A local charter high school, KIPP:GCP was recently named as one of America’s best high schools by Newsweek magazine. Staff and volunteers who work with the high school said KIPP:GCP earned the honor with hard work and dedication from the students, teachers and ancillary staff and through the support of the students’ parents.
Tammi Sutton, KIPP principal and co-founder, sent e-mails to alert all who have an interest in the school when she learned of the honor bestowed upon the school by Newsweek. An interview with Sutton provided an in-depth study of the formation and progress the school has made since its formation in early 2001.
Located on what was formerly a field of peanuts and soybeans just off Interstate-95 in Gaston, N.C., KIPP:GCP first opened its doors to students in 2001.
Technically, charter schools are public schools that receive a per-pupil allotment from their local school districts. They do not charge tuition, but do request a greater degree of parental involvement than most public schools. Charter schools do not receive funding for construction or buying a school building and are not allotted funds from the state lottery.
KIPP, which stands for Knowledge Is Power Program, emphasizes long school days, strict discipline and material rewards in the form of points for purchases from the student store and a year-end trip. Instituted by two teachers, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, in Houston, Texas. in 1944 the concept of KIPP in charter schools has spread across the United States.
In Gaston, Caleb Dolan and Tammi Sutton, Title I teachers in the Teach for America program who began teaching at the Gaston Middle School in Gaston in 1996, approached KIPP with plans to institute a charter school in the area. Sutton taught sixth and seventh grade English and history, and Dolan taught reading intervention to grades six, seven and eight.
Dolan and Sutton attended the Berkley Business School, Berkley, Calif., enrolled in summer training classes at the business school for KIPP under a Fisher Fellowship grant in 2001 to acquaint them with administrative and financial responsibilities of a charter school.
Contacting Caleb Dolan after reading about the possibility of a charter school in the area, Dr. Richard Stimson offered to serve as a volunteer in any capacity that would be of assistance to the two co-founders. Stimson became a member of the original board of directors, drew attention to the formation of the school to the area, recruited volunteers from the Lake Gaston area and offered tutoring in mathematics.
Since Dolan and Sutton, co-founders and co-principals, found from their own experiences that the fifth grade appeared to be the year when public school students began to require a little more incentive to focus their attention on studies, GCP classes began at the fifth-grade level. It was planned that additional grades would be added each year.
In 2009, the first senior class, students who had been pioneers of the new charter school, graduated. The entire class of 48 students were accepted at colleges of their choice. There are plans for a kindergarten and then classes will be added until the gap between classes is closed and KIPP:GCP will be a complete campus with kindergarten through twelfth grades.
When the fifth grade began their studies, it was with determination. College banners went up on the walls, reminding students what their goals were. Slogans appeared on the walls as well to encourage students to buckle down and study. “No Excuses,” “Work Hard” and “Study” became familiar mantras.
A school mascot, the Lion, was chosen for grades five through eight. Each student learned “A pride is a family of Lions that protects, plays and supports every family member. A Pride of Lions is never satisfied until all of the individual Lions are fed. A Pride is more powerful than any one lion alone can be. We are not satisfied until every student has the academic and social skills necessary for success. The strength of the pride is the lion, the strength of the lion is the pride.” Grades nine through twelve have chosen the Panther for their mascot.
The stated mission of KIPP:GCP is to empower all of its students with the skills, character and knowledge necessary to succeed in the college of their choice, strengthen their community and change the world.
Initially, three used school buses were purchased to transport students to and from school. Since the school receives no funds to purchase buses, the charter school purchased three little used buses and painted them blue to easily recognize them from other public school buses. Today achool has a fleet of yellow buses.
More buildings were added to the sturdy modular facility that served as the initial school building, and more activities became available as the years went by. In 2004, a music teacher was secured. Soccer, basketball and football were begun, but it was not until 2009 that the teams played competitively.
Hard work on the part of the teaching staff and the students resulted in the first and second graduating classes accumulating over $3.5million in scholarships. This year, the graduating class will have more than 75 students. Grades five through 12 now total 700 students and there are 70 teachers. There are just under 100 employees at KIPP:GCP, counting ancillary workers.
Students follow a dress code of khaki, navy or black pants, shorts or skirts. School shirts have KIPP emblems or a shirt with a college emblem may be worn. School days begin at 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and Fridays are from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., with teachers having professional development time. There are students who happily rise at 5 a.m. each school day to be transported to school. Most students come from Halifax, Northampton, Warren and Vance counties and the cities of Weldon and Roanoke Rapids.
Part of the graduation requirement for students at KIPP is that they must have actually been accepted to at least one four-year college. Most have several acceptances to their credit. In addition to the college acceptance, students must perform at least 60 hours of community service and have participated in at least one summer program during their time in high school. Summer programs could include a local internship or travel abroad, or they could have chosen to be at a college campus. Time varies according to the length of the program. Students do this through scholarships, grants or their own personal fundraising. At times the fundraising they do amounts to thousands of dollars, depending on the program chosen. Every grade visits at least two colleges visits throughout the year and in high school they may choose to visit more than two.
Summer vacation begins June 4th, with students returning to school August 16th.
“Our high school freshman actually start high school on a college campus, currently Elizabeth City State University. The whole idea began with the end in mind; that of being familiar with college life. They do that the last weekend in July, Sutton explained. “We always welcome volunteers to work with our students,” Sutton said. To volunteer, contact
For questions, go to the Web site; www.kippgaston.org.
“We have open enrollment, but if the amount of those interested in attending KIPP:GCP exceeds the numbers of openings at the school, then the school is required by state law to have a lottery,” Sutton explained.
Newsweek, each year, picks the best high schools in the country based on how hard school staffs work to challenge students with advanced placement college-level courses and test. Just over 1600 schools, only six per cent of all public schools in the U.S. make the list.
Reprinted with permission from the Lake Gaston Gazette-Observer
