KIPP Lynn gets $250G grant

LYNN – KIPP Academy Lynn on Friday learned that the Lynch Foundation has made a challenge grant of $250,000 to support its expansion in the city and construction of a new KIPP high school.”This generous gift has been a great boon to our capital campaign,” said Joshua Zoia, founder and executive director of KIPP Academy Lynn. Thanks to the Lynch Foundation, we can move forward in getting a new generation of KIPP Lynn students on the road to college.”The Lynch Foundation grant represents one of the largest donations to KIPP Academy Lynn’s capital campaign.According to Zoia, the funds will go toward building a new public charter middle- and high-school campus on High Rock Street in the city’s Highlands neighborhood, set to open in fall 2012.The high school enrollment will be done in phases, the first class comprised of only freshmen. When those students become sophomores, a new class of freshmen will enter. The process will continue until grades 9-12 are in operation in 2016.The 68,000-square-foot campus will serve 850 students in grades 5-12 when it reaches full capacity, as compared to its current enrollment of 375 students in grades 5-8.With an environmentally friendly design focus, the new campus will include science and computer labs, athletic facilities and private breakout rooms, Zoia said.”The Lynch Foundation is proud to support KIPP Lynn in this endeavor,” said Carolyn A. Lynch, president and chairman of the foundation. “We are committed to supporting innovation and strong leadership in public urban education in the state of Massachusetts and KIPP Lynn sets a great example.”The nation’s public urban education crisis in America has been thrust into the spotlight with the upcoming release of Davis Guggenheim’s documentary, “Waiting for Superman,” in which KIPP schools across the country are featured as part of a promising solution. Guggenheim explores innovative approaches taken by education reformers like KIPP and how they have been reshaping culture.”Our kids can and do achieve,” said Zoia. “They are living proof that what works is simply hard work and high expectations. Our expansion is a critical step to ensuring we fulfill our commitment to our kids that they will successfully climb the mountain to and through college.”Nationally, among students in under-resourced communities such as Lynn, only 66 percent will graduate from high school and just 22 percent of freshmen will attend college, said Zoia, noting that KIPP increases the high school graduation rate to more than 90 percent and the college attendance rate to 85 percent.The KIPP organization is part of a national network of 99 schools located in 20 states and the District of Columbia, serving approximately 26,000 students. More than 87 percent of KIPP students in Lynn live at or below the poverty line and more than 80 percent are African American or Latino, Zoia saidEarlier this month, KIPP administrators in Lynn received news that part of a $10 million federal grant to the KIPP Foundation will help pay for operating the Lynn middle- and high-school complex.KIPP Foundation CEO Richard Barth called the federal grant a vote of confidence.