Carolina Journal, Volume 13, Number 10, October 2004
http://216.27.16.14/cjprint/display_cjprint.html?id=45

KIPP School Puts Zip Into Education

By BRENDA SHIPMAN-SCRUGGS, Contributing Editor

GASTON COUNTY – Every school day, seventh-grader Victoria Bennett knows she will find her Principal, Caleb Dolan, standing at the entrance to her school greeting every child by name. Victoria’s school, KIPP: Gaston College Preparatory Academy, or GCP to students, is located in rural Gaston.

Gaston’s unemployment rate is among the highest in North Carolina, the local schools are ranked among the state’s lowest performing, and less than 9 percent of local residents hold four-year degrees. But as Victoria says, “GCP is a different story. It’s the silver lining in Gaston’s dark and gloomy cloud.”

KIPP: Gaston College Preparatory is a free, open-enrollment charter school founded on the five pillars of KIPP, the Knowledge is Power Program. The five pillars are: high expectations, power to lead, choice and commitment, extended time on task, and focus on results.

Building Toward Success

GCP opened in August 2001 with 80 fifth-graders who, along with their families, chose to believe they could transform 27 acres of peanuts and soybeans into an excellent public school. Each year since opening, GCP has added one grade level, and the student body now numbers 185. With the addition of eighth grade next year, GCP will reach full capacity as a middle school with 240 students.

Blacks comprise 95 percent of GCP’s student body. More than 80 percent of students receive free or reduced lunch. Entrance into GCP provides students with a fresh start: They are accepted without regard to prior academics or conduct. Typically, pupils enter GCP below grade level, but they make achievement gains quickly.

In 2001-2002, only 49 percent of the first class of fifth-graders entering GCP were performing at grade level in reading. In 2002-2003, all of those students were performing at or above grade level in end-of-grade math tests and 99 percent were reading at or above grade level in end-of-grade reading tests, including more than 80 percent of GCP’s learning-disabled students. KIPP: Gaston College Preparatory is now the sixth-highest performing school in North Carolina. GCP is the only school among the top six schools that works with an educationally underserved community.

Long School Days, Long Year

Every GCP student is expected to spend a considerable amount of time on task. Victoria and her classmates attend school Monday through Thursday 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Fridays 8 a.m.-4 p.m., alternate Saturdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m., and for two weeks in July. “We’re here to work, and we work hard,” said Paris Gatling, another seventh-grader at GCP. Every student, parent, and teacher signs a “commitment to excellence” contract pledging to work harder, behave better, and think more than ever before to achieve their mission of success now, in college, and in life.

Cofounder Dolan is often asked for GCP’s secret. “We use everything we know to teach kids well. We spend more time in school, work harder, and are always thinking of ways to improve instruction,” he said.

Dolan also attributes the school’s success to the flexibility allowed charter schools. “It is important as a school leader to have the ability to control how money is spent, and to hire and fire,” he said. “Without strong leaders and an incredibly dedicated group of teachers, it would be difficult to make such an impact.” In his school, teachers are available nightly for advice via cell phones, parents commit to read to their children each evening, and students spend almost 70 percent more time in class receiving instruction than the average public school student.

Learning Outside the Classroom

Not all learning at GCP is confined to the classroom. “In order to raise our students’ expectations, we expose them to educational opportunities and experiences not found in our rural community,” said Tammi Sutton, GCP cofounder and teacher. Victoria and her classmates work to earn monthly field lessons throughout the state as well as a weeklong out-of-state field lesson at the end of the school year.

"Incentives like these not only educate students, but serve as powerful motivators for achievement. We refuse to allow poverty to limit our students' experiences and expectations," Sutton said.

During the summer, students have the opportunity to attend Science and Technology Camp as well as Drama Camp through relationships the school has developed with the Science, Engineering, Math, and Aeronautics Academy in Warrenton, NC, and the Lakeland Performing Arts Center in Littleton. Both organizations allow GCP students to attend their camps free. Because GCP depends primarily on federal and state grants and private sources for funding, partnerships with outside groups such as these bring enormous value to the school.

As a rising eighth-grader, Victoria does not like to imagine her plight had she not attended GCP. When she entered GCP as a fifth-grader in 2001, she described herself as a gossiper who liked to chase boys. Today, Victoria says she is brilliant, ambitious, and able to keep her head up through thick and thin. She credits her current outlook to the sense of pride and courage instilled in her by teachers such as Ms. Sutton, a cofounder of the school.

Victoria looks back on coming to GCP as a turning point in her life. She says, “My teachers expect nothing but the best of me. They are not looking for me to fail, only for me to do my best. When my home life was shattered, my teachers were there.” When asked what she sees for herself and her classmates after she finishes eighth grade next year, Victoria said, “I hope we are be able to continue as students at GCP High School. GCP has a major impact on our academics, our hearts, and our lives.”

Knowledge is Power Program’s Five Pillars

1. High Expectations. KIPP schools have clearly defined and measurable high expectations for academic achievement and conduct that make no excuses based on the background of students. Students, parents, teachers, and staff create and reinforce a culture of achievement and support through a range of formal and informal rewards and consequences for academic performance and behavior.

2. Choice & Commitment. Students, their parents, and the faculty of each KIPP school choose to participate in the program. No one is assigned or forced to attend these schools. Everyone must make and uphold a commitment to the school and to each other to put in the time and effort required to achieve success.

3. More Time. KIPP schools know that there are no shortcuts when it comes to success in academics and life. With an extended school day, week, and year, students have more time in the classroom to acquire the academic knowledge and skills that will prepare them for competitive high schools and colleges, as well as more opportunities to engage in diverse extracurricular experiences.

4. Power to Lead. The principals of KIPP schools are effective academic and organizational leaders who understand that great schools require great school leaders. They have control over their school budget and personnel. They are free to swiftly move dollars or make staffing changes, allowing them maximum effectiveness in helping students learn.

5. Focus on Results. KIPP schools relentlessly focus on high student performance on standardized tests and other objective measures. Just as there are no shortcuts, there are no excuses. Students are expected to achieve a level of academic performance that will enable them to succeed at the nation’s best high schools and colleges.

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