They Were Black. All Black: A High School Success Story - Paperback

A firsthand account of how a Brooklyn public high school achieved New York State's highest graduation rate for Black students by redefining what school could be.

In They Were Black. All Black, Daryl Rock, PhD, who served as principal of Benjamin Banneker Academy, examines how the school reached unprecedented success by building a learning environment centered on Black educators, Black history, and Black excellence. Inspired by the legacy of Black teachers in early segregated schools of the American South, the school was intentionally designed to affirm student identity while demanding academic excellence.

At Benjamin Banneker Academy, students were surrounded by adults who looked like them, taught a curriculum that reflected their identity, and held them to uncompromising academic standards. Through firsthand accounts from students and staff, along with a parallel narrative that follows the ups and downs of a basketball season, Dr. Rock shows how culture, expectations, and community drive achievement.

The book challenges conventional approaches to school reform and asks a critical question. What if the problem was never the students but the system? Essential reading for educators, school leaders, and anyone committed to improving outcomes for Black and Brown students.