A Queens school is preparing NYC kids for HBCUs and teaching them to defy the odds

For Dr. Asya Johnson, access to quality education for Black students is most important.

“We have to start right now to be able to not only give them a quality education, but give them the experience so that they can see what they can be. [The] more exposure that they see people in fields where people look like them, the more competent they feel to go out and pursue these careers,” Johnson said about her students.

Earlier this month, the doors of HBCU Early College Prep opened—New York’s first college prep high school focused on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The tuition-free school, in South Jamaica, Queens, on the third floor of I.S. 238—Susan B. Anthony Academy—came together as part of the vision of Johnson when she proposed the idea in 2023. Fast-forward two yea