New York City officials opened the doors of a unique school Thursday: a first-of-its kind Historically Black College and University (HBCU) preparatory high school in a major U.S. city.

“There’s just not enough exposure to HBCUs across the country,” Johnson said during an interview with ABC News ahead of the school’s opening. “We talk about college and college access, but we do not spend enough time celebrating the history and the data around it.”

HBCUs enroll nearly 10% of all Black U.S. undergraduates and promote the majority of Black doctors, lawyers and judges, according to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

However, there are no HBCUs north of Pennsylvania on the East Coast, including in New York.

A graduate of Delaware State University, a historically Black land-grant research university, Johnson said she wants to expose her students to their roots.

“It’s important because it doesn’t exist,” Johnson told ABC News of the need for an HBCU-focused prep school, adding “We often don’t explain to students what exists beyond just our state or our local tri-state area. Why not expose students to that?”

Johnson appeared with New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other policymakers from the city at the school’s opening Thursday.

“We want them to know that from the minute they walk into the doors, how much we love and care for them,” Johnson said of the first class of students to attend the new school.

The new school, located in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, has just 100 seats — and there were over 1,000 applicants competing for a spot for its first year, according to Johnson. Prospective students had to complete an essay solving a technology or health care issue in their community and record a two-minute video discussing how they would use their degree to give back to their community.

The school’s mission is to cultivate a “community of learners dedicated to academic excellence, diversity, societal contributions, and social justice,” according to its website.

Starting in 11th grade, students at HBCU Early College Prep will take online college courses taught by DSU professors, according to the school website.

DSU President Tony Allen, speaking at the news conference at the school opening, said HBCUs have played a key role in building the Black middle class over the past century and a half.

“To be clear, the greatest indicator for a lower-resourced student from an under-served community to actually get into the middle class and change the economic trajectory for themselves, their families, and their communities is their attendance at an HBCU,” he said.

Students attending the school will earn up to 64 college credits for an associate’s degree in liberal arts from DSU and are guaranteed admission there, according to the New York mayor’s office.  

“We’re just not trying to give kids a high school diplomas and associates degree, but we want to prepare them for the real world to make sure that they can be active citizens in this society,” Johnson said.

FocusQuest, a company that helps HBCUs with recruiting, has been tapped as one of the school’s official partners. CEO Sean-Reed McGee called the merger a “game-changer.”

As some institutions roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, Johnson stressed all are welcome at these institutions.

“HBCUs, and our school, in particular, are not just for students who are Black,” Johnson told ABC News. “Anyone can attend an HBCU, just like anyone can attend and apply to HBCU Early College Prep here in New York City.”