Preparing Students in Educationally Underserved Communities for Success in College and Life
By Shavar JeffriesKIPP Public Schools for almost three decades has provided life-changing educational opportunities for Black students. At KIPP, we have an unyielding conviction that the children we serve are brilliant, and, as such, we are charged with ensuring our schools are places of rigor, joy, and identity affirmation, which launch our children into their futures.
KIPP Public Schools serves 120,000 students and 55,000 alumni across 27 regions that span the breadth and width of the country, from New York City to Oakland and from Houston to Chicago.
Ninety percent of our students live below the poverty line, and more than half of the children we serve are Black. More than half of our teachers and school leaders, likewise, are Black. We are proud not only that our educators reflect the communities and students we serve, but also that our schools have delivered quality educational opportunities to Black students for years.
In 2019, for example, an independent study showed that attending a KIPP middle school significantly closes the racial achievement gap in four-year college enrollment rates nationwide. In fact, 36% of recent Black KIPP High School graduates completed college, while the national average for college completion for Black students from low-income communities is less than 10%.
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