FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do students get into University Prep?

University Prep schedules an open enrollment period beginning in January of each year. Parents interested in enrolling their children in any University Prep School fill out a simple application form and submit it to one of our school offices at that time. Forms are available in any University Prep office or here. Once the open enrollment period has closed, all applications are are put in random order by priority. Then numbers are picked out of a box, at random, and placed on each application. These numbers determine if a student is accepted or put on our wait list.

Why do you have all your students in grades K-12 present public exhibitions at the end of each marking period?

All students in grades K-12 are required to present public exhibitions at the end of each marking period. These presentations grow in length and complexity as students move from the start of elementary school through high school graduation. We require this of our students, because we feel it is the best way to help them be accountable for their learning. We also believe that this experience provides them with valuable practice in organizing their thoughts, speaking before groups, and providing constructive feedback to others. Our graduates who are in college tell us that they are very grateful for this experience. It has helped them design successful projects to meet course requirements and made them confident in making oral presentations in college. University Prep alumni report that their peers are "freaked out" about making a five-minute oral presentation. Our students, on the other hand, know that this is no problem, because they have had multiple experiences doing much more, over many years.

Why do you insist that parents attend Learning Team Meetings for their children three times each year?

University Prep Academy takes a "one student at a time" approach to teaching and learning. At the start of each school year, we create a Learning Plan for each student that is updated at the end marking period. Learning Plans outline specific priorities and projects to maximize each student's growth. We believe, that in order to make Learning Plans powerful, it is necessary to have the input of the parent, the student and the teacher/Advisor. We call this group the Learning Team. Parents play a critical role in helping to determine a student's goal, activities, and commitments. By being closely involved in this process, they are able to provide important information to the planning process and are best able to support their children's school success.

Why do you use narrative reports instead of grades for students in K-8th grade?

We believe that a combination of checklists, rating scales, and narrative comments provide parents with a much more clear picture of their child's status and progress than a letter grade. Letter grades mean different things to different people. We want our parents to know the expectations of each grade level, to understand where their child stands in relation to the standards, to have an idea of the rate of progress their child is making and to know what they can do to support their child's school success. We are constantly reviewing our reporting to parents in an effort to continually improve in our ability to provide parents with this information.

How do you know your model works?

All University Prep schools meet federal standards as outlined in the "No Child Left Behind" law. In a recent study that looked at the level of skills of our entering 9th grade students using the ACT standards as a benchmark, students who came to University Prep High School outscored students who came from other schools by over one point in every academic area. We have graduated three classes thus far, with 90-100% of our seniors graduating each year. More than 90% of those graduates have gone on to college or some other post-secondary education program each year, and over 80% of those who've gone to four-year colleges and universities have returned to the same school for the second year. The State of Michigan recently defined an exemplary school as one who graduates at least 80% of its students and sends at least 80% on to post-secondary education. We use these indicators to evaluate the success of our model. As we are exceeding every measure, we feel that we are on the right track.