U Prep Schools was established by Robert "Bob" Thompson, a philanthropist who is from Hillsdale County, Michigan. The first senior class of U Prep Schools graduated in 2007. Thompson previously attempted to give $200 million to Detroit Public Schools in exchange for it establishing 15 charter schools, but DPS rejected the offer. Instead Bob and his wife Ellen Thompson, both white, spent $15 million in establishing the system, in Detroit which is 83% black. In 2013 the coalition Excellent Schools Detroit ranked Detroit elementary and middle schools by Michigan Educational Assessment Program performance. The following U Prep schools were in the recommended section of the list: University Preparatory Academy Middle School, University Preparatory Academy Mark Murray Elementary, and University Preparatory Science and Math Academy. In July 2014 U Prep Schools began a program with the Detroit Yacht Club which involved its students taking sailing and swimming courses. An anonymous donor, a member of the club, financed these courses with $100,000 spent for the first year; he stated that he would pay $150,000 per year for additional years.
Academic performance
As part of the establishment of U Prep, the Thompsons asked the school to retain 90% of its high school students and to have 90% of them attend universities and other post-secondary education. In 2010 the graduation rate was 95% with almost all of the students moving on to tertiary education. 57% of the students in the class of 2007 enrolled in two-year schools as sophomores had attended the same ones as freshmen, while 83% enrolled in four year universities attended the same ones as sophomores that they did as freshmen. Dan Rather stated in the 2011 program "A National Disgrace" that the test scores in the U Prep school system "are much closer to the Michigan state average" and "many points higher" compared to test scores from Detroit Public Schools campuses.
University Preparatory Academy
Mitch Albom, a columnist of the Detroit Free Press, described the school as "one of the top charter schools in Detroit." African-Americans make up the majority of the school system's students. Schools within UPA include:
The high school, which Albom describes as appearing similar to the campus of a university, has small classrooms. Albom stated that it has "first-rate" teachers.
University Prep Science & Math
Schools within UPSM include:
University Prep Science & Math Elementary School
University Prep Science & Math Middle School
University Prep Science & Math High School
The high school, which opened in the fall of 2010 with 125 students in the 9th grade, opened in a former warehouse. The former warehouse, bought and renovated jointly by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and the Thompson Education Foundation, is in proximity to Chene Park. The Thompson Foundation paid $14.5 million while the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan paid $1.5 million.
