The PREP Academy

Preparing African Nova Scotian students for college, university and beyond.

Our Work

The PREP Academy is a community-based non-profit organization that supports access and success in college and university for African Nova Scotian students.

We inspire and prepare Indigenous African Nova Scotian students for college, university and beyond.

Our programs and services help students, parents, guardians or proxies access resources, information and get support navigating college and university processes. We want our students to believe and understand college and university is an opportunity for them.

We want to get our kids dreaming about possibilities, & help them create pathway plans to get there!

How do our services work?

High School Preparation Cohorts

PREP Student Success Coaches deliver culturally relevant curriculum that teach students about college and university options, educational goal setting and planning, scholarships and bursaries, college and university level expectations and much more!

Our services are free to students. The money we fundraise allows our Success Coaches to manage a caseload of students at our participating high schools that offers in-person presence in schools, one-on-one wraparound and group support. If you are interested in PREP’s support for your high school you can join our waitlist by contacting Ashley Hill, Executive Director at ashley@theprepacademy.ca

Our current participating high schools are:

Citadel High School
Cole Harbour High School
Dartmouth High School

College & University Cohorts

Our graduating grade 12 Cohort students require and deserve one-on-one and group support transitioning and entering college and university. Our College and University Success Coach provides continued wraparound support navigating processes and helping students meet goals that maximize their experience and success in postsecondary. Students receive support fostering a new network of relationships with college and university staff, future employers and mentors.

Community Support

Our goal is to fundraise enough money to have PREP Success Coaches supporting students in every high school across Nova Scotia.

Until we reach that goal, Indigenous African Nova Scotian students (parents, guardians and proxies) who are not enrolled in our Cohorts are able to access our Online Resource Hub, Online Scholarship Directory and participate in our College and University Expo, Micro-Internship Program, community workshops, online sessions and some student events.

Who We Serve

The PREP Academy supports Indigenous African Nova students. We define this as students who were born in Nova Scotia, are descends of Nova Scotian and have ties to the historic and original 52 land-based African Nova Scotian communities.

African Nova Scotians have traditionally been economically disadvantaged in Nova Scotia, and have faced systemic difficulties accessing a higher education.

African Nova Scotian students today continue to experience barriers and challenges in accessing a higher education.