A roar of African drums fills a ballroom at the University of Memphis student center as more than 50 students march into cheers from family, friends, and faculty for “Senior Signing Day.” That day took place a few weeks ago for the 2017 class of graduates of Freedom Prep Academy. They announced where they will be attending college in the fall.
“In a neighborhood where only 10 percent of residents earn college degrees, we want to celebrate the academic achievement of this inaugural senior class,” says Roblin Webb, a Memphis native, who founded the school in 2009.
Freedom Prep is a public charter school for pre-k through 12th grade with three campuses in southwest Memphis. Now, 100 percent of its first graduating class of seniors has been accepted into four-year universities.
Class valedictorian Jayla Williams will be attending Carleton College, an elite liberal arts school in Minnesota. She says it’s an awe-inspiring experience to be a member of the first graduating class.
“It feels great because we’re making history,” Williams says. “For me to be the first valedictorian, I get to start a legacy for the school.”
And it’s that responsibility that also drives Jose Moreno. He’s the first Hispanic student to graduate from Freedom Prep. He will attend the University of Memphis.
“I hope that I will be an inspiration for other Hispanic students,” says Moreno. “They know that if they strive for something, if they get the right support, anything is possible. College is possible.”
School administrators say Freedom Prep is truly a gem in the southwest Memphis community, where its mission is to prepare students to excel in college and in life.
“It is unheard of in an urban area, whether it’s Memphis or elsewhere, to have that type of success. What these students and faculty have done is absolutely phenomenal,” says Candace Ashir, director of marketing and communications for Freedom Prep.
Memphis Ranks High in Charter School funding
By Kelli Gauthier
Significant nonpublic and philanthropic support for charter schools in Shelby County is responsible for erasing an otherwise large disparity in local and state funding between charter schools and their traditional public school counterparts. A University of Arkansas report, Charter School Funding: Inequity in the City, points out that Memphis — one of 14 cities studied for the report — gives zero dollars of local funding to its charter schools.
However, nonpublic dollars have made up the gap, and on average, Shelby County charter schools receive $904 more per-pupil than their traditional public school counterparts. For the study, researchers examined all sources of revenue, including federal, state, local, and nonpublic dollars during the 2013-14 school year in 14 cities across the nation with a high concentration of enrollment in charter schools. Twelve of those 14 cities received less money per student than traditional public schools, with a funding gap of 10 percent or greater. Shelby County is the only region where charter schools received more money than traditional public schools.