My name is Harriette Coleman I have a  son, Jamal age 16, will be a junior at UIC College Prep next year.  Just 3 years ago, my family  and I started to panic when we found out that Jamal did not get into any of the selective enrollment schools that we applied for.  Our neighborhood school under the old administration had a bad track record academically in regards to student support systems. Jamal started to slip academically in middle school and it was so important to us that we would be able to send him to a good high school. I usually avoid trying my luck since I’m typically unlucky at any lottery drawings, but this time I was desperate for a good academic foundation. We enrolled in the UIC lottery that year, and by some miracle Jamal got in!

Now, two years later, Jamal is succeeding in ways that I never knew he could. One of  Jamal’s area of that he lacks strength is being  a great test-taker, so I worried how he would do when it came time to take the ACT and apply for college.  I soon found out that UIC College Prep has set up their curriculum to integrate ACT prep during his daily coursework.  Since Jamal is being prepared for college throughout the day, he has plenty of time for activities after school.

Between football, basketball, ROTC (Drill team), honors choirs and rugby, I can’t keep up with him!  Lately, I feel like my son has more to do in the evenings than I do.  I can’t imagine where we’d be without all of the opportunities that have been set up for Jamal on campus.  I have no doubt that UIC has successfully set Jamal up for college.

Jamal’s teachers and his advisor have become some of our best friends and resources on the journey to college.  Their doors are always open, and they spend every day trying to figure out what methods work best in the classroom for each student.  Each teacher that we’ve been lucky enough to work with has brought to Jamal a new skill and has taken the time and gotten to know him on a personal level, which is so important to us.  I look forward to seeing where the next two years take us at UIC College Prep!