New York City School Brings HBCU Experience to High School Students
When Principal Asya Johnson talks about her alma mater, Delaware State University, what comes through is not simply the academic rigor, but the deep sense of belonging, connection and affirmation she experienced as a young Black woman who could excel in the world.
“I felt loved while I was on campus by my professors,” Johnson said. “I felt affirmed. I saw people who looked like me aspiring to complete higher education, and telling me, ‘I want to be a doctor, I want to be an educator or a lawyer.’ ”
Johnson is now looking to make that experience possible for a new generation of students of color, as the founding principal of the first early college high school in New York City inspired by historically Black colleges and universities. HBCU Early College Prep High School, which opened in Queens, New York, in fall 2025, is part of a broader effort to create innovative, community-driven and accelerated high schools designed in the style of HBCUs like Delaware State.