A nice article about a student whose life was turned around by Bronx Prep:

Jasmine Drake grew up in a South Bronx neighborhood filled with "drug addicts, gangs, fights, shootings and killings," she says.

Her father was nowhere in sight. Her mom worked nights, while Jasmine's older brother and sister watched her. Dinner was sometimes "sugar water and bread."

At her old elementary school, PS 63, chaos ruled.

"Kids would throw paper at each other, hit each other, put gum in somebody's hair, curse the teacher. They just did whatever they wanted, because she couldn't control their behavior."

Jasmine tuned out the racket, and read a book.

Don Petersen

BRONX PREP CHEER: A Bronx Prep grad, Jasmine Drake, 18, attends the University of Virginia, where she's a pre-med student. She extols the value of charter schools.

The teacher told Jasmine's mom, "Your daughter has potential," and urged her to enter a lottery for admission to then-fledgling Bronx Preparatory Charter School -- one of New York's first charter schools.

She did, and Jasmine won an education that opened doors to a boundless future.

Jasmine, 18, has finished her freshman year at the University of Virginia. A pre-med student, she plans to major in biochemistry, and go on to research cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and AIDS.

Bronx Prep, now celebrating its 10th anniversary, laid the groundwork, Jasmine says.

"I feel I received a private-school education in a public school."

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