Friday Morning Thoughts: It's College Decision Day!

ByRichard Barth, KIPP Foundation CEO

It’s College Decision Day! Though this has been a strange and disrupted year, today hasn’t lost any of its significance for our KIPPsters. And we are so proud of them!

Andre, KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School student

This year, 6,000 high school seniors from throughout the KIPP network will be taking their next step towards college and career. Throughout KIPP’s history, we’ve gone all-out to celebrate our students’ college acceptances and subsequent college decisions. Even as our lives have moved online, the celebrations roll on! Here are just a few highlights from around the country:

We are also excited to celebrate the recipients of two national scholarships!

Goldberg Scholars

The 2020 Dave Goldberg Scholarship winners were announced today! Fifteen KIPPsters from the class of 2020, representing eight KIPP regions across the country, will receive mentoring support, leadership training, professional networking opportunities, and financial support to cover non-tuition expenses. This is the third year of the Dave Goldberg Scholarship Program, a partnership between KIPP and the Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation. The scholarship honors the legacy of my friend Dave Goldberg, by supporting KIPP high school seniors in their journey to and through college.

The Goldberg Scholarship program has already proven to be a game-changer. Today, in a world in which our students and families face even greater uncertainty and financial hardship, the Goldberg Scholarship provides the financial supports and mentoring from successful professionals that will prove to be a life-changer.

Announcing this year’s cohort, Sheryl Sandberg says, “It is an honor to partner with KIPP for the third year of the Dave Goldberg Scholarship Program. Dave believed deeply in KIPP and its mission — and he would have been so proud of these talented students. As you all know, this is an especially hard time for families everywhere, so the support that this program provides is that much more vital. My heartfelt thanks to the KIPP team for helping us extend Dave’s legacy through this program. I can’t wait to see the incredible things these new scholars will accomplish.”

Amplify Scholars

Fifteen graduating KIPP seniors, representing eight KIPP regions, have been named Amplify Scholars for 2020! The Amplify Scholarship Program, part of a partnership between KIPP and iMentor, provides financial support for school-year expenses, summer expenses, and technology, as well as support from an Amplify Mentor and attendance at the annual Amplify Academy in New York City. Amplify scholars will also receive ongoing support from the iMentor community to help set them up for success in college and career.

You don’t have to take my word for how exciting this is. Watch this video of our Amplify Scholars learning that they’ve been selected!

I can’t express enough gratitude to everyone who has supported our KIPPsters to reach this point. I especially want to recognize the work of our KIPP Through College teams, from nominating students for these programs, to assisting them with scholarship applications, to everything else they do day-to-day to support our KIPP students and alums.