Urban Preparatory Academy has cleared a major accreditation hurdle that founder Bishop Wade Moore hopes will allow the Wichita private school to rebuild after two financially difficult years.
The K-8 school has been accepted into the Southern Association of Independent Schools, or SAIS, after more than a year of review of its finances, curriculum, board policies, teaching practices and other operations.
SAIS is one of the independent-school accrediting organizations recognized by the Kansas State Board of Education for purposes of the state’s Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program. Kansas law also allows schools working toward accreditation through a recognized agency to participate in the program.
Moore said he reviewed the accrediting organizations Kansas recognizes, talked with them and decided SAIS was the best fit for Urban Prep.
“I talked to every one of them that was approved by the state,” Moore said. Urban Prep chose SAIS because he believed the organization could work with the school through the process.
Acceptance into SAIS doesn’t end that relationship. Under the organization’s process, Urban Prep will continue working with SAIS over the next several years as it builds capacity and completes the remaining accreditation process.
Moore said he immediately forwarded the school’s SAIS acceptance to the Kansas Department of Education and requested that Urban Prep be restored as a qualified school in the tax-credit scholarship program. He said he was told the Kansas State Board of Education would have to act on the request at one of its meetings. The board normally meets once a month.
For Urban Prep, regaining scholarship eligibility could have a major financial impact.
Two Years Without Scholarship Funds
Urban Prep previously held conditional accreditation through the Kansas Department of Education. In 2023, state education officials moved toward denying accreditation after the school had not submitted required school-improvement documentation or results from Kansas state assessments.
Rather than continue through the state accreditation system, Moore decided to pursue accreditation through one of the outside organizations recognized by Kansas.
While that process was underway, Moore said Urban Prep went about two years without being able to participate in the tax-credit scholarship program.
That loss forced the school to shrink.
The Community Voice reported in 2023 that Urban Prep had about 140 students at two campuses. This year, enrollment is about 60.
Urban Prep now combines K-1, grades 2-3 and grades 4-5; sixth grade stands alone; and seventh and eighth grades are combined. Moore said the 2-3 and 4-5 classrooms are full with waiting lists, while K-1 is only one or two students short of capacity.
Finances weren’t the only reason Moore reduced enrollment. He said Urban Prep also had begun accepting too many students with significant behavioral problems and was developing a reputation as primarily a school for students who had gotten into trouble elsewhere.
“We were losing our culture and who we really are,” he said.
Today, Moore says the largest share of students comes to Urban Prep because they are struggling academically, followed by families looking for a different or safer school environment. Students are assessed when they enter, and reading and math progress is checked monthly so intervention can begin quickly when a student falls behind.
Yass Awards Helped Keep School Going
Two major national awards helped Urban Prep through some of that financial uncertainty.
In 2022, Urban Prep was one of eight finalists nationwide to receive a $500,000 award from the Yass Prize, a national competition that recognizes schools and education programs using innovative approaches to meet students’ needs and helps successful models expand.
The Yass organization specifically highlighted Urban Prep’s individualized assessment and learning plans, its work with low-income families and its plans to expand.
Moore said Urban Prep received another $500,000 Yass alumni grant in 2023.
The first award helped Urban Prep expand and open its second campus. The grants also helped sustain the school during the period when tax-credit scholarship money was unavailable.
Even then, Moore said he raised additional money and used personal savings and investments to help keep the school operating.
Who Can Get a Scholarship?
Restoring Urban Prep’s eligibility could also reopen a significant opportunity for low-income families who may assume private school is beyond their reach.
Kansas’ program is specifically called the Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program.
To qualify for a scholarship for the first time, a student must live in Kansas and come from a family with income at or below 250% of the federal poverty guideline.
The child also must either have attended a Kansas public school in kindergarten through eighth grade during the previous school year, or be age 7 or younger and eligible to enroll in public school during the year the scholarship is first requested. Once a child has received a scholarship, eligibility can continue as long as other program requirements are met, until the student graduates or turns 21.
Scholarships can provide up to $8,000 a year toward tuition and other eligible education expenses.
Urban Prep’s tuition is $4,500 a year, or $450 a month for 10 months.
Moore said scholarship assistance previously brought the amount paid by many qualifying Urban Prep families down to about $125 a month, depending on the scholarship funds available. He said the school has also worked with families who cannot afford that amount.
For Wichita families specifically looking for community-based schools with a history of serving Black students, Urban Prep and Holy Savior Catholic Academy are two local schools connected to the tax-credit scholarship program. Other private schools across Wichita and Kansas also participate in the state program.
A Tax Credit — Not Just a Deduction
The program also offers a significant incentive to donors.
Individuals and qualifying businesses that contribute to an approved scholarship-granting organization can receive a Kansas income-tax credit equal to 75% of their qualifying contribution.
A tax credit is more valuable than simply reducing taxable income because it reduces the amount of Kansas income tax actually owed.
For example, a qualifying $1,000 contribution generates a $750 Kansas tax credit. If a taxpayer otherwise owed $2,000 in Kansas income tax, that $750 credit could reduce the tax bill to $1,250.
If a taxpayer doesn’t owe enough in Kansas taxes to use the full credit that year, the unused balance can be carried forward to the next year.
The donated money goes to scholarship-granting organizations, which then provide scholarships for eligible students.
High School Is Part of the Next Step
With Urban Prep’s accreditation work moving forward, Moore is also revisiting a longer-term expansion he deliberately put on hold: adding high school grades.
He said he held off because operating a high school requires much more than simply adding ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th grades.
Beginning in ninth grade, students accumulate credits toward graduation and need the appropriate courses and records to prepare them for college, career training or other postsecondary opportunities. Moore said he did not want to expand until Urban Prep had the curriculum, programming and partnerships needed to meet those requirements.
Accreditation also takes on greater significance at the high-school level because students’ courses and credits become part of the academic record they carry into college or other postsecondary programs.
“Now, I’ve got it figured out,” Moore said. “I’ve got partnerships with other districts and other people that can help me. I’ve found curriculum. I’ve found programming for high school.”
After two years spent cutting back and finding ways to keep Urban Prep operating, Moore sees acceptance into SAIS and the possibility of regaining scholarship eligibility as an opportunity to begin building again.
HOW THE TAX-CREDIT SCHOLARSHIP WORKS
For families: Students must live in Kansas, generally have family income at or below 250% of the federal poverty guideline and meet the program’s school-attendance or age requirements. Scholarships can provide up to $8,000 per year.
At Urban Prep: Tuition is $4,500 per year. Moore says scholarship support previously reduced the amount paid by many qualifying families to about $125 per month, depending on available funding.
For donors: A qualifying $1,000 contribution can generate a $750 Kansas income-tax credit. That means $750 is credited against the donor’s Kansas taxes owed — it isn’t merely deducted from income before taxes are calculated. If the donor can’t use the entire credit that year, the remaining amount can be applied against Kansas taxes in future years.
Community-based options: Urban Prep and Holy Savior Catholic Academy are among Wichita schools participating in the program and have histories of serving predominantly Black students. Other qualified private schools across Wichita and Kansas also participate.
Families interested in scholarships should apply through a participating scholarship-granting organization or contact a participating school for assistance.
