A North Omaha educator just opened Nebraska’s first Black-founded school

When Dr. DérNecia Phillips cut the ribbon at Identity Preparatory Academy on Aug. 19, she marked the opening of the first Black-founded school in Nebraska’s history, approved by a unanimous vote of the state board.

Ryan Pitkin

August 24, 2026

Dr. DérNecia Phillips (center, with scissors) cuts the ribbon to open Identity Preparatory Academy on Aug. 19. (Terrence Tryon via Identity Prep Academy)

Identity Preparatory Academy CEO and founder Dr. DérNecia Phillips broke through literal and figurative barriers when she cut the ribbon at the new all-girls school in North Omaha on Aug. 19, joining team members and city officials in marking the opening of the first Black-founded, state-approved school in the history of Nebraska.

The school will start by serving fourth- and fifth-grade girls in its inaugural year before expanding to sixth grade in its second year and seventh grade in its third.

“Not young women, not even young ladies, but girls. We want you to be girls for as long as you can be,” Phillips said to the school’s inaugural class at the ceremony, according to reporting from WOWT. “It is a special thing. It is a special time for you. You are making history today.”

The academy was born of community engagement in North Omaha, starting with a survey that went out to area residents inquiring about what they’d like to see done for local children’s education, according to Nebraska Public Media.

From there, Phillips launched Dream Labs educational programming, then Saturday school, then a summer academy, always taking and acting on feedback from the girls who took part.

“We told the girls they were researchers because they’re telling us, ‘No, I don’t think we should do that,’ or, ‘Oh, we should do more of this. Oh, can we garden?’” Phillips said, as quoted by NPM. “All of those things are being put together in what you see before you today, which is Identity Preparatory Academy.”

The school, which serves North Omaha girls specifically, describes its launch on its website as “a reclaiming of the cultural tradition of our community teaching our children.”

“It took the village to get us here, and today, we felt the love of our community,” read a post from the school’s Facebook page on the day of the opening. “We are deeply grateful for those who came to celebrate with us today and for those who were cheering us on. This is just the beginning…”