James Turner is the Dean of Culture at Boys Prep Lower Elementary School. He works with scholars, families and teachers and creates an environment that is guided by Public Prep Core Values.
Celebrating success in character BUilding at Boys Prep Bronx!
"If you want something you've never had before, you have to do something you've never done before."
- Author Unknown
At Boys Prep Bronx Lower Campus (grades K-2), we are faced with preparing our young men for entry into selective high schools and then entry into college while residing in the poorest Congressional District in the country. "Boys Prep Bronx seeks to provide a strong foundation that ensures our boys are on a predictive path to college completion. We strive to develop in him the bold intellect and impeccable character that will shape his destiny.
We believe building character within our scholars is a big part of setting them up for a successful educational journey. One way that we celebrate building character is we begin each Monday morning with a school-wide Morning Meeting. This gathering serves as an opportunity to set the tone for the week, reinforce our Core Values (Brotherhood, Merit, Responsibility, Scholarship) and to remind the scholars why they are at an all-boys charter school in the South Bronx.
Call and response is one of the ways we impart these values on our students. We start each Morning Meeting with a greeting:
Leader: When I say Boys, you say, Prep! Boys!
Scholars: Prep!
Leader: When I say Brother, you say, Hood! Brother!
Scholars: Hood!
Leader: Are you Ready!
Scholars: YES!
Leader: Good Morning Boys Prep!
Scholars: Good Morning Mr. Turner
Following our call and response greeting, we do a Community Handshake, say “good morning" to our elbow partners and teachers and jump into celebrating the academic successes and demonstrations of Core Values for the previous week.
Reinforcing our Core Values each day during Morning Meeting is important because we are aware that our boys are forced to code switch when they come to school. Although they may receive a different message about how to conduct themselves outside of Boys Prep, when they walk into the school building, we ask them to use the Core Values when making choices. We want our students to operate with the mindset that “you can’t lose when you stop, think, and choose." The Core values empower our boys to use their best judgement and make the choices that will allow them to achieve success in school.