Knowledge Is Power in two N.O. schools
3) A great article about the two KIPPs in New Orleans.
With unorthodox methods and almost cultlike terminology -- "sparking," for example, means sitting up straight and paying attention -- two KIPP charter schools have quickly developed a following of parents who say their children have leapt forward educationally under the schools' distinctive blend of rigor, structure and discipline. The nationally known KIPP has thrived here, producing results with impoverished students by marshaling the administrative freedom allowed by charter school laws.
The organization plans to open three more schools in New Orleans in the coming years. KIPP's methods leave nothing to chance. School leaders pay meticulous attention to every moment of the school day, tightly scripting students' activities from the opening bell to end-of-the-day tutoring sessions required of most students. Teachers carefully control everything from the way they walk to class to the way they greet visitors to how much they talk during lunch.
Yet somehow it comes across as orderliness rather than rigidity. Strict standards are infused with warmth and common sense that keep KIPP schools from feeling like military academies.
Parents, often initially skeptical of KIPP's nearly 10-hour school days, heavy homework load and required Saturday sessions, have quickly joined the ranks of the devoted.
"The change has been remarkable," said Katrina Green, whose son Troy attends fifth grade at the KIPP Believe school sharing the McNair Elementary building on Carrollton Avenue with a separate charter, the Priestley School of Architecture and Construction. "After the first day, he came home excited and loved it. When Troy was at Lafon Elementary he was making D's and F's, and he had an F for behavior. Now, at KIPP, my child's making all A's and B's."
Knowledge Is Power in two N.O. schools
The hanging paper lanterns cast a warm glow over teacher Adam Meinig's classroom on a recent morning as students crowded onto three couches or lounged on the floor, copies of a Beverly Cleary novel in hand.
posted by Whitney Tilson at 2:24 PM
<< Home