Having already established his passion for education by accepting an honorary doctorate from one university and demonstrating how pendulums work at another, Sean “Diddy” Combs now intends to mold the bright young minds of tomorrow: The erstwhile Puff Daddy has just announced his plans to open a charter school in his native Harlem. The Associated Press reported on Combs’ latest venture, which the MMMogul shared himself via his Twitter account.
The Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School will be a free, public school for grades 6-12 that will provide “year-round, college prep education.” The school is scheduled open this fall, and is already accepting applications. Combs has recruited Steve Perry (no, not the Journey man) to oversee the school; Dr. Perry, who’s contributed to CNN’s Black In America series, also founded the Capital Preparatory Magnet School, which has reportedly sent 100% of its graduates to four-year colleges and serves as the model for Combs’ school.
As much fun as it would probably be to see Principal Diddy walk the halls, the rapper has enlisted Florida educator Danita Jones to serve as principal, with author and life-fixer Iyanla Vanzant signed on as part of the school board. Combs has not been announced as part of the faculty, but perhaps he could take a page from Sundance’s Dream School and teach some kind of economics class using lyrics from songs like “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” and “It’s All About The Benjamins.” Better still, Combs could lead the sing-alongs in a middle-school class, having already proven his “Samberg Says” skills in the Lonely Island video for “Go Kindergarten.”