Inside a Total Compliance KIPP Chain Gang In Missisippi Without Air Conditioning
If this sounds like hell, it is--with or without air conditioning. Why is KIPP held up as the urban education solution? Because no parent in the suburbs would allow such treatment of their children:
by Janessa Jordan
For the past three days, I (and my other 26 classmates) have been an active fly on the wall at the KIPP DIAMOND Academy new student orientation. All of the KIPP students attend school for two weeks in the summer, and the new KIPPsters, ranging from grade 5-8, have two extra days of orientation before the returners start summer school. On our first day of KIPP orientation, the air conditioning was broken, so 200 students, roughly 50 adults, and all of the admin staff was sitting in a hot, sticky, auditorium for four hours. KIPP focuses heavily on structure, community, and consistency. For the first two days, all of the new students were directed to sit on the floor, in