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For more information, contact Steve Mancini,
Public Affairs Director, at 415-531-5396
The Columbus Dispatch - "KIPP Works on Its Second Area School"
By Jennifer Smith Richards
July 3, 2008
Even before Columbus' first KIPP charter school opens, a second is in the works. KIPP, short for the Knowledge is Power Program, has been touted nationally for successes with students who don't typically succeed. The first Ohio school in the network, KIPP Journey Academy, is poised to open in August in the old Linden Park Elementary building. More than 70 students are enrolled, but slots are open. Read more ...
The Houston Chronicle - "They're Intrepid: KIPP's New East End Campus Welcomes 89 Fifth-graders; 10th Houston School to be Joined in 2009 by 4 More"
By Jennifer Radcliffe
July 1, 2008
The Knowledge is Power Program debuted a new charter school in the East End on Monday and announced plans to open at least four more campuses in Houston next year as part of its $100 million expansion effort. Read more ...
The Baltimore Sun - "KIPP Seeks Elementary; New Pupils Unready for Middle School"
By Sara Neufeld
July 1, 2008
The Knowledge is Power Program, which operates the highest-performing middle school in Baltimore, is seeking approval to open a new charter elementary school in the city next year, officials announced yesterday. The city school board has approved the creation of a second KIPP middle school for 2009. But KIPP is revising its proposal and asking to open an elementary school instead because of concerns that many students are unprepared for middle school. The program will have to submit a new application. Read more ...
St. Louis Beacon - "KIPP St. Louis Selects Principal for Its First Middle School"
By News Sources
June 30, 2008
Rosalind Davis, who has worked recently in a program to train public school principals, has been chosen to head St. Louis' first KIPP middle school. She has 17 years of teaching and administrative experience, including work at the New Leaders for New Schools, a national program which seeks to transform urban schools by recruiting, training and supporting high-performing principals to run them. Read more ...
The New York Sun - "On Tests, Charter Schools Outperform Districts"
By Elizabeth Green
June 24, 2008
New York State's charter schools are in a majority of cases outperforming their districts on state tests, even amid the sky-high gains shown throughout the state this year, an analysis by the New York Charter School Association of the scores released yesterday shows. Read more ...
The Houston Chronicle - "School's Out, and That's a Shame"
By Lisa Gray
June 18, 2008
On the sign outside KIPP Academy Middle School — the first school in the Knowledge Is Power Program's empire — the motto appears in cursive: "There are no shortcuts." The message reappears in a gazillion typefaces all over the school: on signs for visitor parking, on kids' T-shirts, on bulletin boards. After an hour there, you expect to see it burned inside your eyelids when you close your eyes. Read more ...
The Daily Item (Lynn, MA) - "Grads Credit KIPP for Their Success"
By Dan Baer
June 18, 2008
Four years ago, in attempt to raise awareness of his new upstart public charter middle school, KIPP Academy Lynn Director Josh Zoia began dropping into after school programs and community organizations, passing out informative fliers to the city’s youth. Read more ...
Twin Cities Daily Planet - "KIPP is coming"
By Scott Russell
June 12, 2008
The nationally recognized Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) is opening a Minneapolis charter school this fall, its first in the state. KIPP schools feature long school days, a long school year and character development. They are a model for boosting academic success of low-income, minority children. Read more ...
San Antonio Express-News - "Charter school shatters stereotypes"
By Jenny LaCoste-Caputo
June 7, 2008
From the outside, it's just a decrepit old gymnasium sandwiched between Ashby Street and Fredericksburg Road in the shadow of the downtown skyline. There are no windows, no signs, virtually no clues to what's taking place inside — a graduation ceremony of sorts, celebrating feats that could be described as barely short of miraculous. Read more ...
The Boston Globe - "The answer: Fifteen years into education reform, we are still failing to fix the most troubled schools. Now there's no excuse."
By Michael Jonas
June 1, 2008
School leaders in Holyoke are no strangers to finger-wagging state reports on student achievement at the Lynch Middle School. It was eight years ago this month that the state education department first declared the Holyoke school, which has a student-poverty rate of 84 percent, "underperforming." In the years since then, state officials have paid visit after visit to Holyoke, documenting shortcomings in written reports and recording the steps the school was taking to try to address them. Read more ...
The Charlotte Post - "Learning Curve"
By Herbert L. White
May 29, 2008
KIPP Academy Charlotte founder Keith Burnam expected a typical opening day for the first-year school last August.
What he got was overwhelming.
“We thought we’d have 80 students,” said Keith Burnam, founder of KIPP Academy Charlotte. “That first day we had 95, so we were over-enrolled.” Read more ...
Houston Business Journal - "KIPP to graduate first senior class"
By Business Journal Staff
May 29, 2008
KIPP Houston High School will graduate its first senior class on May 31. The high school, the first created in the Knowledge Is Power Program network, opened in 2004 as a public charter school. It was started with $680,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- part of an $8 million grant to the KIPP Foundation in 2005 to start KIPP high schools across the country. Read more ...
The Columbus Dispatch - “School leader seeking good fits for KIPP program”
By Jennifer Smith Richards
May 21, 2008
Christopher and Jason Holt are sitting at the kitchen table with the school principal.
She is sweet but stern. She slides contracts in front of the twin boys and mom and dad. The 9-year-olds can hardly sit still. They burst into infectious giggles every few seconds. Read more ...
San Jose Mercury News - “Charter school quandary; Low per-pupil funding may halt a network’s expansion”
By Dana Hull
May 13, 2008
KIPP, the popular charter school network known for high test scores and a rigorous curriculum, is opening a new high school in East San Jose this summer. But that might be the last Bay Area KIPP. Read more ...
The Tri-State Defender (Memphis, TN) - “KIPP students delve into 'Macbeth' in exploration of good versus evil”
By Wiley Henry
May 8, 2008
The eighth-grade performing arts students at KIPP DIAMOND Academy may not see themselves as future actors on the silver screen in Hollywood. But the thought of making it to Tinsel town seemed remotely possible for some students who sang, rapped and acted in the school’s “My Destiny, My Choice” video. Read more ...
Philanthropy Roundtable Magazine - “Growing Up Fast; Will Houston's charter school expansion revolutionize urban education?”
By Jay Mathews
May 5, 2008
It all began with the waiting lists. At Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, long waiting lists are seen as evidence of high standards and prestige. But long waiting lists were the cause of headaches and heartburn at two of Houston's most successful charter school networks, the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) and the YES Prep Public Schools. Read more ...
The Daily Item (Lynn, MA) - “GE partners with KIPP, donates money for science lab”
By Dan Baer
May 5, 2008
KIPP Academy Lynn and the General Electric Turboshaft Helicopter Engines team concluded the celebration of Earth Week at the school Friday by announcing a long-term science partnership between the two organizations. Read more ...
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) - “$19 million pledged for charter school fund; Foundation has goal of an additional $6 million for Newark's 12 facilities”
By Kasi Addison
April 25, 2008
A new foundation has been created with an ambitious goal of raising $25 million to support and strengthen Newark's 12 charter schools. The Newark Charter School Fund has already raised $19 million, including $16 million from four national foundations that have joined together for the first time to fund a Newark institution. Read more ...
The Daily World (Helena, AR) - “KIPP student visits Greece; Trip of a lifetime for 7th grader”
By Michele Page
April 23, 2008
Ask almost anyone and they will tell you that it is their dream to some day travel to some faraway exotic place and see the wonders of the world. Very few people get to see that dreams come true, but 11-year-old Jayla Staton has just returned from a trip of a lifetime in Greece. Read more ...
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) - “Recovery district taking tips from KIPP schools; Methods stress structured learning, college expectations”
By Sarah Carr
April 17, 2008
When a new student arrives at Fannie C. Williams Elementary School, Principal Kelly Batiste's first question is not what grade they are in, or what school they came from. Batiste pushes the children to think forward to the future, asking them, "What year are you going to college?" The new focus on college at Fannie C. Williams is a strategy inspired by the Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP schools, a growing network of charter schools that emphasize academic rigor and structure. Read more ...
The Daily Pennsylvanian - “Knowledge Is Power; Changing Lives Through Charter Schools”
By Inna Lifshin
April 17, 2008
At the KIPP Philadelphia Charter School on 27th and North Broad Streets, the eighth grade English room is named for Penn, the alma mater of its teacher, Elizabeth O'Flanagan, C'97. Each of the students inside has won a highly competitive lottery allowing him or her to be in school over nine hours each weekday, on alternate Saturdays and for a month of the summer. All are African-American or Hispanic; some travel for up to an hour and half each morning to make it to class by 7:30 a.m. They dream of attending the country's best high schools and colleges, and thanks to the Knowledge is Power Program, these dreams are likely to come true. Read more ...
The Tennessean- “KIPP Academy seeks new students”
By Angela Patterson
April 9, 2008
In 2005, KIPP Academy opened its doors with 80 fifth-graders.
Three years later, the college-prep charter school will recruit to replace the students leaving to attend high school. The school is hoping to have 220 students in grades 5-8 by the time school starts again in July. Read more ...
Rocky Mountain News - “5 questions for Mike Feinberg”
By Nancy Mitchell
March 22, 2008
One night in 1993, two Ivy League-educated white guys teaching in inner city Houston sat down together, cranked up the band U2 and put together a charter school model that some say is changing public education in America. Read more ...
Austin Weekly News (Chicago, IL) - “Researchers study KIPP's impact on students”
By Robert Felton
March 20, 2008
KIPP charter schools, a national network of schools targeting low-income, minority areas, will be the focus of a research study to evaluate its impact on students. Read more ...
Charlotte Observer - “An intense alternative for students; KIPP Academy offers longer days, Saturday classes to sharpen skills”
By Kevin Caston
March 16, 2008
Anytime someone starts talking about innovations in education, I'm all ears. With two daughters in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elementary schools, I'm particularly interested in ways to enhance the learning experience. So when a friend suggested I check out KIPP Academy in east Charlotte, I thought it was a good idea. Read more ...
The Tennessean - “Commentary: More students should have this opportunity"
Randy Dowell
March 8, 2008
As founder of KIPP Academy Nashville, I believe that “promises to children are sacred.” The promise that my fellow teachers and I make to all our entering fifth-grade students — mainly from east Nashville — is that they will have the opportunity to attend college. Read more ...
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - “School gets $1.78 million Gifts to Delta charter include $1 million from family”
By Cynthia Howell
March 7, 2008
The KIPP Delta College Preparatory School in Helena-West Helena has received $1.78 million in grants - including a gift of $1 million from the family owners of a local chemical company - to go toward the construction of a gymnasium for the charter school. Read more ...
Insight News (Minneapolis, MN) - “First KIPP School in Twin Cities secures historic building to educate underserved students”
By Staff
March 7, 2008
The KIPP Minnesota Board of Directors announced today that KIPP Stand Academy will open in August 2008. The school will be located at 1601 Laurel Street in the Basilica School Building, behind the Basilica of St. Mary. KIPP Stand will use the first floor of the Basilica Building during year one and grow into the full space by its third year. Read more ...
The Columbus Dispatch - “Track to Success: Kids in KIPP schools know it's up to them to get smart. The Columbus school board is considering whether to help.”
By Jennifer Smith Richards
March 1, 2008
WASHINGTON - Every single child -- and this isn't an exaggeration -- in Colby Richardson's classroom is staring intently at her, still and silent. They hang on every word. No one is rummaging through backpacks or critiquing the new Rihanna video or staring out at the rainy D.C. day, looking for one of the lit-up police cars that are camped out on every other corner near the KIPP DC: WILL Academy. Even when Richardson pauses to erase the board, the students don't lose focus. Read more ...
Tulsa World - “Great expectations; KIPP students succeed with discipline, star teachers”
By Wayne Greene
February 17, 2008
Tired of hearing about the failures of the public schools? Well, here's an idea that works. Now in its third year, Tulsa's Knowledge Is Power Program Academy takes middle school students from some of Tulsa's worst schools and changes their lives. Read more ...
Chicago Public Radio - “Gary Charter School Wants to Stay”
By Michael Puente
February 12, 2008
The Public School Board in Gary, Indiana, will meet tonight to review proposals from firms that want to appraise its building stock, including 11 closed buildings. A charter school with a track record of success is interested in buying one of those shuttered schools. But a tight time-frame could doom the charter school's plans if the district doesn't act quickly. Read more ...
The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, NC) - “High standards challenge charter school students”
By Michael N. Graff
February 10, 2008
GASTON — Six years from now, George Shelton — a troublemaker, a fighter, a failure in school — should be headed to college. Read more ...
Tulsa World - “Men of power: Boys at risk; Students put others on path to manhood”
By Andrea Eger
February 2, 2008
When it came to finding youths in need of positive role models, the Men of Power group at Booker T. Washington High School didn't have to look any farther than its own backyard. The group has adopted the sixth- and seventh-grade boys at KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory, a middle school at 1661 E. Virgin St. that backs up to the Washington campus. Read more ...
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - “WU, KIPP to partner on charter schools here”
By David Hunn
January 30, 2008
The leaders of a coveted national charter school network announced Tuesday that they will build a cluster of five tuition-free public schools in St. Louis, buoyed by the support of Washington University. For the first time, the university will sponsor charter schools, an announcement charter school advocates say has national significance. University Chancellor Mark Wrighton heralded the collaboration with the San Francisco-based Knowledge Is Power Program Tuesday, in a room packed with local CEOs, chairmen and corporate senior vice presidents. Read more ...
The Daily Item (Lynn, MA) - “Former Celtic helps Lynn kids make cents”
By Daily Item Staff
January 28, 2008
LYNN-Former Celtics great Ernie DiGregorio and a representative from Community Credit Union recently visited the KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School to promote state Treasurer Tim Cahill’s Saving Makes “Cents” program. Read more ...
The Cleveland Plain Dealer - “KIPP to open charter school in Columbus; Charter-school chain called nation's best”
By Scott Stephens
December 31, 2007
It's often called the nation's best charter-school chain, the Tiffany network of urban education. Next year, it will hang a shingle in Ohio. The Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, a network of 57 schools in 17 states and the District of Columbia, will open a middle school in Columbus in August. Read more ...
New York Daily News - “Charter schools look good under Ed Department's grading system”
By Carrie Melago and Erin Einhorn
December 20, 2007
City school officials Wednesday extended their controversial A-F grading system to 14 charter schools - a month after critics blasted them for exempting charters. Read more ...
Rocky Mountain News - “Time matters at two schools; Hispanic and lower-income students moving from DPS to charter schools are finding that the long hours and hard work is paying off as they catch up and move ahead”
By Nancy Mitchell
December 17, 2007
Elijah Ruff, age 14, has a daily schedule that would make many adults wince - nine hours of school, on average, followed by a couple hours of homework. The eighth-grader at KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, a Denver charter school targeting largely poor and minority students, is living proof of the words on the blue banner hanging in the school's front lobby: "Welcome to KSPA," it reads, "Home of Denver's Hardest Working Students." Read more ...
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - “KIPP: A model for city”
By Steve Giegerich
December 15, 2007
PHILADELPHIA -- Aqueelah Beyah admits she didn't exactly excel at mathematics or, for that matter, any other subject during her formative years in this city's public school system. Now, four years after she first stepped through the door of a converted fur warehouse in what was once Philadelphia's garment district, Aqueelah can do the math, the English, the science, and everything else her teachers throw at her. Read more ...
Roanoke Daily Herald (Roanoke Rapids, NC) - “Dole visits Gaston College Prep”
By Katy Nicholson
November 30, 2007
GASTON - Brandon Scott waited patiently in the entrance of Gaston College Preparatory School on Wednesday, dressed in a red sweater. Scott was awaiting the arrival of Sen. Elizabeth Dole, and his choice of clothing reflected his support of the Republican party. “I'm very excited,” he said. “This is my first time meeting a senator.” Read more ...
North Lawndale Community News (Chicago, IL) - “A Hidden Treasure Revealed in North Lawndale: KIPP Ascend Charter School”
By Julius Goodman
November 29, 2007
On Friday November 16, over 25 career professionals assembled for Career Day at KIPP Ascend Charter School, located at 715 S Kildare, on the Sumner campus. Destiny White, a seventh grader said, “I am in an 8th grade math class. When I first came to this school, I did not like math and now math is my favorite subject! Today is career day and all our students are meeting different people in different careers.” Read more ...
The Daily Item (Lynn, MA) - “Clancy visits KIPP Academy”
By Dan Baer
November 28, 2007
LYNN-As the first class of eighth graders at KIPP Academy Lynn prepare for graduation this spring, they have a host of decisions to make, from where to attend high school to what career path they want to focus on in the future. Read more ...
Charlotte Observer - “School raises the bar -- and enthusiasm -- for learning; Innovative KIPP techniques being used in magnet program”
By Anita Grey
November 18, 2007
Some time ago I wrote about Mildred Wright, a former educator in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools who is retired but still passionate about children and opportunities to help them reach their potential. At that time she told me about a charter school in CMS, Knowledge is Power Program. Recently she invited me to go with her to see KIPP, now in its first year of operation. Read more ...
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - “2006 giving sets record for Walton foundation”
By Mark Minton
November 16, 2007
The Walton Family Foundation gave away $189 million last year, the most ever for America's richest family. It helped send a 6-year-old girl to a Catholic school in the Bronx and to protect overfished red snappers in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more ...
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - “Successful charter school group considers St. Louis”
By David Hunn
November 12, 2007
St. Louis is a stride away from attracting a national model of high-energy, no-excuses charter schools - schools so well-respected that they could transform the city's chronically troubled public education landscape. Read more ...
Houston Chronicle - “Turning Deonté”
By Lisa Gray
November 26, 2007
Cheryl Powell dreaded calls from the elementary school. Her boy Deonté Mccardell, the teachers said, had an attitude problem. He was too cool, too hard, wouldn't do what. they told him. He swaggered like a gangsta. Powell worried. She thought he needed a male role model. She knew he needed something. In North Forest, a tough part of northeast Houston, boys in trouble too easily become men in prison. Last spring Powell's cousin brought her a brochure for KIPP Polaris Academy, a new middle school recruiting minority boys Read more ...
The Detroit News - “No excuses: One leader's successful urban school revolution”
By Amber Arellano
November 5, 2007
They call them "yes, but" areas. "Yes but" cities make excuses for why their students fail. Michael Feinberg came to Detroit late last week to call us on our "yes, buts." We in the Motor City have a particularly bad case. Read more ...
New Orleans CityBusiness - “Believing is succeeding at KIPP Believe College Prep; Minority students benefit from push for college attainment”
By Stephen Maloney
October 29, 2007
Expectations are high from Day One for every student at KIPP Believe College Prep. The Knowledge Is Power Program’s first Louisiana charter school opened on Carrollton Avenue under the Recovery School District with an inaugural class of 90 fifth-graders in the 2006-07 school year. Read more ...
San Francisco Chronicle - "Spelling bee winners display skills gleaned at charter schools"
By Heidi Benson
October 25, 2007
The first of the 10 contestants slipped on "margarine." By the spelling bee's ninth round, just two students were standing. The tension was thick and A's manager Billy Beane - one of the guest judges of the second annual KIPP Bay Area Academy Spelling Bee - pitched a word to Danielle Phan, 13. Read more ...
The Austin American-Statesman - “Charter school plans to open nine Austin campuses; KIPP Austin hoping to build on success by serving more students”
By Raven L. Hill
October 18, 2007
An East Austin charter school is launching a $4.6 million expansion plan that will add nine schools in as many years. KIPP Austin College Prep's plan will bring the enrollment to more than 5,000 students in kindergarten through high school by 2016. The charter school received money from the Charter School Growth Fund in Colorado. Read more ...
Chicago Public Radio - “KIPP LEAD Looks to Grow to Help Students do the Same”
By Jay Field
October 16, 2007
Hope is taking root on the first floor of the local YMCA in Gary, Indiana. In a town where public schools are struggling, the KIPP LEAD charter school has made impressive gains since opening there a year ago. Read more ...
Roanoke Daily Herald (Roanoke Rapids, NC) - "UNC chancellor visits Gaston Prep and KIPP Pride High School Monday"
By Hank Dewald
October 9, 2007
James Moeser, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, spoke to students at both Gaston College Preparatory and KIPP Pride High Monday as part of his Carolina Connects initiative to strengthen UNC's ties to the state's people and communities. Read more ...
Tulsa World - “KIPP schools co-founder sees growth potential”
By Andrea Eger
October 4, 2007
The co-founder of the Knowledge is Power Program called Tulsa and Oklahoma City "fertile ground" for expanding its national network of public schools of choice, which already includes one site in each city. Read more ...
City News Service (San Diego, CA) - “Governor Schwarzenegger signs charter legislation”
By Staff
September 21, 2007
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was in San Diego today to sign legislation that provides $18 million to charter schools in California to lease or rent facilities. The governor signed SB 20, authored by Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, after touring downtown San Diego's KIPP Adelante Preparatory Academy. Read more ...
Charlotte Observer - “New charter school opens; Charter school takes new path. At-risk 5th-graders offered intensity, fun -- and chance to excel”
By Ann Doss Helms
August 19, 2007
Alarm clocks across Mecklenburg County started sounding around 6:30 a.m. last week, rousing 10- and 11-year-olds for school. While their friends enjoy the last of summer vacation, they're chanting multiplication tables, taking tests and being scolded if they ridicule a classmate or smirk when a teacher talks. Read more ...
The Herald News (Chicago, IL) - “No excuses, no shortcuts”
By Jean Tyrell
July 29, 2007
Jim O'Connor, a Wilmington native, thinks education and hard work are the tools to reaching college. The first eighth-grade graduating class of the KIPP Ascend Charter School in Chicago, where he is the founder and principal, are all matriculating to selective public and private prep schools -- an accomplishment for students from the West Side Chicago neighborhood, where aspirations for college are tempered by the reality that many students lack the scholastic skills and resources. Read more ...
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - “Helena charter school gets principal; KIPP program to be city’s 2nd; new chief once taught in district”
By Cynthia Howell
July 26, 2007
Luke VanDeWalle, a math teacher at the Knowledge Is Power Program: Delta College Preparatory School in Helena-West Helena for the past three years, has been named principal of the city’s second KIPP charter school, Delta College Preparatory High, that he will open next month. Read more ...
The Columbus Dispatch - “Woman chosen to lead Columbus KIPP school”
By Jennifer Smith Richards
July 23, 2007
National officials for the Knowledge is Power Program have picked a leader for the charter middle school they plan to open in Columbus. Read more ...
The Oklahoma City Herald - “KIPP Reach’s Tracy McDaniel to attend African American Leadership Summit”
By Oklahoma City Staff
July 20, 2007
Tracy McDaniel, Executive Director of KIPP Reach College Preparatory, has been personally invited by US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) to attend the 2007 African American Leadership Summit. McDaniel is one of four hundred African American leaders from across the nation to participate in the summit. The conference will take place on Capital Hill July 23-24. Read more ...
The Capital (Annapolis, MD) - “KIPP principal resigns; Can't find teachers; school will likely close”
By Elisabeth Hulette and Earl Kelly
July 12, 2007
In yet another blow to a teetering county charter school, KIPP Harbor Academy's principal resigned yesterday, citing the inability to find qualified teachers as her reason for leaving. Read more ...
Houston Chronicle - “Bright future is in session”
By Lisa Falkenberg
July 9, 2007
Their white button-downs are crisp, khakis pressed with precision, Sunday shoes shined, belts firmly buckled just under each little waist. The 72 fifth-grade boys began falling into single file around 7 a.m. Monday like they were about to meet the president. But it was even more important than that. Read more ...
The Kansas City Star - “KIPP Endeavor Academy hopes to put children on track for college”
By Mará Rose Williams
July 9, 2007
Myla Martin missed the bus on the first day of school Monday morning but ended up being the first pupil to arrive at Kansas City’s newest charter school. It didn’t matter to the 10-year-old fifth-grader that she was heading back to school already, even though most of her friends still have seven weeks left to enjoy their summer breaks. Read more ...
The Austin American-Statesman - “KIPP to expand in Austin; School requires extra commitment”
By Jason Embry
June 27, 2007
KIPP Austin College Prep is getting into the high school business. The fifth- through eighth-grade charter school in East Austin will expand to serve about 90 ninth-graders in June 2008. Read more ...
Baltimore Sun - “City charter school shines; Study shows KIPP Ujima students leading in math, reading”
By Liz Bowie
June 24, 2007
A small charter school serving poor children in Northwest Baltimore has transformed students' academic careers, turning low-performers into some of the city's highest scorers on reading and math tests, while their peers in neighboring schools have continued to lag behind, according to a new study. Read more ...
St. Paul Pioneer Press - "Minneapolis / City gets two new charter schools; Network aimed at disadvantaged students"
By Megan Boldt
June 15, 2007
A national network of public schools known for its success teaching disadvantaged students has decided its first two Minnesota schools will be in Minneapolis. The Knowledge is Power Program announced last fall it was expanding to the Twin Cities, and its local leaders have decided to open two charter middle schools in 2008. Read more ...
New Fillmore (San Francisco, CA) - “Local schools honored; Gateway, KIPP only two in city to get award”
By New Fillmore Staff
June 1, 2007
Two schools located in the same Western Addition building have received the California Distinguished School Award. The schools are Gateway High School and KIPP Middle School, both at 1430 Scott Street at Geary. Read more ...
The California Charter Journal - “Third-party review: A Rewarding Experience that Improves Your School”
By Kelly Wright
May 31, 2007
As educators, daily immersed in our own charter schools that are inherently dynamic and demanding in an era of heightened accountability, we rarely have the time or opportunity to reflect. To consider how well our school is truly educating students. To gauge our successes so that we might learn from them. To look directly at our weaknesses so that we might take action. Read more ...
The Capital (Annapolis, MD) - “Charter school tries new approach”
By Ryan Bagwell
May 13, 2007
The students stood by their desks like Army cadets at attention as their teacher drilled homework problems until they got it right. In a classroom next door, a student immersed herself in the solace of a novel instead of gabbing with friends after finishing her work. Both scenes are common at the Knowledge is Power Program in Edgewater, a county charter school that targets low income students in fifth grade and gets them ready for high school. Read more ...
Houston Chronicle - “Signing up a few young men for new KIPP school”
By Lisa Gray
May 12, 2007
In January, when Shawn Hardnett started recruiting boys for his new school, he wore a suit and tie. Hardnett, 39, is from Rochester, N.Y., and in the Northeast, low-income parents respond well to an African-American teacher or principal wearing a suit. But in northeast Houston, his suit, combined with his pamphlets and true-believer zeal, flustered people. Read more ...
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) - “Great Expectations; KIPP students aiming for college”
By Valerie Faciane
May 10, 2007
At most schools, clapping, chanting, wiggling, snapping fingers or flailing arms during classroom activities would land a student in the principal's office. But kinetic-type learning, all on cue, is encouraged at McDonogh No. 15 School for the Creative Arts in the French Quarter, and at KIPP Believe College Prep school on South Carrollton Avenue. Read more ...
Los Angeles Times - “Southland 'feeder' schools are high achievers; Public school educators stress test preparation, financial aid and, of course, academics to get their students into the best prep academies”
By Carla Rivera
May 8, 2007
On a recent tour of a New Hampshire boarding school, eighth-grader Diana Carrillo was surprised at the response when she told people she was from Santa Ana. "Oh, you're from Villa?" they asked. As in Villa Fundamental Intermediate School, a mostly Latino public school in a working-class Orange County neighborhood. Read more ...
Fresno Bee - “Teachers proving to be the secret of academy's success; Students at KIPP demonstrating the power of knowledge”
By Christina Vance
May 3, 2007
KIPP Academy Fresno students and a philanthropist who has donated millions of dollars to education agreed Wednesday that when it comes to academic success, it's all about the teachers. The charter school in west Fresno welcomed a visit from Doris and Donald Fisher, co-founders of Gap, Inc. who have donated about $45 million to KIPP schools nationwide. KIPP is an acronym for Knowledge Is Power Program.
Read more ...
Dallas Morning News - “Charter chain shows results, ambitions”
By Josh Benton
April 29, 2007
The preferred term is "promotion ceremony," for the record. But whatever you do, don't call what's about to happen at KIPP TRUTH Academy an "eighth-grade graduation." "We reserve the word 'graduation' for the end of high school," said the school's principal, Steve Colmus. "Finishing eighth grade is a step along the way. But the goal is bigger than that." Read more ...
The Oklahoman - “Stretching Their Minds; KIPP students outscore most peers”
By Jeff Raymond
April 21, 2007
An inner-city Oklahoma City charter school has outperformed most of its peers in federally mandated tests. The KIPP Reach College Preparatory school near OU Medical Center in northeast Oklahoma City scored a 2006 Academic Performance Index of 1,393 out of a possible 1,500. The number measures Oklahoma Core Curriculum Test passage rates and their magnitude, and students' attendance and dropout rates.
Read more ...
Denver Herald Dispatch - “KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy takes on different approach to education”
By Rachel Alexander
April 5, 2007
The uniqueness of KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy is evident the minute a visitor walks through the front door and sees the director’s desk – computers, files and all – in the middle of the main hall. Read more ...
Austin Weekly News (Chicago, IL) - “KIPP teacher earns honors; Nominated by her students”
By Robert Felton
March 29, 2007
Students rarely get the opportunity before they leave grade school to give back to a teacher who has had a positive impact on their lives. Usually that comes in the form of a tearful reunion after they have already finished school-when they reunite with that special teacher who encouraged them to sit up straight and never settle for a "B". Read more ...
San Francisco Examiner - “Scores mixed for SFUSD schools”
By Alexandria Rocha
March 28, 2007
Although most San Francisco public schools fared better on last year’s state assessments, many others continue to struggle — some taking major nosedives, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Education. Read more ...
Charlotte Observer - “Charter School Coming To Charlotte; Teaching style yields success; KIPP approach rejects notion that poverty, race hinder students”
By Ann Doss Helms
March 25, 2007
In Francie Webb's fifth-grade class, a vocabulary drill looks like a pep rally. Hands wave wildly when Webb asks a question. Chants and gestures, done in unison, help the words stick in young minds. Most of the 458 students at KIPP Gaston College Prep, a charter school in northeastern North Carolina, are African Americans from low-income homes. They're outperforming white and middle-class peers on N.C. reading and math tests.
Read more ...
Houston Chronicle - “KIPP academy takes a big step”
By Jennifer Radcliffe and Ericka Mellon
March 20, 2007
The Knowledge is Power Program — the much-touted national charter school network born in Houston more than a decade ago — will unveil a $100 million plan today to expand its number of schools here fivefold, creating a system that could rival the Houston Independent School District. Read more ...
The Kansas City Star - “Add students to urban revival; Downtown backers plan charter middle school as part of downtown’s renaissance”
By Kevin Collison
March 9, 2007
Downtown is welcoming some new urban pioneers to join the empty-nesters and single adults who’ve dominated its revival — via big yellow school buses. Efforts are under way to open a charter school for fifth- through eighth-graders in the heart of downtown. A potential site has been identified in a historic building at 910 Grand Blvd. owned by UMB Bank. Organizers of the KIPP Endeavor Academy, which stands for Knowledge is Power Program, want to begin classes in July. Read more ...
East Bay Business Times - “Gap founders’ investment in education benefits San Lorenzo school”
By Abigail Curtis
March 2, 2007
After three decades of running one of the most successful retail clothing chains in the U.S., Gap Inc. founders Doris and Donald Fisher turned their philanthropic efforts to education. Since 2000 the couple has invested $40 million into a chain of nonprofit charter schools, including the KIPP Summit Academy in San Lorenzo. Read more ...
Tulsa World - “Church to give school $30,000; The first $10,000 will be presented to KIPP Tulsa today in honor of retired TPS official La Verne Ford Wimberly”
By Andrea Eger
February 23, 2007
Metropolitan Baptist Church is pledging $30,000 and 1,000 volunteer hours by members of its congregation to support KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory, a middle school in its second year of operation. Read more ...
Catalyst Chicago - “Making schools match the kids; From unique curriculum to longer school days, charter school directors say their success comes from their freedom to decide”
By Sarah Karp
February 1, 2007
After years of teaching history in Chicago Public Schools, Kim Day concluded poor children of color were disconnected from the communities they lived in as well as the world outside their neighborhoods. Read more ...
The San Diego Union-Tribune - “Charter school wins achievement award”
By Helen Gao
January 31, 2007
A San Diego charter school has received a national award for significantly narrowing the achievement gap between poor, minority students and those from more privileged backgrounds. Read more ...
San Francisco Business Times - “KIPP Foundation gets $14.6M grant”
By Sarah Duxbury
January 30, 2007
Atlantic Philanthropies has made a $14.6 million, five-year commitment to San Francisco's KIPP Foundation. It is the largest single grant to the nonprofit since Doris and Don Fisher invested $15 million to start the charter school foundation in 2000. Read more ...
The Daily World (Helena, AR) - “DRA presents grant to KIPP”
By Daily World Staff
January 16, 2006
Pete Johnson, federal co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority, Thursday presented a check for $28,371.46 to the KIPP Delta College Preparatory School. The grant comes from U.S. Department of Agriculture funds that are administered by the DRA. Read more ...
The Post-Tribune (Gary, IN) - “Schools chart new approach for students”
By Sharlonda Waterhouse
December 26, 2006
Charter schools frequently make promises of academic recovery, but one school is making a name among Gary youth as a place for character building and value recovery as well. A walk through the cafeteria sums up the spirit of the school. While the traditional lunch time is viewed by many youngsters as a chance to break free, yelp, run and release energy, KIPP students have calm conversations, sometimes about social issues, while listening to the melodies of Miles Davis.
Read more ...
Houston Chronicle - “Decade of change for charter schools; Experts say spotty success keeps them from competing with traditional system”
By Jennifer Radcliffe
December 17, 2006
When Texas opened its first charter schools a decade ago, some public school educators feared that the radical new option would lure away the best and brightest students from traditional public schools. Ten years and 358 charter campuses later, that fear hasn't been realized. Rather, most of Texas' charters — free public schools that don't have to comply with some state regulations — are catering to poor and minority students at risk of dropping out.
Read more ...
The Oklahoman - “Tinker volunteers help build students' futures; Reading reinforcements arrive - Airmen provide their time so program's participants will land successfully in life.”
By Bryan Dean
December 14, 2006
All but four of the 71 fifth-graders who walked into Oklahoma City's KIPP Reach Preparatory Academy for the first time this fall are behind in school by at least one grade level.
Principal and school founder Tracy McDaniel doesn't want his kids to just catch up. He's tired of low expectations. McDaniel wants these kids to go to college. But they have a long way to go, and McDaniel's teachers already work 12-hour days. Read more ...
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA) - “Knowlege Is Power in two schools; Educational method designed for cities”
By Steve Ritea
December 11, 2006
The hanging paper lanterns cast a warm glow over teacher Adam Meinig's classroom on a recent morning as students crowded onto three couches or lounged on the floor, copies of a Beverly Cleary novel in hand.
"In this chapter, he describes the place by telling us, 'It's so boring, the cows don't even moo,' " said Meinig, who doubles as principal of the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, Believe charter school on Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans. "What do we call that type of description?"
Read more ...
The Star Tribune (Twin Cities, MN) - “Two new schools aim to boost minority learning; A privately funded program for public schools takes aim at the achievement gap with more classroom time.”
By Norman Draper
November 28, 2006
A privately financed education organization is targeting the Twin Cities as the site for two new schools focused on improving learning among poor and minority kids.
Officials of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) said Tuesday that they hope to open two middle schools in 2008, either in Minneapolis or St. Paul, or a combination of the two. Read more ...
Minnesota Public Radio - “Experiment to close education achievement gap coming to Minnesota”
By Laura McCallum
November 28, 2006
Minnesota will soon become the site of a new school designed to narrow the achievement gap between white students and students of color. Gov. Pawlenty announced Tuesday the Twin Cities has been selected by the Knowledge is Power Program as one of two expansion sites for 2008. Pawlenty says the rigorous program, which has gotten national attention, is one way to help disadvantaged students succeed. Read more ...
The Columbus Dispatch - “School program gets results; City leaders persuade proven group to set up charters”
By Jennifer Smith Richards
November 22, 2006
Investors diversify instead of putting their eggs in one basket.
Now, an influential group of Columbus' business and community leaders plans to do the same with the city's education offerings, adding schools known for succeeding with inner-city children to a local "portfolio."
The business partners have pledged $550,000 to fund the startup of two Knowledge is Power Program middle schools that would open in 2008. Two elementary schools and a high school would open later. All would be charter schools. Read more ...
Marblehead Reporter (Lynn, MA) - “Dedicated to leaving no child behind”
By Kris Olson
October 12, 2006
On his first day as a fourth-grade teacher in the South Bronx, Josh Zoia dodged a chair thrown at him by a student, perhaps drawing upon the dexterity honed as a three-sport athlete at Marblehead High School. Read more ...
The Oklahoma City Herald - “Nation’s Top Boarding Schools visit KIPP Reach College Prep; Schools interviewed KIPP eighth graders on Monday, September 25th”
By Oklahoma City Herald Staff
September 29, 2006
Administrators from some of the nation’s leading boarding schools made the journey to northeast Oklahoma City in September to meet with students from one of the City's highest performing public middle schools - KIPP Reach College Prep. On September 25, 8th graders at KIPP Reach interviewed with admissions recruiters from Phillips Exeter Academy, Phillips Academy Andover, The Hotchkiss School, The Lawrenceville School, Loomis Chaffee, St. Paul's School, and Choate Rosemary Hall. Read more ...
The Oakland Tribune - "Learning to share: It's not just for kindergarten anymore"
By Katy Murphy
September 17, 2006
Last year, the principal of an elementary school in San Lorenzo brought her fifth-grade teachers to visit a nearby charter school.
To those unfamiliar with the charter movement — or with the origins of the KIPP Summit Academy in San Lorenzo — it might have looked like a routine classroom observation. But to Jason Singer, who was principal of the charter academy, it was "a pretty big moment." Read more ...
The Examiner (San Francisco, CA) - “SFUSD misses federal mark”
By Bonnie Eslinger
September 1, 2006
Although San Francisco Unified School District was recently named the top performing urban school district in the state, the district is not making enough progress to meet federal standards, according to just-released state and federal test data. Read more ...
The Washington Post - “Schools the City Can Build On; As Another Year Gets Underway, System Looks To Use 3 Campuses as Models for Improvement”
By V. Dion Haynes and Theola Labbé
August 29, 2006
At McKinley Technology High School in Eckington yesterday, students celebrated the first day of school by walking on a makeshift red carpet as they entered a building recently transformed into a first-rate technology center. The specialty-school model will be replicated when the D.C. school system revamps several struggling high schools. Uptown, officials at Brightwood Elementary in Petworth welcomed students to a newly renovated building, a $15.5 million showcase that will serve as a guide for the system's ambitious plan to spend $1 billion to refurbish dozens of dilapidated buildings. And at Scott Montgomery Elementary in Shaw, last year's 24 fourth-graders enrolled as fifth-graders at KIPP DC: Will Academy, a new public charter school housed in the same building.
Read more ...
New York Daily News - “Greed, not high standards, shuts students out”
By Stanley Crouch
August 21, 2006
Last week we got word from the Education Department that, even after a decade of trying to make things go in another direction, the number of black and Hispanic students passing the entrance exams for our three elite public high schools has declined. The same is true for whites. The test scores of Asian students continue to soar, which makes clear that whatever issues negatively affect the other three groups, the Asian students do not suffer the same problems. Read more ...
Austin Weekly News - “West Side students seek to ascend at KIPP”
By Terry Dean
August 9, 2006
Friends Diamond Swanigan and Shonarrow Seaberry, both 10, didn't see much of each other during their first day as students at KIPP Ascend Charter School on the West Side. The former John Hay Community Academy students live across the street from each other, but spent their first day as fifth graders in different classes. And like the other fifth graders on Monday, before they began learning their academics, they were being taught about listening, working together and respecting each other and their teachers. Read more ...
Charlotte Observer - “12:23 am | Two charter schools approved; Charlotte middle school, K-12 in Mooresville among 6 granted charters by state board”
By Michelle Crouch
August 7, 2006
Two new charter schools will open in the Charlotte region next year, including one that will use a nationally-known program that has boosted math and reading scores among low-income children. The state Board of Education last week gave the go-ahead to Pine Lake Preparatory, a K-12 college preparatory school in Mooresville, and KIPP Academy, a Charlotte middle school that will target at-risk students. Read more ...
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - “Charter school teacher earns $10,000 award”
By Cynthia Howell
August 7, 2006
Wyvonne Sisk, a reading and language arts teacher at the Knowledge Is Power Program or KIPP charter school in Helena-West Helena, was named late Thursday in New Orleans as the winner of a $10,000 Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award for her commitment to education and her teaching accomplishments. Read more ...
Austin Business Journal - "Diving In"
By Jenny Robertson
July 21, 2006
Jill Kolasinski was 13 miles through her second marathon when she felt her body begin to give out. Kolasinski was celebrating her 30th birthday by running the Paris Marathon in France. She managed to drag her sneakers through the streets of Paris and limpingly finish the marathon, but all the while she was picturing a beloved locale in Austin, her newfound home. Read more ...
New York Post - "Smarter Charter Kids - Scoring Above Students At Nearby Public Schools"
By Carl Campanile
July 20, 2006
Charter schools in the city are vastly outperforming public schools in their neighborhoods, according to a bombshell state report obtained by The Post.
The just-released study by state Education Department found students in 11 of 16 city charter schools outscored kids in nearby public schools on the state's fourth-grade English and math exams in 2005. Read more ...
Gambit Weekly (New Orleans, LA) - "The New Paradigm; Charter schools are all the rage as New Orleans public schools struggle to reopen after Katrina. These new schools present a range of opportunities -- and challenges."
By Sam Winston
July 18, 2006
Imani Lee says she wants to be an environmentalist when she grows up. She hates seeing trash on the ground, especially all the Katrina debris that is still lying about. Among the things she really wishes hadn't wound up in a trash heap were the thousands of books that she lost during the flood. Reading was her favorite subject.
But last week, there was Imani, doing her homework for KIPP Believe College Prep, a new charter school that started the academic year early with its first summer session. Read more ...
Post-Tribune (Gary, IN) - "On the pathway to college"
By Sharlonda Waterhouse
July 16, 2006
GARY - A charter education network with a reputation for improving achievement in urban youth and gearing them for college debuted its charter school in Gary this week.
Already, the 81 initiates are shouting "Class of 2014!" - the date they'll enroll in college.
KIPP LEAD college prep charter school sifted the fifth-graders from local schools. Read more ...
San Jose Mercury News - "Network of schools builds on tough love and success; KIPP Program, popular in Alum Rock, looks to expand in Bay Area and beyond"
By Dana Hull
July 13, 2006
On the first day of summer orientation at the KIPP Heartwood Academy in Alum Rock, new students are learning the KIPP way -- and that means lots of rules and lots of repetition. Read more ...
New York Post - "Cup of Al-Joe-Bra – ’05 Winner Aims for Math Café"
By Rita Delfiner
July 11, 2006
Bronx algebra teacher Frank Corcoran, who built five restaurant booths in his classroom with signs inviting students to "try the pi," now has another innovative idea percolating - he'd love to open a real "math cafe."
The 2005 "Educator" Liberty Medal winner envisions a neighborhood shop staffed by former students who would offer "coffee, tea and geometry" - providing tutoring to kids and adults alike as well as some computer training. Read more ...
The Tulsa World - "College prep school beginning second year"
By Andrea Eger
July 9, 2006
KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory will start its second year Monday celebrating a new facility and notable academic progress in its first year.
A new class of fifth-graders will begin the school's mandatory, three-week summer session, while sixth-graders will be back in school starting Wednesday.
Read more ...
The Washington Post - "Board Approves Alliance Of Public, Charter School"
By Sue Anne Pressley Montes
June 15, 2006
The D.C. Board of Education approved a collaboration yesterday between an underenrolled public elementary school and a charter middle school that supporters praised as an innovative -- and unprecedented -- approach.
Under the plan, Scott Montgomery Elementary will join forces with a new charter middle school called KIPP D.C.: Will Academy, operated by the nationally acclaimed KIPP organization. The two schools will share the Montgomery building at 421 P St. NW, with Montgomery students moving to the KIPP school after fourth grade. Read more ...
Baltimore Sun - "Pupils' futures show disparity in city; Level of education varies across charter, public middle schools"
By Liz Bowie
June 11, 2006
Malcolm Lawson, a 14-year-old Baltimore boy with a head full of rap songs and a knack for solving math equations, will go to a rigorous college preparatory school this fall. Read more ...
Houston Chronicle - "School rises to the challenge; After Gary Robichaux's new charter school in New Orleans was washed away, he came to Houston and started again"
By Jennifer Radcliffe
June 3, 2006
There was no question this school year would be tough for veteran Louisiana educator Gary Robichaux when he decided to quit his job as a consultant to take over one of New Orleans' lowest-performing campuses, Edward Phillips Middle School on Senate Street.
Read more ...
The Baltimore Sun - “Models of middle school success; 2 charters flourish, but city rarely seeks their input”
By Sara Neufeld
May 1, 2006
Educators came to Baltimore last week from Massachusetts, New York, Washington and Virginia to study the success of the Crossroads School. They talked to pupils who, despite impoverished backgrounds, have published a book, made a model of the solar system and outscored their peers, not only around the city but in some cases statewide as well. Yet few in the Baltimore school system were paying attention. Of 70 conference participants, two came from other city schools - both of them teachers hungry for ideas. Crossroads is one of two charter middle schools in the city receiving national recognition for their work educating vulnerable children at a particularly vulnerable age. The other, KIPP Ujima Village Academy, is part of a network of schools held up by Oprah Winfrey last month as an urban education model the same week she lashed out at the Baltimore school system for its poor track record. Read more ...
The Tulsa World - "Students say KIPP bridging gap in their lives"
By Andrea Eger
April 30, 2006
Owners of The Gap, the charter school's benefactors, witness the program's success in Tulsa firsthand. "KIPP inspires us to go to college." Student after student said that is what sets their new school, KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory School, apart from the schools they used to attend. Doris and Don Fisher, co-founders of The Gap and billionaire benefactors of the national nonprofit KIPP Foundation, stopped to chat with students last week during their national tour of new KIPP schools. Read more ...
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) - "TEAM approach to success in education"
By Kasi Addison
April 11, 2006
Derrick Cohen can hardly believe four years have passed since he walked through the doors of TEAM Academy Charter School. A lot has changed, he said. Once a struggling student, he learned to enjoy math. His mastery of big words earned Derrick the nickname "Dictionary" and come September he'll likely be leaving Newark to attend a college preparatory or boarding school. Read more ...
The Indianapolis Star - “Charter schools attract attention”
By Ruth Holladay
April 9, 2006
Omotayo Ola-Niyi came to Indianapolis in 2003, after working as a consultant in Chicago's public school system. The University of Oklahoma grad was attracted by our reputation for education reform. Perhaps you didn't know -- the city and state commonly associated with racing, obesity and the Final Four are at the top of the charter school movement.
Read more ...
Post-Tribune (Merrillville, IN) - “Students sign up for new school”
By Sharlonda Waterhouse
March 27, 2006
Jeramie Frazier’s report card from Ivanhoe Elementary School is tacked on the front door.
Three As, three Bs.
On the living room couch, the 10-year-old inks his signature with a mix of awe and nerves. He’s joining a new school.
With a pen, he pledges 22 promises to join the new KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) college prep charter school: everything from “I will be honest, even when it means I might get in trouble” to “I will arrive at school by 7:55 a.m.” Read more ...
San Francisco Business Times - “Charter Mission: Don Fisher kicks $40M into KIPP schools”
By Sarah Duxbury
March 20, 2006
Don Fisher knows about growth.
The Gap co-founder is bringing that expertise to bear as chairman of the KIPP Foundation, a national charter school network based in San Francisco.
Under Fisher's leadership -- and with his money, almost $40 million to date from Fisher and his wife, Doris -- Knowledge Is Power Program has grown from two to 46 schools nationally since the Fishers became involved in 2000. Five of those charter schools are in the Bay Area: two in San Francisco and one each in Oakland, San Lorenzo and San Jose. Read more ...
Winston-Salem Journal - “School gives at-risk kids a chance to change their lives; Gaston Prep students told to work hard, aim high and their goals can be achieved”
By Gil Klein
February 19, 2006
It's 9 a.m. Saturday and nearly 150 fifth- and sixth-graders sit in the school cafeteria, reading books and doing homework.
Nobody whispers. Nobody passes notes. Nobody squirms. The only sound is the shuffling of chairs and rustling of papers.
At a signal from teacher Keith Burnam, students break into a foot-stomping, raplike cheer.
"Why you work so ha-a-a-rd in pre-algebra?" shouts a sixth-grader.
Read more ...
The Associated Press - “NBA's Ford and Ewing help Katrina victims”
By Kristie Rieken
February 18, 2006
Moments after his wish of meeting an NBA player came true, Kendrick Washington was shaking and could barely speak.
The 12-year-old, who evacuated New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, didn't meet just one NBA player, but two, when T.J. Ford of the Milwaukee Bucks and L.A. Clippers rookie Daniel Ewing visited his school on Friday.
"It was my dream to meet an NBA player," Washington said. "Then them telling me to work hard to achieve my goals, that was so great." Read more ...
Los Angeles Times - “The Vanishing Class: LA Is Trying Out Some New Ideas”
By Jean Merl
February 4, 2006
Around the country, some programs have shown promise in addressing the dropout problem. Here are a few that are being tried in Los Angeles:
Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP Read more ...
Express-News (San Antonio, TX) - "Rewarding Academic Success"
By Jeanne Russell
January 20, 2006
A local charter middle school where low-income children have made rapid test score gains has received a $595,000 grant to open a high school, its director said Thursday.
"If the commitment to kids is that they'll go to college, the natural extension of our middle school is to create a high school that will walk them all the way to the school doors," said Mark Larson, the director and founder of KIPP: Aspire Academy. Read more ...
Post-Tribune (Merrillville, IN)- “Non-traditional school targets low-income kids”
By Sharlonda Waterhouse
January 10, 2006
GARY — The students, all in uniforms, learn weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
They attend school every other Saturday — and for three weeks in summer.
They keep in touch with teachers by cell phone (watch “20/20” Friday to learn more about that).
And rather than the year they graduate high school, they regularly chant the year they are going to college.
This school doesn’t exist locally now, but it could.
Read more ...
The Denver Post (Denver, CO)- "Kids prepped for the best"
By Allison Sherry
January 01, 2006
The glossy catalogs stacked on a dresser in Shelley Olivas' house have pictures of sprawling landscapes, kids playing polo on horses and brick buildings with white columns that exemplify a world of privilege and power. Read more ...
The Nashville Scene (Nashville, TN)- "Nashvillians of the Year: The students at KIPP Academy (Class of 2013) are perfect poster children for charter schools.”
By Liz Garrigan
December 29, 2005
Fifth-grader Aaron Ward spent last school year at Kirkpatrick Elementary School, where the principal and teachers are constantly challenged by the sheer numbers of needy kids, many of whom have behavioral problems, lead woefully imperfect home lives or arrive at the school testing below their grade level. Read more ...
The Raleigh News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)-- “Low-income students aim high at nontraditional school”
By Tim Simmons
December 25, 2005
No one at Gaston College Prep talks about the day they'll close the racial achievement gap. They did that the year the rural school opened in 2001.
Now they talk about the day when every kid will go to college from a student body that is predominantly black and mostly low-income. If they didn't believe it, they wouldn't be breaking ground for a new high school. Read more ...
Tulsa World (Tulsa, OK)- "Fifth-graders get high-tech gifts: They receive their own home computers in a donation from QuickTrip.”
By Andrea Eger
December 17, 2005
Only a few minutes had passed since Christian Jackson Meeks and her 89 fifth-grade classmates at KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory had learned that they would all be receiving a free home computer. Read more ...
The City Paper (Nashville, TN)- "KIPP Academy seeking help with wish list on Web site"
By Katharine Mosher
December 13, 2005
Everyone else gets a Christmas wish list, so why not the kids at KIPP Academy Nashville? The school registered its own wish list on Amazon.com to let those in the giving spirit have some idea of what the new Nashville charter school needs. Read more ...
The Times Union (Albany, NY) - "Little hero keeps a cool head as a fire rages; 10-year-old Albany girl warns building residents when flames break out in her family’s kitchen”
By Diane T. Furfaro
September 27, 2005
ALBANY -- Just like any typical Monday, the Harden family was enjoying a quiet evening at home Sept. 12. Read more ...
The Washington Post Magazine - "“The Adventures Of Jallon; A continuing saga”
By Tyler Currie
September 18, 2005
Jallon Brown stands at the edge of the parking lot when the school bus groans to a halt. Inside, about 40 fifth-graders are squealing and shouting. Jallon steps aboard. Read more ...
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) - "A national honor for a favorite teacher"
By Kasi Addison
September 9, 2005
Teaching, according to Sha Reagans, is about more than the time spent standing in front of the classroom. Read more ...
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) - "Charters open the school year"
By Liz F. Kay
August 30, 2005
Dressed in a crisp white shirt and neatly pressed khakis, Corey Neal arrived at his new Annapolis charter school yesterday at precisely 7:30 a.m., prepared for classes that will run until 5 p.m. and for a stringent code of conduct. Read more ...
The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - "Charter Schools Expand in Several New Directions"
By V. Dion Haynes
August 25, 2005
Mornings at the summer program at one of the District's newest public charter schools typically began with the principal, Khala Johnson, striding down the aisles between tables in the cafeteria/auditorium/gym commanding the students to get funky. "Give me a beat!" she shouted, her shoulder-length dreadlocks shaking. Read more ...
The Daily Item (Lynn, MA) - "KIPP sixth graders making the grade"
By Jill Gadsby
August 23, 2005
LYNN - Though sometimes criticized by its traditional public school counterparts, the KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School has received the first indication that its nontraditional methods are working.
Read more ...
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK) - "City teacher gains honor in formerly sore subject"
By Melissa Marchel and Michael Bratcher
August 20, 2005
When Warren Pete was a student, he made D's and F's in math. Now an educator in the Oklahoma City School District, Pete on Friday received a $10,000 award for his ability to teach the subject he once failed.
Read more ...
The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX) - ”Charter school turning students' lives around”
By Norma Adams-Wade
June 21, 2005
Claudia Dunemann wanted to improve her granddaughter's declining grades. So two years ago, she enrolled 10-year-old Clarisa Dunemann in KIPP TRUTH Academy, an Oak Cliff charter school. Read more ...
The Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX) - "KIPP opens doors and minds in DC"
By Alexis Grant
June 11, 2005
WASHINGTON - Most children from the Anacostia neighborhood have never heard of Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss or Deerfield. Read more ...
The Business Review (Albany, NY) - "Charter school offers students rigorous year-round curriculum"
By Richard D'Errico
May 30, 2005
Dan Ceaser is the principal of a school that doesn't exist yet.
That doesn't mean he's not busy. The 27-year-old has been working for the past year visiting sites of Knowledge Is Power Program--KIPP for short--schools across the country, attending a boot camp of sorts, to get ready for the start of the Capital Region's newest school, KIPP Tech Valley.
Read more ...
The New York Post (New York, NY) - “Education Sec disses ‘No Child’ challenge”
By David Andreatta
May 3, 2005
Dismissing a legal challenge to the federal No Child Left Behind law as a "red herring," Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings championed the growth of charter schools in The Bronx yesterday. Read more ...
The Tennessean (Nashville, TN) - “Charter principal recruiting his students”
By Diane Long
April 17, 2005
It was warm enough to sweat, but Randy Dowell left his air-conditioned car to stride down the sidewalk and stand on the stoop of yet another east Nashville home. Read more ...
The Washington Post (Washington, DC) - “Arundel Board Approves Charter; New School Denied 2 Weeks Ago”
By Daniel de Vise
March 17, 2005
The Anne Arundel County school board last night approved a charter school application it had denied two weeks ago, tentatively clearing the way for the Knowledge Is Power Program to open a middle school in Annapolis tailored to low-income black students. Read more ...
The Chicago Sun-Times (Chicago, IL) - “Golden Apple wows teacher”
By Maudlyne Ihejerika
March 10, 2005
Sixth-grade reading teacher Tracy Kwock believes in the KIPP Ascend Charter School motto: "No shortcuts. No excuses." It's posted in big block letters in the colorful hallways of the small West Side school.
Read more ...
Associated Press (New Orleans, LA) - "National charter school network hopes to run a failing Orleans school"
By Kevin McGill
February 15, 2005
A nonprofit charter school network with schools that hold classes nine hours a day and on Saturdays has applied for a chance to turn around the performance of a failing school in New Orleans. Read more ...
San Antonio Express News (San Antonio, TX) - “Charter school sets kids’ sights on college”
By Jeanne Russell
January 9, 2005
Each morning as her 11-year-old son walks out the door, Sunshine Minner says a prayer and these words of encouragement: "Inhale, exhale. Breathe in, breathe out. Take it one day at a time." Read more ...
San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, CA) - “S.F. charter schools get more cash; Funding added to federal spending bill”
By Bonnie Eslinger
December 21, 2004
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi landed more than $3 million in additional government funds for a San Francisco-based charter school organization, seemingly a vote of confidence for a controversial experiment in public education. Read more ...
The Boston Globe (Boston, MA) - “In the battle over education reform, charter schools may be the closest thing to ground zero -- as the city of Lynn is finding out”
By Cara Feinberg
December 5, 2004
LYNN -- The newest public middle school in this mostly working-class town 11 miles north of Boston is a small six-room annex at the rear of a church. Its playground is an empty parking lot. There's no official gym, no theater, no science lab, no lockers, no room to spare. Read more ...
The Times Union (Albany, NY) - “School hopes to recruit the best; Principal of new KIPP charter school travels country seeking top teachers for its opening”
By Rick Karlin
November 26, 2004
ALBANY -- As principal at the planned KIPP Tech Valley Charter school, Dan Ceaser is traveling the nation in search of his dream team of teachers. Read more ...
The Journal News (Westchester County, NY) - "A success story in the Bronx"
By Jay Gallagher
November 21, 2004
NEW YORK — As the fifth-graders in the KIPP Academy charter school in the South Bronx started to recite their multiplication tables, they banged on their desks, clapped their hands and shouted out the numbers. Read more ...
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA) - "New home, new computer lab"
By Martha Woodall
October 12, 2004
When the year-old KIPP Philadelphia Charter School shows off its new quarters on North Broad Street this morning, the top executive of SAP America Inc. is scheduled to announce that his software company has provided a $40,000 grant for a new computer lab.
Read more ...
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR) - "Delta Charter School for Pupils in Helena Celebrates New Home”
By Cynthia Howell
September 4, 2004
HELENA — The multipurpose room in the new "KIPP: Delta College Preparatory School" building in this city’s old downtown doesn’t have an ordinary name — but, then, it is not an ordinary school. Read more ...
The Fresno Bee (Fresno, CA) - "Long Days, High Goals; Fresno's KIPP charter school relies on intense study, discipline"
By Susie Vang
August 11, 2004
A west Fresno public charter school that prepares fifth-graders for college opened its doors this week to students. Read more ...
Austin American-Statesman (Austin, TX) - ”Austin charter school attracting students: KIPP school plans to expand this summer”
Michelle M. Martinez
July 10, 2004
Olivia Lopez left Popham Elementary School in Del Valle after fourth grade looking for an academic challenge. Read more ...
The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) - "Charter schools leading reforms"
By Charles Lussier
April 21, 2004
A co-founder of one of the most successful charter school organizations in the country told an audience of Louisiana charter school leaders Tuesday that they are the vanguard of public education reform. Read more ...
The Daily Review (Hayward, CA) - “Academy shows off to parents; Charter school reveals best side after two months during open house”
By Chris De Benedetti
November 14, 2003
As Jason Singer, founder and principal of the new KIPP Summit Academy told a group of visiting community members, the public charter school is going about the business of education a little differently. Read more ...
San Francisco Chronicle - "Oakland's big expectations for small middle school; 10-hour days on campus, plus homework"
By Meredith May
June 13, 2002
On a sunny Sunday when all his friends were playing outside, 10-year-old Kelvin Scott was deep in contract talks at the kitchen table.
The offer put forth by his parents and a school principal was this: In exchange for 10-hour school days, two to three hours of homework nightly, Saturday school and one month of summer school, Kelvin could better his chance of getting into college. Read more ...
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