One City Schools of Madison, Wisconsin to Receive $1.75 Million to Support the Opening of its New Middle/High School in September 2022

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Mar 23, 2022, 09:35 ET

The Charter School Growth Fund and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Contribute

MADISON, Wis., March 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- One year ago today, One City Schools announced that it was purchasing a 157,000 square foot facility from a national insurance company, WPS Health Solutions, based in Monona, Wisconsin. Today, One City announced it will receive $1.75 million in multi-year grants from the Charter School Growth Fund of Broomfield, Colorado and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. These funds will support the planning, startup and implementation of its new groundbreaking early college and career high school: One City Preparatory Academy.

One City Schools' Pleasant T. Rowland Leadership Campus

The Charter School Growth Fund is a nonprofit philanthropic venture capital fund that identifies the country's best public charter schools, funds their expansion, and helps to increase their impact. One City joined the Growth Fund's portfolio of high quality public charter schools in 2019, after successfully completing a comprehensive due diligence process. The Growth Fund will contribute $850,000 to One City over the next two years to support the launch of One City Preparatory Academy that will open in September 2022 with grades 6, 9 and 10.

Additionally, One City was awarded a $900,000 federally-funded Charter School Startup and Implementation Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This grant will support the startup and operating costs of One City Preparatory Academy over the next five years.

One City's Founder and CEO, Kaleem Caire, stressed the importance of these investments in helping One City successfully launch its new early college and career secondary school. He said, "One City's transformational schools would not exist without the extraordinary giving of our local and national philanthropic communities. One City Prep will combine middle and high school, and be Wisconsin's first early college and career preparatory school where "every" student will complete college courses or professional training towards college degrees and professional certifications while they pursue their high school diplomas."

Caire further stated that, "Academic achievement and opportunity gaps have persisted between students of color and their white peers for a long time. One City's schools are focused on eliminating this gap. However, we are also focused on addressing the gap between what our children are learning in school and what they need to know and experience in middle and high school to be adequately prepared to solve major local, national and global problems that we are punting to their generation to address. Black and Latino youth in South Madison are not intentionally being trained to solve the nation's housing, food insecurity, public governance or poverty crises, and aren't being prepared to solve the twin crises of global warming and water insecurity around the world. However, they will be prepared at One City Prep Academy."

One City Preparatory Academy will open on One City's new Pleasant T. Rowland Leadership Campus in Monona/Madison, Wisconsin. It will grow to serve nearly 600 students by 2025, when it graduates its first class for high school seniors. One City expects that more than 75% of its students will complete a minimum of 30 college credits by the time they graduate from high school, while others complete professional certifications through its partnership with Madison College.

One City Schools is partnering with Madison College, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education. They will continue to add new college and career education partners going forward. There are more than 300 early college high schools in the United States and a number of career education programs in the United States, but none in Wisconsin that require all students to complete college and career courses starting in ninth grade.

About One City Schools

One City Schools, Incorporated is a Madison, Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization that operates three schools: a tuition-based independent preschool that serves 2 and 3-year-olds, and two tuition-free public charter schools, authorized by the University of Wisconsin System. Its mission is to seed a new model of public education that ensures young children are on track to succeed in a college or career preparatory program from birth through high school graduation. One City will eventually enroll 926 children from age 2 through through 12th grade.

SOURCE One City Schools