USAP Community School is a residential 11th and 12th grade (A Level) school that educates high-achieving, low-income Zimbabwean and refugee students. Through a holistic education, our students prepare to excel at the world’s top universities to build society in Zimbabwe and on the African Continent. Our vision is to be a global leader in transformative education exclusively for low-income students, sustained by their own success through alumni support. We teach students skills to apply their education to solve challenges facing their communities, country and Africa. The school’s foundational Honor Code is reflective of its Quaker values: Integrity, Equality, Service, Curiosity.
Education Matters through the USAP Program has been assisting high-achieving, low-income students to access university education internationally for 20 years. As our program evolved, we realized that our students, though bright and determined, are receiving a narrowly-focused education that is not adequately preparing them to tackle the complex problems of our society. Although they were excelling on O and A level exams, their reading, writing, computer, research and critical thinking skills were lacking.
The USAP Community School opened in 2020 and provides a transformative model of education to bridge the gaps we had identified. The two year residential model immerses students in a highly-engaged and demanding curriculum that builds their skill levels, nurtures their creativity and allows them to question and explore learning. Students will emerge well prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that top international university education presents.
The USAP Community School aims to support young people who are thinking through how to address challenges in Zimbabwe, to start thinking about how to come home to build society before they ever leave. We believe the combination of a strong skillset and entrepreneurial attitude, the grounding of a dynamic and thoughtful Zimbabwean academic community and the exposure of an overseas education will lead to young people to have the potential to make a tremendous impact on the African Continent in the future.
Our first three consecutive graduating classes of students have excelled at AS and A level and within our school curriculum which combines Cambridge A level Sciences with African centered humanities, Computers, extracurriculars and a yearlong capstone research project to tackle challenges facing their community with a focus on character development, empathy and future contribution to Africa. They have received over US$20 million to attend prominent highly-selective universities in Ghana, India, Kenya, Rwanda and the United States including Ashesi, USIU, Ashoka, Harvard, ALU, MIT, Brown, Pomona, Williams, Yale, Northwestern, Vassar, Stanford, Davidson, Dartmouth, Smith and Barnard.
For more information on recent USAP Community School updates visit the USAPCS Newsletters page.
Applications for January 2025 are now closed. Successful candidates will be notified after the selection process has been finalized by early November 2024.