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SANTA SURPRISES STUDENTS WITH 20 SAMSUNG GALAXY 8.9 TABLETS

Pitchengine.com December 15, 2011

AT&T* surprised 20 high school seniors today from KIPP Houston and YES Prep Public Schools with gifts from a special “Secret Santa.” The students participated in a school ceremony where AT&T enhanced its investment in education by donating $5,000 to each school’s college preparation program for a combined gift of $10,000 to the schools.

However, it was Santa who was keeping a big holiday secret from the student participants. He surprised each of the 20 students with their very own Samsung Galaxy 8.9 Tablet at the KIPP Houston High School campus.

“These gifts reflect AT&T’s ongoing support of education in Houston. The computer tablets were a thrill for our surprised seniors who have been working around-the-clock to prepare for finals and completing college applications,” said Mike Feinberg, founder of KIPP. “Our schools will use the generous monetary donation from AT&T to help pay for KIPP students to take college preparation exams so we can make sure they are ready for success in college.

KIPP enlists UH in graduation program

Chron.com November 15,2011

Hoping to boost college graduation rates, the KIPP charter school chain will partner with 10 universities across the country next year to increase support for low-income students.

The first partner is in Houston, the birthplace of the Knowledge is Power Program. The local partner is theUniversity of Houston.

"Kudos to the University of Houston for stepping up first," KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg said. "Not only are they acknowledging that they want to be part of the solution, they're also acknowledging that there's a problem. Just acknowledging that there's a problem is half the battle."

KIPP started in 1994 to better prepare low-income, minority students for college. The model expanded rapidly as a public charter school system and now has 27,000 students in prekindergarten through high school nationwide.

KIPP Charter Network Receives $25.5 Million From Walton Family Foundation

Education Week November 15, 2011

The Walton Family Foundation is announcing its plans today to donate $25.5 million to the Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP, charter network.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based foundation, created by Wal-Mart founders Sam and Helen Walton, has been a longtime supporter of KIPP schools. But this award is the foundation's largest gift to KIPP so far. It's intended to provide support to help double the number of students attending KIPP schools by 2015, raising the number of children enrolled from 32,000 this year to 59,000.

In a press release announcing the award, Jim Blew, who leads Walton's K-12 education efforts, said the foundation is concentrating resources on KIPP because it "has an established track record of creating public schools of excellence in low-income communities, and there is growing evidence that traditional public school systems are striving to replicate KIPP's successes."

Houston teacher deemed one of the most powerful educators

Houston Business Journal November 3, 2011

Harriett Ball, a Houston teacher and mentor, was posthumously selected as one of the World’s 7 Most Powerful Educators by Wendy Kopp, CEO and founder of Teach for America. Kopp’s list was published in Forbes’ latest issue.

Ball, who passed away this February, taught at Houston ISD and served as a mentor to the founders of the KIPP public charter schools, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin.

Rice University's Mighty Mite

myfoxhouston.com October 21, 2011

HOUSTON - Rice running back Jayson Carter, who said he's 4-9, 130 pounds, just might be the smallest player to ever suit up for Rice.

Certainly he's one of the smallest players ever in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

And while Carter, who walked on to the Rice football team this week, is vertically challenged, he said he bases everything on the size of his heart.

"If they ever come up with a device that measures the heart and put it on top of my head, they'll see I'm 6-9," said Carter in an interview with FOX 26 Sports.

Carter, who played high school football at Kipp in Houston, does not consider his size as a disadvantage.

KIPP gives first ‘State of the Schools’

Chron.com October 13, 2011

KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg delivered his first-ever “State of the Schools” address today — 17 years after KIPP was born in a Houston classroom crowded with 48 students.

Today, the school system has 7,800 students across the city and consistently outperforms other predominantly low-income campuses, with some KIPP schools rating among top in the nation. While skeptics say KIPP achieves those results by enrolling the best students and by returning lower-performing kids back to traditional schools, Feinberg noted Thursday that KIPP’s overall attrition rate over the course of last school yeas was just 9 percent, much lower than its urban counterparts. (Still, he said he’d like to see the rate drop to about 5 percent.)

Teens Get Lesson in Financial Literacy

Fox News Houston September 26, 2011

HOUSTON - Learning to properly handle personal finances can be a tough lesson for a lot of us, and teenagers don’t often get a lot of help in the classroom.

But a couple of unlikely teachers are helping KIPP Houston High School seniors by sharing their personal story.

Sisters Nina Pennington and Mandy Williams wrote their book, “What I Learned about Life When My Husband got Fired” three years ago.

KIPP decided its non-traditional approach to education was the perfect venue for the sisters to share their story and help kids make smart financial decisions.

Now, the book is required reading before graduation.

KIPP students reading 1 million words

Defender Neworks.com September 19, 2011

KIPP Spirit Middle School, located in Sunnyside, is kicking off its second annual Million Word Challenge with a goal of having all students collectively read 1 million words over the course of the 2011-2012 school year.

Mike Feinberg, the co-creator of KIPP, is excited for the students.

“The is the second year that the schools has taken on this Million Word Challenge, which means each student has to read a book a week,” said Feinberg. “But they successfully did it last year, and they are fired up for this year.”

A School District Mimics Charters, Hoping Success Will Follow

New York Times on September 6, 2011

HOUSTON — Classrooms are festooned with college pennants. Hallway placards proclaim: “No Excuses!” Students win prizes for attendance. They start classes earlier and end later than their neighbors; some return to school on Saturdays. And they get to pore over math problems one-on-one with newly hired tutors, many of them former accountants and engineers. If these new mores at Lee High School, long one of Houston’s most troubled campuses, make it seem like one of those intense charter schools, that is no accident.

15 teachers honored for inspiring students

Houston Chronicle on August 28, 2011

KIPP Academy alum Joana Cisneros still remembers her first day in 11th-grade chemistry.

"I remember being bombarded with 'what does electro-negativity mean.' I remember thinking 'What is this?,'" the current college junior told an audience of close to 1,000 Saturday night. "I wanted to change classes right that second, but my teacher at the time pulled to the side and said, 'No Joana, you cannot change classes. You will do great. I have faith in you."