Ben Cope of KIPP TEAM in Newark

A spot-on comment by Ben Cope of KIPP TEAM in Newark:

 

Whitney,

 

"chess programs, Shakepeare, philosophy, or physics in a KIPP school.  Not even chief hedge fund KIPPster propagandist, Whitney Tilson, would make up such an obvious lie.  The amount of argument, on anything, in a KIPP school or one of KIPP's knock-offs, is between negligible and none, and if Shakespeare or philosophy is ever mentioned, it is most likely on one of the thousands of worksheets these children fill out every year.  Has KIPP ever fielded a chess team or dance team?  Not even a mention on any of KIPP's websites, much less in a news article."

 

I normally think the best response to this sort of uninformed nonsense is no response at all, but for some reason this one really piqued my annoyance.  Maybe because it's so offensive to the thousands of hours each year our kids and teachers put into leading and participating in really excellent extracurricular activities. Here's a short video clip my colleague Thomas put together for our annual gala showcasing just a fraction of the groups you can find at our four schools in Newark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzhqfNcA_FI&hd=1

 

You can see some more of the amazing trips and extracurriculars our kids participate in here: http://www.facebook.com/teamschools as well.