The KIPP School Leadership Program is made up of the Fisher Fellowship and the Miles Family Fellowship.

• The Fisher Fellowship is our one-year school leadership training program. Our Fisher Fellows experience an intensive summer program of coursework, residencies at high-performing schools, and training conferences to prepare for school start-up work in their communities. After completing the year-long program, Fisher Fellows will found a new KIPP school.
• The Miles Family Fellowship provides selected participants with a two-year pathway to becoming a KIPP school leader. Miles Family Fellows receive a year of support and leadership experience while teaching in a KIPP school. After successfully completing the Miles Family Fellowship program, candidates will be considered for the year-long Fisher Fellowship in order to prepare them to open a new KIPP school.

We are seeking passionate, committed educators to step up to the challenge of closing the achievement gap by tapping their entrepreneurial spirit to open and run great public schools in educationally underserved communities. While there is no such thing as an “ideal candidate,” an excellent candidate typically possesses the unyielding belief in the potential of every child to succeed in top quality high schools, colleges, and the competitive world beyond. Additionally, all candidates should have instructional expertise in a K-12 classroom; a record of success in leading adults; and the capacity to define a vision, build teams, and achieve results despite tremendous obstacles. Successful candidates meet our selection criteria.

All candidates are evaluated by the same set of criteria. Candidates are offered the Fisher Fellowship if they demonstrate strong skills and readiness to open a KIPP school according to our selection criteria. Candidates are offered the Miles Family Fellowship if the selection committee believes that they are high-quality candidates with the potential to develop into strong Fisher Fellows in one year. The typical Fisher Fellow will have at least four years of teaching experience.

Once a Miles Family Fellow successfully completes the Miles Family Fellowship, he or she can apply for the Fisher Fellowship.

While all applicants must meet our rigorous selection criteria, there are minimum application requirements. The typical Fisher Fellow is expected to have completed at least four years of full-time classroom instructional expertise in a K-12 setting in the United States. The typical Miles Family Fellow is expected to have completed at least three years of teaching. We will make exceptions for extremely strong candidates.

As of September 2006, 44 percent of KIPP school leaders were African American, Hispanic/Latino or Asian.

The application and selection dates will be posted here on September 1st, 2008.

Given that KIPP has a limited number of opportunities in certain target cities, we encourage candidates to apply to the earlier deadlines to ensure they are being considered for their top geographical priorities. There are other benefits to applying to the earlier deadlines, including earlier notification. All accepted Fisher Fellows and Miles Family Fellows are notified two weeks after the selection event, but applicants for earlier deadlines will have more time to prepare for either Fellowship.

Only online applications are accepted at www.kipp.org/apply. If you have technical problems with the online application, please e-mail apply@kipp.org.

We will only consider applications from candidates once during each recruitment season. We encourage candidates to re-apply in future years should they feel they are better prepared as a candidate based on the experience they have gained since initially applying to the KIPP School Leadership Program.

In the next four years, KIPP hopes to increase the size of the network from 66 to 100 schools and triple the number of students served by KIPP schools. To achieve this goal, KIPP plans to grow in clusters (or regions) of schools in locations where KIPP schools already exist and in areas that are fertile ground for expansion. We will post a list of these target cities for the 2008-2009 selection round in the fall of 2008.

We ask that candidates let us know about all their preferences for cities during the application process to the KIPP School Leadership Program. We will consider requests to change a city of preference after the initial application process. Such requests must be submitted in writing to the National Director of Recruitment & Selection along with an explanation of why you are requesting this change.

We will contact references if a candidate has had a successful phone interview and teaching observation.

Due to the large number of applicants and the high volume of requests, we are unable to provide feedback to individual candidates who are denied admission.

If you are extended a Fisher Fellowship offer, you can apply to the National Director of Recruitment & Selection for a one year deferral. During this time, we ask accepted Fellows to work in a role that will continue to prepare them for being school leaders at KIPP. The National Director of Recruitment & Selection will decide what will qualify as preparation for school leadership at KIPP.

• During the Fisher Fellowship year, Fisher Fellows experience an intensive summer program of coursework, residencies at high-performing schools, and training conferences to prepare for school start-up work in their communities. The coursework in the summer covers instructional, organizational, and operational leadership, and the classes are taught by esteemed leadership and education professors, KIPP school leaders, and members of the KIPP Foundation. The residencies place Fisher Fellows in high-performing KIPP schools to observe and participate in their leadership and operation. Training conferences and meetings throughout the year help Fisher Fellows develop and finalize their school design plans so that they are ready to open a KIPP school in their communities.
• The Miles Family Fellowship is a two-year pathway to becoming a KIPP school leader. Miles Family Fellows will be employed by KIPP schools to teach and to perform administrative duties that are tailored according to the individual fellow’s leadership development needs. Each Miles Family Fellow will have an individual leadership development plan in concert with his or her supervising school leader and the KIPP Foundation’s Director of Leadership Development Programs. On-site coaching and evaluation by the host school leader will be supplemented by the KIPP Foundation’s formalized leadership development program.

  Miles Family Fellows will meet as a cohort three times each year for leadership development and meet remotely as a cohort at least six times per year for content-driven discussions. In addition to coaching by the host school leader, Miles Family Fellows will also be coached and evaluated periodically by a KIPP Foundation coach. In order for participants to pass from the Miles Family Fellowship into the Fisher Fellowship, they will require a strong recommendation from their school leader and the Director of Leadership Development Programs, and they must be accepted by KIPP's Fisher Fellowship selection committee.

Attendance is a mandatory and crucial part of the Fisher Fellowship, and all Fisher Fellows are required to attend the full session. The KIPP School Leadership Program is designed to provide a significant amount of coursework and training in a short period of time, and therefore all components of the program are required.

A typical day at our summer institute starts with class at 8:00am. During the day, you might have a lecture from a top business school professional, attend a workshop by a KIPP school leader, or observe a community round table where participants are bringing best practices from their schools and sharing them. You could also attend a session by one of KIPP’s two co-founders or participate in a series of case discussions and roleplays to build your skills in leadership. In the evenings, you will meet with the leadership teams and/or prepare for the next day at Institute.

During Institute, fellows live and work together in dormitory-style housing. Housing and meals are paid for by the KIPP Foundation. Because of the demanding schedule of Institute and the need to collaborate with other participants in the KIPP School Leadership Program and the institute faculty, all fellows are required to live in Institute housing for the full five/six weeks.

The KIPP Foundation may be able to arrange family housing for fellows who choose to bring family members to the Institute. However, fellows are responsible for any costs incurred for the lodging of family members.

You will enter the residency with an individualized plan that’s focused on areas for you to grow as a school leader. You will have identifiable areas for improvement and will work closely with your assigned school leader to create meaningful learning experiences. For example, a fellow might have the responsibility of providing feedback to teachers who are struggling or doing well. A fellow may also be given assignments in operational leadership, be assigned to help negotiate a vendor contract, or be asked to lead the morning community meeting if he or she is working on inspirational leadership.

The KIPP Foundation provides a variety of support to school leaders once they have opened their school. School leaders can reach out to KIPP Foundation staff for support in operations (legal, financial, facility, accounting, public relations, and marketing); instructional resources (literacy, curriculum); specific professional development retreats for teachers and back office staff; or direct professional development support.

You can opt into a program through National-Louis University to get a master's degree in Educational Leadership and apply for an administrative certificate once completing the degree. The optional program allows participants to receive course credit for the training provided during the fellowship year. Participants in the NLU program will receive nine semester units at the end of the Institute and then will participate in ongoing coursework through NLU. The master’s program runs from July through April. Tuition payments are the responsibilities of the individual participants.

Travel, housing, and coursework costs are paid for by the KIPP Foundation.

Beginning in the summer of 2008, Fisher Fellows will receive a minimum of $60,000 and a maximum of $80,000 for their salary at the time of contract signing. Fisher Fellows will receive the same benefits package as an employee of the KIPP Foundation. Miles Fellows are paid a teaching salary that is equal to what KIPP teachers, with the same years of experience, receive. Miles Fellows receive the same benefits as a teacher at a KIPP school.