold from those early days?

Jesus: The first month or two, it was just us taking it all in and learning from our mentor, Mr. Sunil. We started with basics: changing brakes and tires, doing inspections, working on panels. We observed and followed instructions, doing the work alongside them as they showed us all the tips and tricks. Eventually, we started to take on bigger projects ourselves and mentors would just check in on us. By the third or fourth month, we got the hang of it. We learned how to read tail numbers, how to start and control a plane. We鈥檝e learned a lot. By the end, we knew the lingo and could do inspections and repairs on our own. 

On site, you learned how to fix a plane, but also how to work with others, communicate in the workplace, and problem-solve. What are some of those professional skills you鈥檝e developed?

Jesus: Troubleshooting, for sure. Knowing when something鈥檚 not right and trying a different tool or method. That applies to a lot in life. We鈥檝e also met certified flight Instructors and private pilots at the flight school across from our shop. They鈥檙e very professional, and I鈥檝e learned a lot about professionalism just watching and interacting with them.

Alexis: Yeah, business people come by to sell products or deliver a plane, and being around them, seeing how they act, it teaches you the level of professionalism needed in business.

Do you feel more prepared for life after school now?

Alexis: Yeah, I have a good understanding of what I want to do. I鈥檝e learned a lot. I鈥檝e grown as a person.

Jesus: Definitely. I wasn鈥檛 very serious in ninth grade, and my grades reflected that. Coming from middle school, I was still adjusting. But I鈥檝e made a huge change. I鈥檝e matured. I鈥檝e seen the importance of putting in time and effort鈥攊t shows in everything. 

Looking back, what would you say is the biggest takeaway your work-based learning experience has given you?

Jesus: A straight path in life. I have clarity. I know like what’s next, you know? I have my goals set.

Alexis: It opened a lot of doors. I didn’t really have my mind set on what I wanted to do. But through the internship, I figured out what I wanted to do with life.

So what is next? What happens after graduation?

Jesus: I鈥檓 studying aviation at the College of Alameda, then pursuing a license to become an aviation mechanic. My internship changed how I viewed college. I realized there鈥檚 a lot you need to know, and it鈥檚 good to get hands-on learning because then, when you study the book, you can make the comparison. You get the theory in school and the practice at work.

Alexis: I’m also pursuing a career in aviation, but I chose the pilot path. I’m going to San Jose to earn my bachelor鈥檚 in aviation and then I鈥檒l get my license before graduating. I got a full ride. Eventually, I want to leave the state to do a course in avionics and open an electrical shop.

Your time at Latitude clearly played an important role. Based on your journey, what do you think the purpose of high school is?

Jesus: That’s a big question. I like it! High school is a place where you learn who you are and figure out what you want to do. It goes fast. I鈥檝e changed a lot since freshman year. It鈥檚 about preparing to become an adult.

Alexis: I agree. High school is about getting a better understanding of yourself and who you are as a person. It鈥檚 about getting out of your comfort zone and meeting new people. It鈥檚 important to get out of your bubble to grow. That’s the whole point of high school. 

Disclosure: supports 社区黑料’s focus on the ‘Future of High School.’

It was 2018, and 17-year-old Daniella was one of our students at Da Vinci RISE High School. She was an artist interested in graphic design and braiding hair. 

But as a young person in Los Angeles鈥檚 foster care system, she spent less time thinking about her passions and more time worrying about her day-to-day survival because her 18th birthday was approaching. On that date, she鈥檇 age out of the foster care system overnight, lose access to youth housing resources and be on her own financially. On top of that, Daniella, whose name has been changed in this piece to protect her privacy, was pregnant. 

She was increasingly focused on questions like, 鈥淗ow do I find housing?鈥� 鈥淗ow do I prepare for motherhood?鈥� 鈥淗ow will I afford to live?鈥�

In Los Angeles County alone, there are . Another 7,000 of the county鈥檚 children are in foster care. The vast majority of these young people, like Daniella, face challenges that would disrupt the lives of even the most well-resourced adults. The result is that many attend school intermittently, if at all, and are invisible to the traditional school system, which rarely meets their complex needs.

We created to serve Daniella and many others like her in our community. We鈥檙e able to do so because we designed a school that bucks the traditional model, with more flexible, personalized learning and supports tailored for each individual student鈥檚 needs. 

For Daniella, we helped tailor her education to address her changing life circumstances: as a part of her project, she created a personalized budget, applied for jobs, explored mothering classes, investigated the process to access housing, and what it means for foster youth, all while still demonstrating her individual subject mastery on nationally recognized growth assessments. We use these assessments to inform our teaching and to help young people who feel beaten down by standardized tests get a more nuanced view of where they are making progress.

Listening to students is just one way to rethink high school. For more, check out The XQ Xtra, a newsletter for educators that comes out twice a month. .

We, as principal and executive director of RISE, both know this student population well. We are born and raised Angelenos, and while we started our teaching journeys on opposite sides of the country 鈥� Naomi at an independent study charter school in L.A. and Erin as a Teach For America instructor in Miami 鈥� we鈥檝e both spent our careers witnessing firsthand the stabilizing and healing power of flexible, personalized education for students whose lives are complicated and unstable outside of the classroom. Our shared belief that each student鈥檚 unique journey is worth embracing is what drives Da Vinci RISE, which opened in 2017 with support from the nonprofit XQ Institute.

No two RISE students are exactly alike, but almost all of the 200 young people we serve each year have been failed by the traditional school system. Of the 108 RISE alumni to date, 15% were in foster care, 7% were homeless, 8% were on probation, and 10% were involved in more than one system. These are students who may be older than the typical high school student, they might be on probation, they might be young parents and/or they may have full-time jobs, all of which can get in the way of school being their number one priority. Compared with other students across the L.A. school district, RISE students are twice as likely to have diagnosed disabilities, three times as likely to be experiencing homelessness, and 20 times as likely to be in the foster care system. 

Just like any other young person, our students want to be successful. They have passions, big dreams and goals; they just haven鈥檛 had access to the resources to achieve them. At RISE, we know our students are resilient and have had to be more strategic and agile than even many of the most successful adults. We work to access their hearts and minds, learn each student鈥檚 individual needs and circumstances and then build the education around them. 

In the traditional, one-size-fits-all school system, the challenges outside the classroom for a student like Daniella are beyond any school鈥檚 scope of responsibilities and resources. But at RISE, Daniella knew a team of people were there to help meet her needs. She trusted us enough to ask for that help. And we responded by asking ourselves: how can we design an educational track to help her build the skill sets she needs for survival while also building the academic mastery she needs to graduate?

Watch this video to learn more about Da Vinci RISE:

When we first partnered with XQ, we moved through a design process that put the needs of these diverse young people front and center. We realized that for our students, everything starts with a physical environment where they feel secure and supported. RISE鈥檚 classrooms are essentially one- or two-room schools, integrated on-site at three community-based social service providers in high-need areas across Los Angeles. These clean, high-quality sites provide a sense of physical safety to our students and allow mental health professionals, case managers, behavior interventionists, psychologists and counselors to collaborate directly with teachers and students about each individual young person鈥檚 needs so students can access critical services and resources as a part of their everyday academic experience. 

We recruit staff and volunteers with a keen eye for folks who have shared experiences with our youth and RISE centers our students in the hiring process to provide them with a voice into who comes into the community. We build a strong, small, tight-knit, nurturing community, and our educators receive special training in trauma-informed care, nonviolent crisis intervention, and restorative practices. are among the six research-backed for creating high schools that prepare all students for the future. On XQ鈥檚 latest Social Emotional Learning Survey of the class of 2023, 98% of RISE students said they had at least one teacher or other adult in the school they could talk to if they had a problem. 

Every conversation our staff has with our students, whether it鈥檚 about their circumstances outside of school, the schedules of their daily lives, or their different learning pathways, is always based around the question, 鈥淗ow can we make school most relevant to you?鈥� We use the , research-based skills describing what all students should know and be able to do to succeed in the future 鈥� whether that鈥檚 college, career or another path. All students need to be critical thinkers who can master content while collaborating and problem-solving. And because tests alone aren鈥檛 sufficient, we use the to track our students鈥� individual progress toward these goals and toward California鈥檚 requirements for getting into four-year state colleges and universities.

We also provide RISE students with personalized, project-based learning tailored to their individual needs, passions, and goals, working closely with each student to meet them where they鈥檙e at. Each student鈥檚 schedule is flexible, combining in-person learning on two to four days a week at one of our three locations with online learning year-round. We bring in partners from arts, medicine, media, engineering, business and beyond. We just bought a van to pick up students who aren鈥檛 able to come to school. Our students are not well served by the traditional testing models, so we engage with students head-on about testing in order to shift their mindset and show how testing can be an opportunity to demonstrate their growth and mastery of academic subjects and recover credits toward graduation.

Ultimately, Daniella graduated from RISE. She had a beautiful, healthy child. She developed the life and parenting skills she needed to navigate into the next chapter of her life as an independent adult and mother. Daniella graduated from cosmetology school and continued her passion for styling hair. She is a RISE success story. 

But there are a lot of Daniellas in Los Angeles, and the reality is that after the pandemic, the stakes for these students are the highest they鈥檝e ever been. The foster population is . In traditional schools, there’s an uptick in unfair disciplinary practices, and more students than ever are entering the school-to-prison pipeline. Even before COVID, California students who experienced homelessness were twice as likely to be chronically absent, . What we鈥檙e learning at RISE is relevant for schools throughout the country struggling with since the pandemic. 

Our model is expensive, no doubt. In California鈥檚 funding system, we can鈥檛 get money for keeping students enrolled and working if they鈥檙e not coming to campus or completing school work on a traditional schedule, which is why we rely on outside fundraising. But RISE is more than a national model for other schools that want to serve these students. It鈥檚 a movement built around completely reimagining how we treat and respect young people in this country. And it starts by seeing and engaging with the individual needs of every single student so they have the agency, power and joy of determining their own future.

Do you want to learn more about how to rethink high school? The XQ Xtra is a newsletter for educators that comes out twice a month. .

Disclosure: is a financial supporter of 社区黑料.