KIPP ready to grow in Charlotte, state

KIPP,  a national charter chain that strives to prepare low-income and minority students for college, is poised to expand its presence in the Charlotte region and at UNC Chapel Hill.

The Knowledge Is Power Program,  founded in 1995 in Houston and New York City,  has 125 schools across the country,  including a Charlotte school that opened in 2007.  Tiffany Flowers,  co-founder of that school,  was recently named executive director of KIPP Charlotte as the chain prepares to launch more schools in the region.


"As a KIPP regional organization, KIPP Charlotte will be eligible to grow and add more schools, serving hundreds more students in underserved communities in the Charlotte area,"  Flowers wrote when the new position was announced.  Proposals for new KIPP schools, like all other new charters,  must go through the state charter screening process.

Meanwhile, UNC has partnered with the national organization to recruit and support five KIPP alumni each year, starting with 2013-14.  For now, the focus is on KIPP Gaston,  the state's first KIPP school  (it's in the town of Gaston,  near the Virginia border,  not nearby Gaston County).  The oldest "graduates" of KIPP Charlotte,  which serves grades 5-8,  are still in high school,  but KIPP Gaston has alumni who are moving into college each year  (KIPP Gaston has its own high school).

Officials from UNC Chapel Hill and KIPP Gaston say the partnership meets a goal of both organizations:  Helping students from underserved communities complete college.  Chapel Hill is pledging to "address the full financial need"  of accepted alumni,  help them find housing and match them with mentors and other support. UNC Chapel Hill already has 19 KIPP alumni enrolled,  with one who graduated last year.  Nationally,  KIPP has partnerships with 22 other universities,  but this is the first in North Carolina.

For the most recent academic results from all the KIPP schools,  check the recently-released 2012 report card.