printSan Antonio Business Journal (San Antonio, TX) - "KIPP expanding public charter system in San Antonio"
By Tamarind Phinisee | July 6, 2011
Read the full article at BizJournals.com >
KIPP San Antonio is slated to open two new elementary schools in San Antonio in the fall of 2012.
Educators Luzdivina Lozano and Michael Shay have been selected to run the schools as part of the KIPP Fisher Fellowship — a highly selective program that trains experienced educators to open and run new public charter schools in existing KIPP regions.
The new schools represent the next phase of expansion for the KIPP network of schools that make up KIPP San Antonio, which already includes two middle schools and one high school. Once the two new elementary schools are completed, KIPP San Antonio will have a total local enrollment of more than 2,700 students.
Martin Acevedo, chief development officer for KIPP San Antonio, says these two new sites will be dual language campuses. Students will be immersed in Spanish from kindergarten to third grade. By the time students reach the fourth grade, students will then be taught 80 percent in Spanish and 20 percent in English, Acevedo says.
“By fifth grade, it will be 50/50 Spanish/English, with the goal of the students being fully bilingual,” Acevedo says.
Teaching children in this manner will give students advantages in the future competitive global market as well as help them do better in academics, he adds.
No sites have been selected yet for the new schools. However, KIPP San Antonio is looking for permanent locations for the two new campuses as well as permanent sites for its three existing locations, Acevedo says.
The three existing schools are currently located at:
• KIPP Aspire (middle school) — 735 Fredericksburg Road
• KIPP Camino Academy (middle school) — 103 Tuleta Drive
• KIPP University Prep — 128 S. Autobahn
Ideally, KIPP San Antonio would like to have these permanent sites on the city’s West Side, where most of its students live and where the schools can have the biggest impact, Acevedo says.
San Francisco-based KIPP (the Knowledge Is Power Program) is a national network of 109 public schools in 20 states and Washington, D.C. The campuses prepare underserved students for success in college and in life.
Copyright © 2012 KIPP Foundation. All rights reserved.
KIPP is committed to a policy of equal treatment for all individuals. KIPP does not discriminate on the
basis of race, color, gender, handicap, age, religion, sexual orientation, national, or ethnic origin.
basis of race, color, gender, handicap, age, religion, sexual orientation, national, or ethnic origin.