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HISTORY OF THE ACADEMY: The Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Philadelphia Alumni Chapter established the Achievement Academy in 1992. The fraternity's nationally mandated Guide Right program provides for the development and training of young African-American male students. The Achievement Academy seeks to combat the negative influences in the lives of our impressionable youth with positive values, direction and enhanced self-esteem. The college-educated men of Kappa Alpha Psi have accepted the challenge to motivate the students to assume responsibility for their future success.
PURPOSE: The Achievement Academy provides multi-faceted mentoring, counseling and training programs, which assist African-American male youth from 9 to 18 years of age. The primary focus is on the development of life skills and educational accomplishment. The Achievement Academy serves as a vehicle to allow our students to learn about key life related topics that they may not be receiving in the traditional school curriculum. The program exposes the students to positive activities and inspires them to achieve academic excellence. A secondary objective of the Academy is to counsel parents in developing a motivated student. To ensure the success of our program, the students' academic accomplishments are monitored for recognition and reward.
THE PROGRAMS: The curriculum is designed to begin in October of each year and conclude in May. This is to allow for synchronization with the students' academic year. The sessions are the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month and are an hour and a half in duration. The sessions are held at Germantown Friends School located at Germantown Avenue and Coulter Street. Weekend trips are incorporated into the program with the objective of helping the students to associate these topics with real world experiences. The program is broken into two sections, Life skills, ages 9-12, Youth Leadership 13-18. The Academy also sponsors a series of workshops for the parents. The workshop presenters are professionals from the Philadelphia area. The alumni and undergraduate members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity are also program participants.
ADMISSION ELIGIBILITY: Students must be 9 years old and no older than 18 years by October 7 for admission to the Academy. His report card grades should be C or better, with satisfactory behavior. A reference letter from the student's previous teacher along with a statement of his behavior and motivation is required. If required both the parent(s) and student must be present at the interview with the program administrators. Preference will be given to returning students.
APPLICATION PROCESS: The Application Deadline is September 21, 2008. Please complete the online application and a representative of the Achieve Academy will contact you once the application has been reviewed. Any applications received after the deadline will be considered for admission if space is available, or they will be put on a waiting list.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: The Achievement Academy is a 501C3 corporation, which has on its Board of Directors members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., parents and community representatives. There is also a Parents Group whose representative's act as a liaison between the Board of Directors and the parents.
FUNDING: The Achievement Academy requires financial backing to support its slate of programs. The 501C3 designation allows us to offer individuals the opportunity to make tax-deductible contributions to the Academy. The money is used to help equip the computer lab, and to provide funding for the trips and other student activities. All of the funds raised are used to support the Academy programs, as none of the Executive Board or other involved adults receives any type of compensation for their participation.
The Achievement Academy is a United Way supported organization. This means that contributors to the United Way can earmark their donation to the Achievement Academy. The United Way number for contributions to the Achievement Academy is 08468. These contributions have a doubling affect when the donor's company has a matching gift program. National and Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc., Support Community Outreach Program (SCOP), Philadelphia Activity Fund (PAF), Pa. Dept of Community and Economic Development and The United Way affords the current sources of funding. Other financial support is derived from fund raising efforts, the Philadelphia Silhouettes and individual contributions.
For more information about how you can assist the Achievement Academy, please contact Zahir A. Coney, President, Achievement Academy, Kappa Achievement Center, 5521 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19144. The telephone number is (215) 848-4227. Tax-deductible contributions should be made payable to: Achievement Academy
***Founded in 1992 to Develop, Enhance and Foster Academic and Life Skills in Minority Youth. "Achievement” is our Legacy***