Urban Prep's second school opened in the East Garfield Park community in 2009, and moved to the near west side of the city in 2011.

[5] Urban Prep Academies is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible non-profit organization, and relies substantially on private donors to support its operations.

Print media on the school has included pieces in the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Chicago Tribune, Ebony magazine and The Guardian.

[1] During the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, Urban Prep students who had traveled to Washington D.C. were interviewed on CNN with newscaster Don Lemon.

The schools again became the focus of national media attention in March 2010, upon the announcement that 100% of the first graduating class had been accepted to a four-year college or university.

[7][8][9][10][11] Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley visited the Englewood Campus to speak with students, and various national media outlets featured the school.

[12] Urban Prep became the focus on national attention again in 2012 when they announced a "three-peat", with all graduating members of the Class of 2012 having been accepted to college.

Urban Prep Fellows are matched with a group of about twenty students - called a "Pride," of which there are six in each grade level - to provide mentoring, academic support, social and emotional guidance, and instruction in one course.

[15] Due to the school's emphasis on success in college, the Urban Prep Alumni Program was launched in 2009, before the first senior class had graduated.

Based out of the school's office at 420 North Wabash, the Alumni Program maintains contact with and helps provide for the unique needs of each of Urban Prep's graduates.

Urban Prep Academy for Young Men - East Garfield Park was granted approval to operate as a Contract school by the Chicago Board of Education in 2008.