KIPP: Ascend Charter School

• KIPP Ascend Charter School is a tuition-free, college preparatory middle school serving children on the West Side of Chicago. Our mission is to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and character traits necessary to succeed in top-quality high schools, colleges, and the competitive world beyond. At KIPP Ascend, students “climb the mountain” to college.

• KIPP Ascend opened its doors in the summer of 2003, serving 83 5th grade students. Since its founding, KIPP Ascend has grown to serve 320 students, grades 5-8. The first eighth grade graduating class ranked first in ISAT math scores in the City of Chicago.

• Enrollment at KIPP is open to any student living within Chicago school district boundaries.

• 98% of students at KIPP Ascend are African-American and 2% are Hispanic.

• KIPP Ascend’s school year runs from August to mid-June. Students are in class from 7:25 AM to 5:00 PM Monday-Thursday, and 7:25 AM to 3:30 PM on Fridays. They also attend mandatory Saturday School sessions for four hours on alternating weekends throughout the year.

• KIPP teachers are available on their cell phones until 9 o’clock each night to answer students’ questions about their homework.

• KIPP Ascend receives per pupil funding from the district, as well as some state and federal funding. These funds are supplemented by private fundraising to support programs such as Saturday School, the school-wide orchestra, extended day activities, local and out-of-state field lessons, and a developing high school placement program (called “KIPP to College”).

• KIPP Ascend is one of 57 KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools nationwide. KIPP was started in Houston, TX in 1994 by two Teach for America alumni, Mike Feinberg and David Levin. In 1995, Levin founded KIPP Academy New York in the South Bronx. KIPP has grown to a national network of public schools in 15 states and the District of Columbia. KIPP schools have been widely recognized for narrowing the achievement gap in public education, and putting underserved students on the path to college. 90 percent of KIPP alumni who were high school seniors this year earned acceptances to college. For more information on the national organization, please visit www.kipp.org.