Intrepid College Prep offers hands-on approach to guiding students on the higher education path

Fifth-graders walking into Intrepid College Prep’s Opportunity Academy Middle School this month will immediately notice something different.Unlike traditional public schools in Davidson County, their home room is named after a college or university.Director of Organizational Advancement Abby Barton says it’s all part of putting students on the path to higher education.“Our four fifth grade classrooms are four colleges in Tennessee. We have Fisk, MTSU, UT, and Vanderbilt and so all throughout middle school they have a different college each year that they’re learning about, and they have an advisory period each week that’s really focusing on learning about that college, learning about what college can look like. So even from fifth-grade they’re hearing about it and learning about it a lot,” said Barton.Intrepid College Prep’s founder Mia Howard opened the middle school in 2013 with the goal of providing a strong focus on high academic expectations in the growing Antioch community of Davidson County.The initial school proved successful and Intrepid expanded to serve high school students with Independence Academy High where three classes have graduated.The public charter schools now combine to serve 850 students, including many with parents who are first generation immigrants.“Our families really value education,” said Emily Lamb, Director of College Access and Success. “All of the parents send their kids to our school for a reason, because they value education, and they want their students to have the ability to pursue an education after high school and we make a promise to families that we will help them do that.”

Hands-on Approach

Intrepid puts students on the path to higher education by using an intentional hands-on approach.Following the college focus students receive in middle school, Intrepid provides more support in high school. Beginning in the ninth and tenth-grade, students take trips to institutions of higher learning and receive additional information through college access fairs.“A lot of it is just exposure. So, we really try from ninth-grade on just to let our students know what opportunities are out there.  Last year every class ninth through twelfth went on one if not multiple college visits just to see what other options are out there,” said Lamb.The college focus ramps up even more for juniors and seniors.  Beginning eleventh-grade, each class has its own career and college counselor. That’s a huge difference from traditional public schools that might have one counselor serving hundreds of students.Intrepid also provides a specific class for students to map out their career goals and the public charter school works to instill students with “soft skills” they need to advocate for themselves.Additionally, all seniors are required to have a family meeting where they present their college and career plan for after high school.“Our students, particularly in their college process, are able to get a lot more one on one attention than they would if they were at a (traditional public) school,” said Lamb. “Not many schools offer a class where students are figuring out what they want to do after high school, making a plan, and actually completing those applications. So, all of our seniors actually have a class where every other day they are in the classroom filling out their college applications and having attention from a counselor in the classroom to ask questions, get help if necessary, and adapt their process if needed.”Intrepid’s approach has seen results.Independence Academy High’s first graduating class had the highest college going rate of any open enrollment school in the Metro Nashville Public School district and Opportunity Academy Middle School was named a Tennessee Reward School in 2015 and 2018.Intrepid additionally takes the step to help students once they graduate, by partnering with organization Persist Nashville to ensure the public charter school’s hands-on approach to preparing students for higher education continues once they make it there.“All of our students, after graduating, receive one on one coaching and support from that organization,” said Lamb.  “A big priority of ours is not only making sure our students get into college but that they’re actually making it through and graduating.”