May 28, 2009

KIPP Phila. gets grant to expand

charter schools By Martha Woodall

Based on its successful track record, KIPP

Philadelphia has been awarded a $4.6 million grant

from a national investment fund to help reach its

goal of expanding to a network of 10 charter schools

in the city over the next decade.

Officials from KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program)

are scheduled to announce the award from the

Charter School Growth Fund

today.

William Schultz, spokesman for

the National Alliance for Public

Charter Schools in Washington,

called the award "the largest

private grant to expand charter

schools in Pennsylvania."

"We think we are uniquely

positioned to do some great things in Philadelphia,"

Marc Mannella, chief executive officer of KIPP

Philadelphia, said yesterday.

KIPP officials are talking with the Philadelphia

School District about playing a possible role in

Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's academic-reform

initiative, Imagine 2014. Her plan includes the

option of converting more troubled district schools

into charter schools with successful operators such as

KIPP.

"We look forward to working with KIPP to see how

its commitment to expanding in Philadelphia can be

aligned with our strategic plan's emphasis on

providing a range of quality school choices across

our city," Ackerman said in a statement about KIPP's

grant.

The first KIPP Philadelphia charter school opened in

North Philadelphia in 2003 and now enrolls 340

students in fifth through eighth grades.

The school's eighth graders scored higher than

district students on state tests in reading and math in

both 2007 and 2008. And all members of the school's

first graduating class in 2007 were accepted at

college-preparatory schools in Philadelphia and

elsewhere.

The KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter

School is scheduled to open this summer with 90

fifth graders in leased space at the district's former

Turner Middle School.

John Lock, CEO of the Charter

School Growth Fund, said fund

officials were impressed not

only by KIPP Philadelphia's

academic performance but also

by Mannella's detailed business

plans for opening more charter

schools in the city.

KIPP Philadelphia, Lock added, met the fund's

rigorous requirements and demonstrated that

Mannella and his team had the leadership skills and

the business acumen to successfully expand their

educational model.

"Marc and his team fit that bill perfectly," Lock said.

The money, which will be used to help cover

operating and administrative costs related to the

expansion, will be distributed over the next five

years.

Mannella said KIPP estimates that its expansion will

cost about $11 million and is seeking additional

financial support.

William Schultz, spokesman for the National Alliance for

Public Charter Schools, called the award ‘the largest private

grant to expand charter schools in Pennsylvania.’

The Charter School Growth Fund, which is based

outside Denver, was created in 2005 to help

successful charter school networks expand.

Several large national foundations contribute to fund,

including the Walton Family Foundation, the Bill

and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Don and Doris

Fisher Foundation, and the Eli and Edythe Broad

Foundation.

The grants awarded to expand charters have ranged

from $740,000 to $7.9 million. The average award

has been $2.9 million paid out over four to seven

years.

KIPP Philadelphia is the first charter school in

Pennsylvania selected for a grant from the fund.

TEAM Academy, a KIPP network in Newark, N.J.,

has received a $3 million grant to support its

expansion plans.

KIPP, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, has 66

charter schools in 19 states and the District of

Columbia.

It is among the best-known charter organizations in

the country. KIPP's successes preparing low-income

children for college have been detailed in magazine

and newspaper articles and on 60 Minutes.