Archive

KIPP Academy celebrated its graduating class Friday at the Lynn Auditorium. Ninety-seven percent of KIPP's class of 2016 will graduate in June, while 90 percent plan to attend college, according to the school. This year's graduating class also received more than 400 acceptance letters, 100 more than last year.

"At KIPP it's really important to us that we're teaching our kids about character and building their character," explained Frank Cush, KIPP Explore Academy's founder and principal. "With this program, the students are learning about what are the things that they should be doing. Not necessarily in the situation where they face a bully, but it's about being more proactive, learning how to be good citizens. We're also encouraging our students to know more about themselves and what makes them unique."

The Economic Development and Industrial Corp. is reviewing plans to renovate the J.B. Blood building even as the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) Charter School adds classrooms in the Wheeler Street building. KIPP houses 121 kindergarten students and offices in the Blood building and plans to add a first grade, pushing its enrollment to 240 students in September. "We'll be on two floors and adding to that," said Caleb Dolan, KIPP's Massachusetts executive director. "We love being in the heart of the city."

Twenty years ago, two Teach for America alumni launched a small academy with 47 kids inside a traditional public school in Houston. Today, KIPP academies are educating 58,000 kids in 20 states across the country and last week, the KIPP Foundation was awarded the third annual Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools.

Nine-year-old Alexander Garza had trouble focusing in school and a hard time making friends. As a "Human of KIPP," he shares his fourth-grade experiences for others who struggle to understand they're not alone.

Hundreds of students at KIPP University Prep gathered Friday afternoon to recite a pledge written by their peers. "I pledge to protect the innocence of all children in my world; to support efforts to end child abuse in my community; to believe a child, intervene and report if I suspect child abuse," they said in unison.

As a parent, the most important decision I've made is where my son should go to school. Looking around at the options in my neighborhood in the South Bronx, I panicked: The district schools in my zone were among the lowest-performing in the city.

A five-year study of one charter school system shows its elementary and middle school students have consistently shown strong reading and math skills.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg studied at a private prep school, but today he's showing great interest in public schools. Three years ago he donated $100 million to New Jersey schools. Tuesday morning, he attended the opening ceremony for a new public KIPP charter school on 18th Street in San Francisco.

Newark Collegiate Academy is an oasis... In a city where almost half the students don't graduate, nearly all its kids finish, and a remarkable 95 percent of them go on to college.