KIPP Polaris

As KIPP's first single-gender school, KIPP Polaris Academy for Boys opened in 2007 to serve the young men of Northeast Houston. Polaris now serves young men in the fifth through eighth grades. Polaris' students are 85% African-American, 15% Hispanic, and 88% low-income.

Daily Class Structure

Do Now: Students enter the classroom and complete an assignment designed to prepare their minds for the day's work.

Homework Review: Students can show where they still need help.

Skill of the Day/Essential Question/Exit Ticket: What is the overarching question that guides that day's lessons.

Class Work: This is often independent practice or an activity designed to differentiate skills for various levels of understanding.

Homework: Students receive homework daily during study hall.

Coursework

5th Grade

Reading: phonemic awareness and reading fluency (90 min. daily)

Writing: spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and narratives (45 min. daily)

Mathematics: number sense and operations (90 min. daily)

Social Science/Social Justice: geography, economics, US documents (45 min. daily)

Science: earth science and geology (45 min. daily)

Physical education: human physiology and games (135 min. weekly)

6th Grade

Reading: reading fluency and comprehension (90 min. daily)

Writing: writing conventions and narratives (45 min. daily)

Mathematics: operations, numbers, and parts (90 min. daily)

Social Science/Social Justice: world cultures and geography (45 min. daily)

Science: biology (45 min. daily)

Spanish: vocabulary or advanced readers (45 min. daily)

Physical education: human physiology and games (135 min. weekly)

7th Grade

Writing: composition and technical writing (90 min. daily)

Mathematics: pre-algebra (90 min. daily)

Social Science/Social Justice: Texas history (45 min. daily)

Science: biology and chemistry (45 min. daily)

Spanish: vocabulary and culture (45 min. daily)

Physical education: games and team sports (135 min. weekly)

8th Grade

Writing: expository composition (90 min. daily)

Mathematics: algebra and geometry (90 min. daily)

Social Science/Social Justice: US history (45 min. daily)

Science: chemistry and physics (45 min. daily)

Spanish: survival conversation (45 min. daily)

Mission

The young men who attend KIPP Polaris Academy for Boys will be equipped with the academic skills, social competencies, and character traits necessary to navigate life challenges, attend and complete the college of their choice, and return to become the leaders of their community.

Vision

The vision of KIPP Polaris Academy for Boys is that within fifteen years of its opening, an alumnus of the school will take leadership of the academy and, together with other emerging leaders from his class, reshape the northeastern region of Houston using a plan of their own design.

Values

Students are also expected to be positively contributing citizens within their communities. To that end, we have established a set of values that are reflected in the life of Frederick Douglass. These values guide the decisions that we make in the school, as we model how we would like our students to make decisions in their lives.

Unity

  • We work to create unity (togetherness and harmony) within our family, our school, and our community.
  • We seek peace.

Self-Determination

  • We work to define ourselves, to know who we were, who we are, and who we will become.
  • We determine for ourselves what we will be called and how we will be known.
  • We seek ourselves.

Collective Work and Responsibility

  • We work to make the problem of our brother a problem of our own.
  • If there is a problem, we look for a solution. If there is a better way, we find it.
  • We seek solutions.

Cooperative Economics

  • We work to make sure that there is enough for everyone.
  • If a teammate needs help, we give. If we need help, we ask.
  • We seek to share.

Purpose

  • We work with urgency and intent.
  • We understand that each one of us is here for a reason and that reason is to better ourselves and our community, and in doing so, leave a mark.
  • We seek our destiny.

Creativity

  • We work to leave the place where we are better than the way we found it.
  • We seek service.

Faith

  • We believe in ourselves, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and our community.
  • We believe in the good intent that they have for us and the hard work they do for us.
  • We believe it is the right work.
  • We believe we will win.
  • We seek the best in everyone.