About the Author
Gary Simons founded Prep for Prep in 1978 and served as executive director until June 30, 2002. During those years, he turned a 25-student program into one with over 2,600 students and alumni. Mr. Simons, now vice chairman of Prep for Prep, is currently focusing on ways that the organization can serve a larger number of deserving young people, while developing an updated curriculum that can be offered to students beyond Prep’s own ranks. Mr. Simons earned a B.A., cum laude, in history from Harpur College (now SUNY Binghamton) and a masters degree in psychology from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. While at Teacher’s College, he was appointed a fellow in the Graduate Leadership Education Project in Gifted Education; it was as a Fellow, and under the guise of fieldwork (and the auspices of Teachers College), that he launched Prep for Prep. While at Teachers College, Mr. Simons continued to teach full-time at P.S. 140 in the South Bronx. During a 12-year period, he taught each of the elementary grades.
