Dr. Steve Perry, MSW - Biography
It starts with the belief that those who can do better, should. Dr. Steve Perry’s career is framed by the belief that each of us has something to contribute to the community.
As he attended public housing tenants’ association meetings with his mother, Perry’s commitment to doing better became the force that drove him to do better. From his start in high school as a volunteer on Reverend Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign to graduating from the Ivy League, then returning to his hometown of Middletown, CT to run the homeless shelter, Dr. Perry has sought opportunities to do better.
No experience has more precisely applied his belief that those who can do better, should, than starting schools. Though he is the author of four books, and a contributor to Steve Harvy’s bestseller “Jump,” nothing more effectively carries Dr. Perry’s voice than the six schools he has opened and continues to lead.
The Capital Preparatory Schools began in Hartford, CT in 2005. They expanded to an elementary school in Hartford in 2008, Bridgeport, CT in 2015, Harlem in 2016, another elementary school in Bridgeport in 2017, and then another 6-12 in the Bronx, NY in 2020. Serving over 2,000 primarily low-income minority first-generation collegiates, in grades pre-k to 12th grade, Capital Prep has sent 100% of its graduates to four-year colleges, every year since it opened in 2005. The unparalleled success of Capital Prep Schools has made Dr. Perry an internationally renowned educational leader, speaker, bestselling author and advocate. There are few modern urban educators more listened to than Dr. Steve Perry.
Although his success in the schools has provided him with countless opportunities outside of education, Dr. Perry remains on the front lines of America’s most dangerous and impoverished communities. Years as the education contributor on CNN, appearances on MSNBC, FOX as well as internationally for Al Jezeera, Chinese and South Korean national television, have not taken Perry away from his schools. In fact, he has used the increased visibility to open more.
After being featured on the TVONE high docuseries Save My Son, Dr. Perry opened his 3rd school in Bridgeport. As he and Sean “Diddy” Combs joined forces to open Capital Prep Harlem, CBS and Fox created a daytime show for Perry, Breakthrough with Dr. Steve Perry. A year later, he was featured on OWN in Fix My Life, which he followed by opening Capital Prep Bronx.
Dr. Perry knows he can do better and does. Parents, advocates, educators, and celebrities seek his counsel because they know that he continues to do the work. Dr. Perry has remained true to the fight for the voiceless. What started as the belief that if people can do better, they should remain the life pursuit of Dr. Steve Perry.