On Prep for Prep and What No One Tells You About Gifted Kid Burnout

Every child is a star who deserves more

The Prep for Prep class of 1994 is also known as Contingent XVII.

I sat waiting inside a fourth-grade classroom on 120th Street and Lenox. The small chair hugged my hip bones but nowhere else. The empty halls of Harlem Success Academy struck a familiar chord. Each grade level had a label like “Ambition” or “Prosperity.” The room names read like a…