History

About KIPP STAR

In July 2003, a founding team of seven staff members opened KIPP STAR College Prep Charter School in Harlem, serving 90 fifth graders. Since July 2006, KIPP STAR has been at capacity, serving students in grades five through eight.

KIPP STAR is led by Principal Amber Williams, who was a founding teacher of the school. Through the generosity of Chancellor Joel Klein and the New York City Department of Education, KIPP STAR operates in a newly renovated public school space.

The KIPP to College alumni support program assists KIPP STAR students in the high school admissions process and provides alumni with academic and personal support.

KIPP STAR is part of the KIPP NYC family, including four public middle schools (KIPP Academy, KIPP STAR, KIPP AMP, and KIPP Infinity), KIPP to College, the Shared Services Team providing development, operations, finance, and technology support to all schools and programs, and new initiatives including planning for the opening of KIPP NYC elementary and high schools.

About KIPP

KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) began in 1994 when Teach For America alumni Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg piloted a fifth grade public school program in inner-city Houston. In 1995, Levin moved to New York to found KIPP Academy in the South Bronx, while Feinberg founded KIPP Academy, Houston. Both schools grew to serve students in grades five through eight.

From the beginning, KIPP was committed to the philosophy that there are no shortcuts to success and happiness in life. We promised to do whatever it took to help our students succeed, and we maintained an unrelenting focus on results. We offered an extended day and an extended year, and we asked students and teachers to "Be nice" and "Work hard."

In the spring of 2000, Don and Doris Fisher, co-founders of the Gap, Inc., made it possible for KIPP to replicate its success nationwide by funding the creation of the KIPP Foundation to recruit, train, and support educators of talent and dedication as they found and run new KIPP schools in high-need communities across the country. There are currently 66 KIPP schools serving a total of 16,000 students. Click here to see where we are.

All KIPP schools are open-enrollment public schools. Admission is determined by lottery, regardless of prior academic record, conduct, or socio-economic background.