What We Do

The Founder and Dean, Bishop Wade Moore Jr., created Urban Preparatory Academy so that children could have opportunities unlike he did growing up in rural Arkansas. He was 1 of 10 children and in high school when he went to see the academic counselor, he was told, “Kids like you don’t go to college.” He remembers instead of deflating him and breaking his spirit as it would have for most children, those words motivated him to seek improvement. He joined the U.S. Army after graduation and while in service visited a church in Wichita, Kansas that happened to have a Christian School. During this visit, he remembers feeling in awe of the opportunities outside of traditional education that he never knew existed. He decided to join the church and spent 9 years growing a youth program from 8 kids to over 200 kids. After those 9 years, he was called to begin his own church. The vision for a school was still burning inside and God opened a door to purchase a large building. A few months after purchasing the building, a struggling Christian school came to him and asked to use some of the building to house their school. He was excited to help because his dream was to create a school that could help children like him. However, due to management issues within the school’s organization, the Christian school did not last long and eventually closed leaving all their school supplies and setup. Pastor Wade remembers the Lord whispering to him that it was now time to realize his dream.
Bishop Moore purchased a closed public school building at an auction. Urban Preparatory Academy opened its doors in 2014 to the first class of 8 students! Pastor Moore made it his mission to create a community for children to give them opportunities and choices. Urban Preparatory is now the first private school of its kind in Kansas and is funded by a Tax Credit Scholarship Program for Low-Income Students, donations, and tuition. The school serves over 120 students and is a beacon of hope to children in the area.