Knowledge is Power Program.

KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) began in 1994 when two teachers, Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg, launched a fifth-grade public school program in inner-city Houston, Texas, after completing their commitment to Teach For America. While only half of the students passed their fourth-grade tests before enrolling in KIPP, that year more than 90 percent passed the Texas fifth-grade exams in English and mathematics.

In 1995, Feinberg remained in Houston to lead KIPP Academy Middle School, and Levin returned home to New York to establish KIPP Academy in the South Bronx. These two original KIPP Academies became the starting place for a growing network of schools that are transforming the lives of students in underserved communities, and redefining the notion of what is possible in public education.

Today, there are 99 KIPP schools serving over 26,000 students in 19 states and Washington, DC. KIPP schools are open to all students regardless of prior academic record, behavioral conduct, or socioeconomic background. Over 80 percent of KIPP students are from low-income communities, and more than 95 percent of KIPP students are African American or Latino.

The KIPP Foundation.

In 2000, Doris and Don Fisher, co-founders of Gap Inc., formed a partnership with KIPP founders Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin to replicate the success of the original KIPP Academies, establishing the non-profit KIPP Foundation to recruit and train outstanding school leaders to open KIPP schools across the country. More than 80 KIPP school leaders have benefited from the KIPP School Leadership Program, opening new KIPP schools and succeeding founding school leaders.

The KIPP Foundation provides support well beyond leadership development – it supports and monitors quality, aids effective sharing of best practices, and is responsible for managing the growth of the network. The Foundation has facilitated this growth through a range of customized services. Schools and regions benefit from support with real estate, legal issues, technology, finance, corporate governance, operations, communications, marketing, and development.

The KIPP Foundation does not manage KIPP schools. Each KIPP school is run by a KIPP-trained school leader and a board of directors.

To learn more about the KIPP national network of schools and the KIPP Foundation, please visit www.kipp.org.