Welcome to Mickey Leland College Preparatory Academy, HISD’s only single-gender college prep school for young men.  We offer an engaging atmosphere that pushes students to discover, act, impact and lead.  An MLCPA student is a student who wants more than “good enough” and we provide the opportunity for students to accel.

What’s different about Leland?

              How do we prepare students for college?  By working from the beginning with the goal in mind.  Our work starts in 6^th grade with students taking double math and reading classes, and for students who perform well enough, there is the option to take accelerated math.  Students also have the option of an engineering elective to gain experience in robotics and programming.  8^th graders have the possibility to receive high school credit through classes such as Algebra and Biology.

              As students transition into high school, they take rigorous courses geared towards success on the AP exams.  In electives, students build on the knowledge learned in their middle school engineering classes as they take on computer science, digital media and other relevant courses.  In 11^th and 12^th grade students take classes with our College Access Coordinator to learn not only how to find the right school for them, but how to apply as well as understand financial aid. In their senior year, qualified students can apply for internships to get first-hand experience in the professional world.             

Why single gender?

Studies show that single-gender learning environments foster confidence and a sense of self-efficacy through appropriate risk-taking, challenging tasks and a supportive community.  Because of this, our students have chance to move past their comfort zones and discover what they’re capable of doing.  We want our students to have a healthy environment where they strive for success, while also being able to learn from their failures.

STEM

              STEM can take many forms.  On our campus STEM looks like robotics, computer science and a strong emphasis on math.  In middle school students can take robotics electives to develop skills in programming, designing and analyzing tasks.  In high school, students take computer science electives to develop programming skills.  For those still interested in robotics, there is a competitive robotics club they can join.  We focus on math by double blocking middle school students in math.  In high school, students can push themselves by working up to AP Calculus or AP Statistics.