The #collegesuspense is over at the Englewood campus of Urban Prep Academy for Young Men in Chicago: every member of the school’s very first senior class has been accepted to a four-year college. The seniors were granted admission to more than 70 colleges and universities, including Northwestern, Marquette, Howard University, Morehouse College, and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Urban Prep first opened its doors in 2006 as the country’s first public charter high school and four years later, it has met its lofty expectations by preparing all of its students for a successful transition to college. In addition to the Englewood, there are two other Urban Prep locations in the Chicagoland area, including the South Shore campus and the one at East Garfield Park. All three schools linked by the same mission of providing at-risk students with a real chance at a better life through education.

As a reward for a job well done, Chicago Mayor Richard Daly and city schools chief Ron Huberman announced that the 107 seniors would be attending the prom for free. Considering the fact that only 4 percent of these seniors were able to read at grade level when they entered Urban Prep as freshmen, there will be a lot to celebrate at this year’s prom.

Although the school’s administrators will let the students bask in the glow of their college acceptances for a while, there’s still work to be done: Urban Prep is making sure that the students make good on their acceptances and actually attend college. In fact, the school is planning to have a special day where the seniors sign a contract promising that they will attend college.

We wish these students and all the other college-bound seniors the best of luck with all of their future endeavors.

–The CollegeBound Network