Special Ember Charter School celebrate 100% college acceptance for their first BIPOC graduating class

Speakers include U.S. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and U.S. Attorney Breon Peace

June 30, 2023 Special from EMBER CHARTER SCHOOL

Ember Charter School celebrates their first graduation, with a 100% college acceptance rate for a 100% BIPOC class. Photos courtesy of Ember Charter School.

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BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Today, Ember Charter School joyously celebrated its first graduating senior class of 100% BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) first-generation students. With a remarkable 100% of students set to attend college in the fall, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Breon Peace celebrated the teens’ accomplishments and delivered words of wisdom as the teens enter adulthood.

The first graduating class of Ember Charter School awaits their names to be called for graduation.

This is a major milestone for this Afro-centric and culturally responsive K-12 school that opened its doors in 2011 and follows a unique teaching model that seeks to nurture new social entrepreneurs, engineers, and global leaders from among students who typically have the least resources but the most promise.

“I’m thankful to Brother Rafiq and Ember Charter School for granting me the opportunity to speak to their inaugural high school class. I extend congratulations to these students who are our future leaders and are now prepared to succeed academically and professionally in any field of human endeavor because of the top-notch education they received,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries said. “Today, the entire community, Brooklyn, the City of New York and our nation are proud of these tremendous young adults.”

“In commemorating this historic, first-ever high school graduation at Ember Charter School, I am so proud to celebrate the next generation of emerging leaders and trailblazers,” said U.S. Attorney Peace. “I commend these students for their excellence and determination in overcoming uncertainty and challenges in climbing the ladder to today’s remarkable success.”

Ember’s Class of 2023 is brimming with talent, molded by years of an academic model rooted in empowerment and the development of a holistic growth mindset. The graduating class, composed entirely of BIPOC students, has reached significant academic accomplishments including:

100% college acceptance
100% offered academic merit scholarships
Nearly 100% first-generation students
75% graduated with Regents Diplomas with Advanced Designation
50% will major in STEM fields
40% will qualify for National Honors Society designation
30% will attend HBCUs (Historically black colleges and universities)
25% will be pre-law

A student of the first graduating class walks towards the podium to accept his high school diploma.

Representative Jeffries personally congratulates the valedictorian.

“I am so very proud of Ember’s first graduating class,” said Brother Rafiq Kalam Id-Din II, Esq., Founder and Managing Partner of Ember Charter Schools. “In 2011, we set out to transform and evolve the school experience for the most overlooked and under-resourced BIPOC students by focusing on inspiration and empowerment, each day centering the notions that their voices mattered, that they come from a long legacy of excellence, and that they can accomplish anything their powerful minds can imagine. Today, we proved that this model works. We are defeating racism and breaking the cycle of generational poverty in Brooklyn, helping to forge a future full of promise, possibility and prosperity for these teens.”