KIPP Foundation Welcomes Jim Manly As New Chief Schools Officer
For Immediate Release: April 25, 2023
April 25, 2023, New York, NY: Jim Manly has been named Chief Schools Officer of the KIPP Foundation. Manly comes to the KIPP Foundation after eight years as Superintendent of KIPP NYC Public Schools and with a 30-year career track record of achieving results for students in New York City and elsewhere.
“This is a crucial role to ensure we will be the best K-12 system in the country,” said Shavar Jeffries, KIPP Foundation CEO. “Our focus on academic results calls for a strong leader with demonstrated results to drive the collective work we must do as a network and to facilitate learning across schools and regions. Jim brings a depth of knowledge in literacy, instructional leadership, facilitation of cross-functional teams, and data-driven solutions to this role.”
As Chief Schools Officer, Manly will lead KIPP’s K-12 work on aligning instructional content and approach across KIPP’s 280 schools in 27 regions to deliver an academically excellent education grounded in joy and identity affirmation. He will be reporting to KIPP Foundation’s President Kinnari Patel-Smyth and transition from his current role this spring. Alicia Johnson, KIPP NYC’s current President, has been appointed by the KIPP NYC Board of Directors to be the region’s Chief Executive Officer starting July 1, 2023.
“I am excited to continue the pursuit of joyful excellence in schools at the KIPP Foundation,” said Jim Manly, KIPP Foundation’s new Chief Schools Officer. “I believe there is no school system in this country that is better positioned to reach this vision than KIPP, largely because of the energy and determination of our people.”
Manly first came to the KIPP Foundation in 2014 as Senior Director of Instructional Leadership and then transitioned to KIPP NYC. Before joining KIPP, he was the founding Principal of Success Academy Harlem 2 Elementary, which became the top performing school, public or private, in Harlem District 5. He has an additional 10 years of leadership experience as Principal of Manhattan Charter School, Assistant Director of Teaneck Community Charter School, and Executive Director of Teach for America in Washington, DC. Jim has extensive experience in the classroom as a former New York City public school teacher, which earned him the prestigious Teacher of the Year award at M.S. 321X.
Over eight years as our superintendent of KIPP NYC, Jim led our New York region to consistently produce academic results that were among the best in the KIPP network, improving academic outcomes even as the region grew from 13 to 18 schools. In 2019, the last academic year before the pandemic, KIPP NYC students across all grade levels outperformed their New York State and New York City peers in math and reading. And most recently, KIPP NYC data shows in the spring 2022 4th and 8th grade economically disadvantaged students outperformed other district and state students in the reading exam. KIPP NYC 4th graders also outperformed districts and state in the spring 2022 math exam. In addition, Black and Latinx students outperform peers in all grades and subjects compared to state and district data.
Born in Fredonia, NY, Manly holds a bachelor’s degree from Union College and started teaching in New York City right after graduation. He received his master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
About KIPP Foundation
KIPP Foundation supports a national network of 280 public charter schools dedicated to preparing students in educationally underserved communities for success in college and life. KIPP schools are part of the free public school system and enrollment is open to all students. Started in 1994 as a middle school program, KIPP has since expanded to enroll more than 120,000 students in all grades from Pre-K through high school. Nationwide, KIPP students complete their bachelor’s degree at three times higher rates than the average for students from families from low-income communities.