KIPP King in San Lorenzo graduated its first high school class

KIPP King in San Lorenzo graduated its first high school class this month – a local ABC affiliate covered it: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/education&id=8188664 (2 min).  Here's the transcript:

A chain of charter schools in the Bay Area will hold its first-ever high school graduation this Saturday. It's called KIPP, which stands for the Knowledge Is Power Program. It is a school on a mission to help students defy the odds.

Principal Jason Singer runs his school on the promise to parents that their kid will get to college. Now, he can say he's kept that promise.

Four years after it opened, KIPP King Collegiate High School in San Lorenzo is having its first graduation and every single graduate is headed to college.

…"They've gone from kind of these naive, really spirited, really spunky, young people from whom college really is just a word to really critically thinking, community-minded, passionate young adults," said Singer.

The students attend school eight hours a day, then they go home and read, so they can take part in the next day's discussions.

Teachers at KIPP King say it's no coincidence their students consistently defy the odds. They say it's because from the very beginning, they learn to think of education not just as something you do, but as a life decision.