Meet Keniah Washington, thirteen, Keyanna Grant, fourteen, Miracle Butler, fifteen, Tyreek Nash, fifteen, and Kaitlyn Archie-McDonald, fifteen. This intelligent young African American cohort recently received their high school diploma from Icon Preparatory School in Tampa, Florida. They all have GPAs above 3.5 and have completed more than 50 college credit hours. Keniah and Keyanna, the group’s youngest members, began attending college classes when they were just 12 years old.
The scholars hope to graduate from Saint Leo University with an Associate’s Degree within the following year. They will then transfer as juniors to another four-year university to finish their Bachelor’s degree. To name a few, they are applying to Florida A&M University, Howard University, and Clark Atlanta University.
Icon Preparatory School is a private school with about 800 students in Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida. Icon Prep is open to all students in Florida and is dedicated to reducing the achievement gap between its scholars and their more affluent counterparts. Icon Preparatory School believes that a student’s zip code does not decide their destiny and encourages its students to fulfill their full potential, preparing them for life in college and beyond.
Five of Icon Prep’s six founders are graduates of Florida A&M University, a historically black college that values achievement and compassion in its students. Icon Prep’s directors hope to use their HBCU experience to have a huge influence on their student body, which is 99% African American and Hispanic.
