King College Prep High School

This was my daughter's number one choice for high school. The curriculum is challenging, but there are so many supports in place. There is before school tutoring, after school tutoring, lunch tutoring and teachers even tutor. There are so many activities that every student can find their place at King. The principal talks about how King molds the minds of scholar-leaders, scholar-athletes, and scholar-artists. I can honestly say that mt daughter is all three.
—Submitted by a parent

I drop my son off each morning and I am amazed to see the principal outside everyday, greeting every student. The team at King takes their jobs very personally. The English teachers volunteer their time after school to re-teach and re-test students who need the additional instruction. There are other teachers who give up their lunch periods to help my son nearly every week. I wish i had this kind of support for my older daughter at another school.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter graduated from King College Prep in 2010 and is doing quite well at a top University. With the leadership of Mr Wright, my consistent communication with the teachers and her desire to do well in school...combination of all three, has provided my daughter an opportunity to receive a great education, and let's not forget scholarship awards!
—Submitted by a parent

My oldest daughter is a sophomore at King and my youngest will be attending in the fall. I am very pleased with this school -- the principal is committed and dynamic, the teachers are dedicated, the school offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities, and the school has numerous leadership and related opportunities, such as the annual King Goes to College Day, where the entire freshmen, sophomore, and junior classes spend the day visiting colleges as close as Loyola and as far away as the University of Michigan. It's an awesome school -- and as more students and parents give it a chance, it will only continue to excel.
—Submitted by a parent

The Chicago Board of Education, the Principal and the Local School Council has failed the students. Year after year the test scores are low. The science head of the science department states in a public forum that it is unrealistic to expect every child to do a science project "after all I have a life". Students who take AP courses have never gotten a 2 or 3 on the AP exam in any subject except for Art. The school claims to be a school that focuses on 3 strands, Architecture/Engineering, Performing Arts and Information, however there are only 16 classes offer all together for the strands but the social studies department offers over 26 different classes.
—Submitted by a parent

There is a lot of window dressing at King. Scores have not gone up. A college prep where students do not meet minimum standards...some in the 40s, not even 50% of the students meet in all areas
—Submitted by a parent

Wrote the long review dated Sept. 22, 2010 , just forgot to do a rating. King is headed in the right direction. I just hope the underfunding of education in Illinois does not throw it off track.
—Submitted by a parent

I love my school. It has tons of clubs from chess to gardening to hip hop culture. We have over 800 students and the teachers listen to us if they have the time and we have a problem. I wouldn't have chosen anywhere else to go before or after I got there. Sure I feel like i'm being challenged too much from time to time but my teachers are very supportive and rarely can you ever fail a class without a teacher having to breathe down your neck to get you back on track! I am a 9th grader at King and I love it!
—Submitted by a student

I am a present sophmore at King Collefe Prep High School. Now that we are under leadership of Mr.Wright. The school is making progress. He is really onw of the best principals I have ever had. He is very invovled with the students and the parents. The teaches are great! Ther are hardcore and are willing to help you with anything. Some teahcers even help with personal life. Besides a few things, King is a great school.
—Submitted by a student

With the appointment of Mr. Wright as Principal of King, I must say that the school is on the right track. In the past King did not have much leadership due to the fact that the Principalship was interim. Now that there is a an appointed Principal the school has a great opportunity to advance and hold its own place in competition with the likes of Whitney Young; Northside Prep, Jones, and Payton. I believe in Mr. Wright, he owns the school like it is his home and each student is his child. I am a parent of a incoming senior for the Class of 2008. I have stood with King on shakey ground and am proud to say that Mr. Jeffrey Wright is laying a firm foundation, and we as a school family are feeling the support.
—Submitted by a parent

This school, thought it had alot of potential, is not living up to a 'college prep'. This partly could be blamed on the students, but it all roots back to the administartation. We have great teachers who actually really want to teach, but because of the lack of discipline and security, there are more teachers disciplining than teaching.
—Submitted by a student

The school has no where near enough discipline, security, and leadership. Most teachers do not provide leadership to their students at King. But most/all staff is on a first name basis with all of the students.
—Submitted by Melissa, a former student

I have been impressed over and over with not only the quality of the school and the programs available to students but also the instruction at King College Prep. The teachers are outstanding! I know several of them who have taught in college and who bring that experience to high school so that they can prepare our children to better succeed in a college environment. I am also impressed with the way teachers are willing to work with parents and students. My freshman son began the school year as he had previous years, expecting to do well without trying. His teachers would not accept this from him and now he is receiving As and Bs because he's had to put an effort into his schoolwork but is also taking pride in his work! Kudos to Dr. Coles and to the teachers at King.
—Submitted by a parent

Great learning enviroment, state of the art classrooms and learning materials, intelligent and creative students under remarkable leadership and getting better by the day. Going through some growing pains, but I have no regrets sending my child there, it is a perfect enviroment for implementing programs that you feel are important to a perfectly rounded high school education.
—Submitted by Joseph Stroter, a parent

King is destined to become a premiere College Prep in the Chicagoland area! I m the Parent Coordinator and Coach for the KCP Policy Debate Team. My daughter is a sophomore. I have learned that no school is 100% perfect, but, with the positive collaboration and efforts of parents, community, faculty and the Principal, the momentum is gaining towards that goal! Many of us are working as a part of the solution, instead of a part of the problem. King is a place where you are invited to join in on the process of making a good school even greater while producing well rounded young men and women who will be apt to compete in higher education and in life. Many of us have enrolled our children into KCP because of the current leadership and have never looked back! The King College Preparatory High School is definitely the school of our choice!
—Submitted by Michele C. Evans-Brock, a parent

We've had nothing but great success at King College Prep as parent and student. Because of all the wonderful teaching, educational and social experiences being offered there. My daughter has maintained a GPA of 3.5 or higher for the last 2yrs, and as a result of her success has been given internship/participation offers from several Nationally recognized organizations: The Presidential Classroom in Washington DC, National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in TX, People To People Student Ambassador Programs in Australia, and Who's Who Among American High School Students. This meaningful & collaborative success has come from the IL state certified, CPS board qualified, skilled and very committed staff (Administration,Teachers, Security, Engineers, Lunchroom, Janitors, Volunteers) at King. My son is a freshman this year and is eager to embark on the same path as his sister is experiencing. My children represent the great experince that majority of the youth at King are having and we're proud of it!
—Submitted by Tamara Stanford, a parent

I'm a parent of one of the students at this school, and she is about to be a Junior. Each year I've been trying to transfer her out, and I really regret even coming across King. The 'college prep' has no meaning at all. It's just as bad as the old King maybe even worse. I've had complaints about this school since the first year that it opened. They are not established, and very unorganized. Most of the teachers aren't even certified. The administrators focus on discipline and respect too much, rather than the students learning anything. Even though there are only freshmen and sophmores, they have a lot of fights just like other schools. Freshmen transfered their first year. Secutiry around the school is poor. One teacher let the students watch TV, because they refused to cooperate. King needs help!
—Submitted by a parent