KIPP Schools - Houston, TX
KIPP Schools - Houston, TX
KIPP Schools - Houston, TX

Quality,

not quantity,

is our

measure.

Press Releases

 

February 13, 2012

Art and writing entries from talented teens throughout Harris County are being showcased at receptions and venues as Harris County Department of Education announces the regional winners of The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards 2012.

 

Fourteen school districts, four charter schools and 15 private schools earn Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in Gold Key, Silver Key and honorable mention art and writing categories.  A total of 1,073 Gold Key, Silver Key and honorable mention recipients are being honored throughout the county from approximately 3,000 entries.  A total of 260 Gold Key art and writing awardees advance to represent Harris County in the national competition in New York City.

Houston, TX

Holiday event includes additional donation of $10,000 to support KIPP Houston and YES Prep Public Schools from AT&T

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 and Houston’s underserved children. 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, Co-founder of KIPP. “Our schools will use the generous monetary donation from AT&T to help pay for KIPPsters to take college preparation exams so we can make sure they are set up for success and pick the best fit for college.”

December 6, 2011

Chicago – To support its goal of preparing more students for success in college and career, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is proud to announce more than $40 million in competitive funding for cities that have signed Charter-District Collaboration Compacts.

The Compacts, first announced in December 2010, are signed by leaders from district schools, charter schools and local communities who pledge to share best practices, innovations and resources among charters and districts. This strategic collaboration is designed to prepare more students for college by working collaboratively on areas like teacher effectiveness, college-ready tools and supports, innovative instructional delivery systems and school models, and improved student-level data use.

The funds announced today are a mix of competitive grant dollars for Compact cities to scale their existing work, and Program-Related Investment dollars to support facilities investments in the highest performing schools.

December 6, 2011

District-Charter Collaboration Compact Supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Education leaders in Spring Branch (Houston, TX) are proud to announce a new, three-way collaboration between Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD), and two public charter school organizations, KIPP Houston (KIPP) and YES Prep Public Schools (YES Prep).

On Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation congratulated the newly formed SKY Partnership (SBISD, KIPP, and YES Prep) and welcomed them as the newest members of the District-Charter Collaboration Compact cities.

Spring Branch joins Chicago, which also announced its Compact today, and 12 additional public school systems – Baltimore, Denver, Hartford, Conn., Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Tenn., New Orleans, New York City, Rochester, N.Y., Sacramento, Calif., Central Falls, R.I., and Boston – that have signed compacts in the past year.

SBISD enrolls about 33,000 students who live in Houston’s west side neighborhoods. The District-Charter Collaboration Compact is part of an ongoing commitment and dialogue between traditional public schools and charter schools to work together to share their best practices and provide all children in their communities with a public school education that prepares them with the skills and knowledge to succeed in college and the workforce.

November 15, 2011

A new partnership between the University of Houston (UH), KIPP Houston and the KIPP Foundation, signed late last month, will provide support to KIPP alumni who attend the University of Houston. The initiative aims to address challenges faced by first-generation college students from low-income families, thereby promoting strategies to increase college completion rates among these students.
The new partnership is part of an increased emphasis on college completion for UH and its companion schools in the University of Houston system. UH System chancellor and UH president Renu Khator has designated improving college completion rates as a “no excuse” priority.

November 15, 2011

The athletic fields in the KIPP Houston North and Southwest campuses will undergo a $1 million upgrade this Fall courtesy of a gift from the Kinder Foundation. The upgrade will create more green and play space and bring the fields up to the University Interscholastic League (UIL)-sanctioned specifications, allowing the schools to host official middle and high school athletic contests for both boys and girls. Beyond laying sod and new irrigation, the fields will also finally have a scoreboard, bleachers, and lights. With the looming time change, field lights mean that students are able to practice and compete after 5:45 p.m., which is critical for a school that ends the school day at 5:00 p.m.

November 15, 2011

KIPP Houston and the Zina Garrison Academy announced today a partnership to construct a tennis and educational complex at KIPP Houston’s Sunnyside Campus on Scott Street in Houston, TX. The Zina Garrison Academy has a history of success and growth with its after school, summer tutoring, life skills, community service and tennis programs. The KIPP partnership will allow the Academy to reach more underserved youth with an emphasis on the Sunnyside neighborhood, close to where Zina Garrison grew up and honed her tennis and life skills with Coach John Wilkerson at MacGregor Park.

October 20, 2011

Galveston, Texas, October 20, 2011 - KIPP Coastal Village received a grant from The Del Papa Distributing Community Fund to support an on-site art program for their second, third, fifth and sixth grades. The Fund regularly supports educational organizations throughout their seventeen county distribution area. This grant will fund art supplies and an artist stipend. Local artist Carolyn Vieau will conduct a variety of art classes including recycled projects, kinetic art, two-dimensional and three-dimensional exploration.

October 19, 2011

Houston, Texas, October 19, 2011 — KIPP Houston High School was recently awarded a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant in the amount of $8,000 to create TOX AWAY, a paint that absorbs various forms of pollution.  KIPP Houston High School is one of 16 teams nationwide to be selected as an InvenTeam this year.

InvenTeams are teams of high school students, teachers, and mentors that receive grants up to $10,000 each to invent technological solutions to real-world problems. Entering its ninth year, this initiative of the Lemelson-MIT Program aims to inspire a new generation of inventors.

Houston, TX – September 13, 2011

Last year two baby boomer women – a stay-at-home Sugar Land, Texas mom (“Red”) and a retired corporate executive who races Ferraris and Porsches (“Black”) – developed and taught a pilot financial literacy program at KIPP Houston High School based on their book, ‘What I Learned About Life When My Husband Got Fired!’  This year they test drove ‘The Book Club Approach To Personal Financial Literacy & Life 101’, the companion guide which initially was created as part of the submission process which led to their book being approved as a Personal Financial Literacy (“PFL”) textbook by the (Texas) State Board of Education.