![]() ![]() A few KIPP schools across the country have union faculties, but not those in Los Angeles. Unified and the growth of charters has resulted in fewer union teaching jobs within the district. The district also will have to compete with KIPP for students.Įnrollment is dropping in many parts of L.A. Unified School District, which authorizes charter schools within its boundaries, has the role of making sure KIPP maintains its performance standards. Like many other KIPP campuses, KIPP Empower typically has a waiting list of families wanting to enroll. KIPP, which stands for Knowledge Is Power Program, provides both a longer school day and a longer school year. Each fourth-grader gets a Chromebook to use. A typical classroom has about 15 laptops and a few iPads. The campus offers students “blended learning,” in which teachers use digital curriculum in addition to more traditional approaches. That problem was remedied in March with the opening of an $8-million campus in Vermont Knolls, south of downtown L.A. Last year, KIPP Empower operated out of two locations for lack of space. Like other charters, KIPP receives philanthropic support, but also often rents or builds its own campuses. KIPP operates only elementary and middle schools, but it’s begun extended counseling efforts to help its students get to and through college. Locally, the data suggest that many KIPP LA students are achieving higher scores than they probably would at many traditional schools. KIPP cites research indicating that these common criticisms do not apply to its campuses. ![]() And they say that KIPP’s results do not fully account for students who leave a KIPP school early. Critics insist that KIPP, and other charters, draw from a pool of more motivated families: the ones who would make an effort to apply to a charter. “What we really pride ourselves on is focusing on the academics and character, to empower students to be strong in body, mind and spirit,” said Neela Parasnis, the principal or “school leader,” in KIPP parlance.Ĭharters are independently managed and free from some rules that govern traditional schools. The school enrolls students in kindergarten through fourth grade, but the score is based on state standardized tests taken by the school’s second-graders, the school’s highest grade at the time. It earned a high ranking of 991 on a scale of 1,000 on California’s Academic Performance Index in the spring of 2013, the most recent year available. KIPP schools generally perform well when compared by test scores, none more so than the local KIPP Empower Academy. The nonprofit is associated with a national umbrella organization called KIPP Schools, which oversees 162 campuses that enroll 58,000 students in 31 regions. ![]() KIPP LA now operates 11 schools that serve about 4,000 students by 2020, the organization wants to grow to 9,000 students in 20 schools. One of the nation’s largest charter school organizations has announced an ambitious expansion plan to more than double its enrollment in the Los Angeles area over the next six years. ![]()
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