FAQs

• KIPP Baltimore

  1. Does KIPP Baltimore attract the best students in the City, and is that why KIPP is so successful?

     At KIPP Baltimore, we go out of our way to recruit students of various skill levels and with families at various levels of engagement with education. All KIPP Baltimore employees knock on doors in the Park Heights community to meet with families and to educate them about the benefits of a KIPP education. By recruiting in this way, KIPP students come with a wide range of skills and behaviors, levels of motivation, and family engagement. On average, KIPP fifth graders enter the school performing at a second grade level.

  2. Since KIPP schools only go to the 8th grade, how can KIPP claim that there students will attend and complete college?

     In addition to the rigorous college-preparatory academic programs students receive at KIPP elementary and middle schools, KIPP continues to support its alumni through the KIPP to College Program. KIPP to College offers KIPP graduates in high school (and eventually college) ongoing academic support which includes, on-site tutoring, free SAT classes, individual advocacy, and assistance with all aspects of the college application process.

  3. If KIPP schools are public schools, why do they need to fund raise?

     KIPP schools in Baltimore only receive about 75% of their total operating budgets from public per pupil funding. This is because KIPP's program extends beyond the scope of public funding. Examples of these programs include KIPP to College; stipends for teachers for our extended days, weeks, and year; and yellow-bus transportation for all of our students.

  4. I have a child at Ujima. Does my 4-year-old automatically get into Harmony?

     No. Unfortunately, the schools are on separate charters, so we cannot legally allow siblings of Ujima students to by-pass the Harmony lottery.

• Ujima Village Academy

  1. Does KIPP Ujima accept students in grades other than 5th?

     Any parent of a student who is completing or has completed 5^th grade at another school and wants her/his child to attend KIPP Ujima’s 6^th grade must schedule a time for the child to take KIPP Ujima’s math diagnostic to determine whether the student has the skills necessary to succeed in KIPP Ujima’s 6^th-grade math classes.  If the student has those skills, then s/he must take the KIPP Ujima reading diagnostic.  If the student has the skills necessary to succeed in KIPP Ujima’s 6^th-grade math and reading classes, s/he will be accepted into KIPP Ujima’s 6^th grade after s/he has completed 5^th grade at her/his current or former school.  If s/he does not have the skills necessary to succeed in KIPP Ujima’s math or reading classes, s/he will be invited to enroll in the lottery (or the waiting list if the lottery has already been conducted) for KIPP Ujima’s 5^th grade if the parent is willing to have her/his child repeat the 5^th grade at KIPP Ujima.  It is worth noting that in the past many parents and students have chosen this option, with great success.  For instance, one student who completed 5^th grade at another school in 2003 but did not have the math skills to succeed in KIPP Ujima’s 6^th grade chose to repeat 5^th grade at KIPP Ujima.  Four years later, earned admission and more than $100,000 in scholarship aid at Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, which she still attends.

  2. I have two children who are entering the lottery. If one gets in, does the other automatically get in?

     Yes. We ask on the enrollment postcard whether your child has a sibling in the lottery. But please make sure you complete a separate postcard for each child you are entering into the lottery.

  3. If my child has a sibling at Ujima, does he/she need to go through the lottery?

     No! Complete a postcard, and write “sibling of current student” on it before turning it in.