HBCU-focused high school coming to NYC amid focus on Black student enrollment in accelerated programs

A new high school is coming to southeast Queens where students can earn credits through an early college program — for the first time in New York City’s history, offered by a historically Black university.

HBCU Early College Prep will open its doors next fall through a partnership with Delaware State University. It’s the last of three fast-paced programs outgoing Chancellor David Banks pledged in 2022 to design for families in the outer boroughs.

“We are following through on this administration’s promise to open three accelerated high schools in underserved neighborhoods,” Banks said during his annual State of Our Schools speech on Sept. 17, when he briefly teased the forthcoming program.

HBCU Early College Prep enters a landscape of selective high schools that each year enroll fewer Black students than the broader school system — prompting calls to scrap their admissions policies . Instead, Banks doubled down on a version of the model, opening two out of three promised accelerated programs with Bard College in the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn . All offer admissions priority to applicants who live nearby in some of the city’s most diverse school districts.

“HBCUs have produced so many of our country’s leaders, from scientists to executives, artists to athletes to politicians, including our Vice President Kamala Harris,” Banks continued. “I’m beyond proud that our students will soon benefit from and become a part of that legacy.”

Founding Principal Asya Johnson in an exclusive interview told the Daily News students start earning college credits as early as ninth grade and, in later years, enroll in online and in-person classes with Delaware State University professors. Graduates will leave high school with a tuition-free associate’s degree and guaranteed admissions to the HBCU.

About 100 students are expected to enroll in the program’s first year, growing to between 460 and 500 students. Education officials plan to site it in a building with I.S. 238 Susan B. Anthony Academy in Hollis, contingent on a citywide education panel’s approval in late January.

“Giving kids an opportunity to get a leg-up getting an associate’s degree — and possibly graduate with their bachelor’s at 20 — it’s just mind-blowing,” said Johnson. “It’s life-changing for a lot of people.”

Johnson — a former Bronx principal who was described by incoming Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos at a recent press conference as “one of the most amazing principals I ever worked with” — plans to take students on college tours of HBCUs across the country. Some teens will also earn extra college credits on campus, complete internships for independent study credits, or travel abroad at DSU’s parter schools, including in China and Italy.

Beyond the college credits, Johnson said she hopes to immerse students in the rich traditions of an HBCU — from sports teams to a “house” system — to promote camaraderie. She said there’s been an outpouring of alumni volunteers from HBCUs who want to mentor high school students. The Divine Nine, a group of Black fraternities and sororities, is also on board.

Each student will be paired with DSU faculty, called “Success Coaches,” not just while in high school taking college courses, but also when they get to campus and finish their bachelor’s degrees.

“We knew we had one left sitting on the table, and we really wanted to be super innovative, do something outside the box,” Shawn Rux, senior executive director of new school development and design, told The News. “And the reality is this: There are many students in New York City who attend HBCUs, but they never really get the magic sauce until they get to the campus. So we really wanted to bridge that gap.”

Both Johnson and Rux are graduates of Delaware State University.

Eighty percent of seats at HBCU Early College Prep will be prioritized for students from southeast Queens, including 40% from School District 29 and the remainder split between Districts 27 and 28, according to new school plans. Families from elsewhere in the borough will have first dibs on the leftover seats, with half available to applicants citywide.

“That’s the part that was most important for me, is being able to give opportunities to students in places where opportunities just doesn’t exist,” said Johnson, who encouraged families of all races and backgrounds to apply.

For admissions, HBCU Early College Prep will consider students’ average course grades, a two-minute video where applicants can explain more about themselves, a writing prompt in response to an Amanda Gorman poem, and a choice of two case-study writing prompts about technology or math and science.

Applications are open now through Dec. 4.