University Preparatory Charter Academy, also known as "U-prep" or "UPREP", was a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in the

Oakland Unified School District Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oaklan ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was founded in 2001 by

Isaac Haqq Isaac Haqq (born Isaac Richard in July 1957) is an American businessman, educator, and former municipal politician. Personal life Born Isaac Richard in July 1957, he was raised in Pasadena, California by a single mother as the eldest of 8 siblings ...

in the

Eastmont Town Center Eastmont Town Center is a shopping mall and social services hub located on bounded by Foothill Boulevard, Bancroft Avenue, 73rd Avenue, and Church Street, in the Frick neighborhood of East Oakland. The mall opened in phases between 1966 and 197 ...

at the corner of 72nd Street and Bancroft Ave. In its first year of operation, the school had about 80 students and taught a ninth grade curriculum, expanding in number of students and grade levels taught each year. The school doubled in size from some 130 to 260 students in 2004. Haqq claimed "We have made it cool to be smart at this school". A large portion of the student body were minorities; 78% were

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, and 15% were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

. In 2007 the school district nullified the school's 2006 exam results after discovering that someone had changed hundreds of test core answers from wrong to right. The district threatened to revoke the school's charter after scandals involving alleged cheating by an adult student and alleged grade changes by teachers. State investigators seized copies of the 2005 standardized tests, which were being illegally used to prepare UPREP students for the 2007 exams. According to former teachers and a former director of the school's independent study program, school officials sent poor performing students home on testing days or temporarily assigned them to 12th grade, where testing was not required. This had the effect of artificially raising the school's average test score. Former teachers of the school documented multiple cases where course names and grades were falsified on transcripts sent to universities. The founder, Isaac Haqq, resigned from his directorship on July 12. At a board meeting to discuss the future of the school, parents praised the school's achievements and opposed its closure. The governing board of UPREP voted to close the school in July 2007 after allegations of fraudulent attendance reporting (creating fraudulent collection of state funding estimated at $260,000). In addition the State Department of Education invalidated the school's test scores in 2006 and announced its intention to invalidate the results for 2007, in both cases because of cheating. On August 2, 2007, the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' reported that the school had been closed and the district was scrambling to find placement for its students. The CDS Code for UPREP is 01612590130591.CA Department of Education, Public Schools and Districts Data Files
accessed Dec. 2, 2019.

References

* * * Charter high schools in California Educational institutions established in 2001 High schools in Oakland, California 2001 establishments in California Oakland Unified School District {{AlamedaCountyCA-struct-stub

See also

References