YouthBuild Prep Academy provides a liberating educational experience to all students, with a focus on engaging young men of color, preparing them to be confident, civically engaged leaders.

YouthBuild Preparatory Academy, Inc was developed in response to the persistent opportunity gaps fac

Goal One: Develop and deliver learning experience that meet the need of boys & young men of color, elevating the voice of YBPA students and graduates to inform strategies & larger policy and advocacy efforts.

Goal Two: Develop infrastructure and practices that honor our core values while growing impact. Improve short-term outcomes while also investing in longer-term career & leadership success. for YBPS students.

-Develop and implement program and staffing plans for programing that meets the current needs of the community and labor market/workforce development trends and needs. Specifically, explore entrepreneurial areas through Career Academies. -Develop meaningful relationships, belonging, and partnerships to ensure access to social supports, identify resources to fill gaps, and provide virtual strategies to support students and the community. -Build capacity and expertise to communicate with care and respect in multiple languages -Engage scholars in civilly engaged activities within their community

In recent years, we have recognized that bold changes are needed to reshape civic infrastructures that lead to inequities in our communities. Yet, there remains a vacuum of racially diverse local leaders to work toward creating equitable and inclusive local economies ensuring all residents are involved in decisions that impact them. In order to mitigate racial disparities and stop the cycle of poverty, we must develop and educate young people of color to be actively engaged community members and leaders. Despite YBPA, Inc. programs, too many underserved young people —particularly young men of color —continue to be undereducated in public schools. In all but one of the area’s public schools, students score below district averages for proficiency in reading and math. Worse still, the district averages are far below state performance levels. None of the schools located within our proposed catchment area report student performance consistent with state averages. In fact, community-wide, educational statistics paint a dismal picture of student achievement (Rhode Island Department of Education (2018) 2017-18 Rhode Island District Report Card). Therefore, YouthBuild Preparatory Academy, Inc., in accordance with approval it was granted by the Rhode Island Legislature, is proposing the opening of a diploma-granting, secondary education program, YouthBuild Preparatory Academy (YBPA). A stand-alone, independent high school open to all students, YBPA will be particularly focused on serving the underserved and disenfranchised youth and their communities. YBPA will be a model for educational pipelines that prepare young men of color to graduate high school with advanced skills and the social/emotional wellbeing needed for college acceptance, civic engagement and future success.