University Prep Public Schools

What University Prep Public Schools does

University Prep Public Schools (UPPS) is a non-profit public charter school network operating two free schools in the South Bronx — University Prep Charter Middle School (grades 5-8) at 470 Jackson Avenue and University Prep Charter High School (grades 9-12) at 600 St. Ann's Avenue — serving nearly 1,000 students primarily from the Mott Haven neighborhood and across New York City. Founded in 2008 by Steve Barr (founder of Green Dot Public Schools) and Randi Weingarten (President of the American Federation of Teachers), the network provides a college-preparatory curriculum with AP and College Now tracks, supplemented by a two-week SummerBridge orientation, a Zero Period reading intervention, the Later Gator after-school program with 25+ clubs and competitive sports, the GatorAid peer tutoring program, the Peer Group Committee mentorship program, dedicated per-grade college counseling, and an Honors Program. Admission is a public random lottery with district 7 and sibling priorities, with no tuition, application fee, or academic barrier to entry.

The schools' core technology stack is a mix of standard EdTech platforms rather than proprietary systems: school-issued Chromebooks, PowerSchool for grade tracking, ParentSquare for two-way family communication, TeachPoint for staff evaluation, the SORA e-book library of more than 3,000 titles, Accelerated Reader for reading comprehension assessment, SchoolMint for applications, and TYPESY for keyboarding. Pedagogical differentiation comes from domain choices rather than AI — an Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) model for students with IEPs, Zero Period small-group reading intervention, peer-led instruction via GatorAid and the Peer Group Committee, and an Honors Program for high-achieving middle schoolers. There are no proprietary AI/ML capabilities, patents, or training pipelines disclosed in the source data.

UPPS operates as a publicly funded, privately managed charter network. Revenue is per-pupil allocations from the New York City Department of Education and New York State — a recurring, enrollment-indexed model — supplemented by federal COVID-19 relief through ESSER (ARP-ESSER) and the Public Charter School Grant Program. There is no tuition revenue. Distribution is community-led and direct-to-consumer: a Student Recruitment Officer manages community outreach and partnerships with local schools and social service agencies across the Bronx; open houses are delivered both in-person and virtually; applications flow through SchoolMint; and family engagement is sustained via ParentSquare and the 'University Prep Family' identity. The defining commercial differentiator is the co-founding partnership with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), delivering competitive teacher compensation and unusually stable staff retention for a charter-sector network.

Name

University Prep Public Schools

Legal name

University Prep Public Schools

Website

https://uppublicschools.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Short description

University Prep Public Schools operates two free public charter schools (grades 5-12) in the South Bronx serving nearly 1,000 NYC students with a college-preparatory curriculum. It is distinguished by its UFT union partnership, 98% graduation rate, and 100% college acceptance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Charter School Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAJACAJ

Charter College-Prep & Advanced Academics Schools

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/Charter K–12 Schools

SECONDARYEDAJAAAD

Public High Schools

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/Public K–12 Schools & Districts

SECONDARYEDAJAAAC

Public Middle Schools

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/Public K–12 Schools & Districts

Keywords

• Charter school education
• College preparatory programs
• Public charter schools
• K-12 education
• Secondary education

Headquarters

HQ city

Bronx

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Per-Pupil Public Funding: As a free public charter school network, UPPS is funded primarily through per-pupil state and federal funding allocations based on enrollment. There is no cost to families to submit an application or to attend.
2. Public Charter School Grant Program & ESSER Funds: UPPS receives federal COVID-19 relief funding through ESSER (ARP-ESSER) programs for both the high school and middle school, as documented in their public notices section.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

University Prep Public Schools operates two free public charter schools — a middle school (grades 5-8) and a high school (grades 9-12) — in the South Bronx, New York City, delivering a continuous college-preparatory program with AP and College Now coursework, dedicated counselors per grade, and free after-school enrichment including 25+ clubs and competitive sports. All programs are provided at no cost to families, with students admitted via a lottery-based process serving nearly 1,000 students from the Bronx and across New York City.

Product overview

University Prep Public Schools is a network of free public charter schools consisting of two core institutions: University Prep Charter Middle School (grades 5-8) and University Prep Charter High School (grades 9-12). Both schools operate as a unified college-preparatory program in the South Bronx, NY. The middle school focuses on building foundational academic skills through a knowledge-led, content-rich curriculum, while the high school provides rigorous college-preparatory coursework with AP and College Now options. Supporting the core academic programs are several supplementary offerings including the SummerBridge orientation program for incoming students, the Later Gator after-school program with over 25 clubs and sports teams, Zero Period reading intervention for struggling readers, the GatorAid peer tutoring program, and college counseling services. The organization also offers an Honors Program for high-achieving middle school students. All programs are provided free of charge as public charter schools serving nearly 1,000 students from the Bronx and surrounding areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• University Prep Charter Middle School A free public charter middle school serving grades 5-8, located at 470 Jackson Avenue, Bronx, NY 10455, providing a knowledge-led, content-rich college-preparatory curriculum with focus on literacy, mathematics, science, history, and visual arts.
• University Prep Charter High School A free public charter high school serving grades 9-12, located at 600 St. Ann's Avenue, Bronx, NY 10455, offering a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum with AP and College Now options.
• SummerBridge Program A two-week summer orientation program for incoming 5th, 6th, and 9th graders designed to introduce students to the school, their classmates, and their teachers, including team-building, trips, and learning about school procedures.
• Later Gator After-School Program A free after-school program offering over 25 different clubs and competitive sports teams, running from 4:00 to 6:00 pm four days a week to provide academic support, skill-building, and extracurricular activities for enrolled students.
• College Counseling Services Dedicated college counseling services providing support for the college application process, with professional school counselors who travel with students over all four high school years to address social, emotional, and academic needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% of students graduate high school in four years
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and foundational.

• Community School District 7 (NYC DOE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024UP has admissions priority for students residing in Community School District 7. Approximately 45% of current UP students live in district 7, with the remainder from across the Bronx. The school serves as a community educational anchor in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx.
• United Federation of Teachers (UFT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008University Prep was co-founded in partnership with the United Federation of Teachers — an unprecedented partnership between a charter school and a labor union at the time. This partnership ensures competitive teacher salaries and benefits, reduces turnover, and gives teachers authentic voice in school governance. Staff members serve on the board of trustees and participate in all aspects of school decision-making. The school maintains a collaborative relationship with UFT, and all staff receive UFT membership and full benefits.
• Green Dot Public SchoolsfoundationalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008University Prep was founded as a Green Dot charter school in NYC in 2008 by Steve Barr (founder of Green Dot Public Schools California) in collaboration with Randi Weingarten. Green Dot's successful secondary school model and union reform approach formed the foundational principles for UP's school design. In 2010, Steve Barr formed Future Is Now Schools to extend the Green Dot model beyond California.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Uncommon Schools: Multi-state charter network (NY/NJ/MA) operating college-prep public charter schools in the Bronx and broader NYC; comparable in mission, lottery-based admissions, and emphasis on academic outcomes for low-income students of color.
• Achievement First: Charter management organization operating public charter schools across NYC and Connecticut with a college-prep, character-driven model; comparable in target students, lottery enrollment, and continuous K-12 pathways to UP's 5-12 model.
• KIPP NYC: National KIPP network's NYC affiliate operating multiple charter schools serving grades K-12 with a college-prep mission; directly comparable to UP on model (free public charter, lottery admissions, underserved urban families) and geography (NYC, including the Bronx).
• Democracy Prep Public Schools: NYC charter network with a college-prep mission, 100% college acceptance rhetoric, and a strong Harlem/Bronx footprint; comparable to UP on model, geography, and outcome-focused positioning.
• Success Academy Charter Schools: One of the largest NYC charter networks with a college-prep focus and strong test-score track record; directly comparable to UP in target market (NYC families), admissions model (lottery), and college-preparatory curriculum, though at much greater scale across multiple boroughs.

Emerging players

• Green Dot Public Schools: Founded by Steve Barr in 1999; UP itself was launched as a Green Dot affiliate in 2008, so Green Dot shares the foundational college-prep, union-friendly operating playbook and is the institutional ancestor of UP's model.
• Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ): NYC-based cradle-to-career education and social services network operating Promise Academy charter schools; comparable to UP on target population (underserved urban families), charter college-prep curriculum, and integrated wraparound services.
• Internationals Network for Public Schools: NYC-area public charter network serving recently arrived immigrant students with project-based, college-prep curricula; comparable to UP on NYC charter status, lottery admissions, and English Language Learner support (UP highlights ICT/ENL programming).

Broad incumbents

• New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE): The public school district that is also UP's regulator and primary funding source; comparable as the broad incumbent providing free public education to the same NYC families that UP serves via its lottery-based charter option.

Regional players

• South Bronx Community Charter High School: Small South Bronx charter high school with a similar neighborhood focus to UP; comparable as a hyper-local charter peer competing for the same District 7 families through a lottery admissions process.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@andreadamato3285
• Instagraminstagram.com/uprepnyc

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about University Prep Public Schools