KIPP Austin is proud to announce a new partnership with an extraordinary community organization, Uplift Austin.  Uplift Austin is an innovative, multi-disciplinary program offered as a daytime course in Austin high schools. They work to match teams of design professionals and college students representing the fields of landscape design, interior design, green building and public art with a high school committed to improving its campus. These dedicated professionals will introduce students to sustainable design while completing colorful and environmentally friendly renovations to the school. 

Uplift Austin will be working closely with our high school, KIPP Austin Collegiate, and will teach four different classes throughout the school day. Students who participate will graduate from the program with a high school credit, a sustainable design certificate or completion and the opportunity to take an internship in a design field. What a great opportunity for our students to learn more about environmental design and make a different in their campus! 

KIPP Austin Collegiate students (pictured above) also recently participated in, Hello Birdie, an Uplift fundraising event where they shared with the audience their experiences in the UpLift program, and their excitement to implement student led projects that will make their high school a greener and healthier campus.  Attendees at the event were impressed by the insight these students had to the environmental issues of today, and were excited to hear the solutions they are creating to solve them.

If you are interested in getting involved with this program at KIPP Austin, please contact Uplift Austin for more information. They are looking for community members to work hands-on with the students to create transformational campus projects, as well as needs related to the projects, such as materials acquisition, community volunteer day coordination and/or participation.

KIPP Austin College Prep's first-ever robotics team entered their first competition this past Saturday, and while they may not have won any awards, their tenacity and positive attitudes have set them up for success in the future. The team, consisting of 8th students, spent many hours preparing their robot for the Capital B.E.S.T. (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) competition.  The event was held at Westlake High School where almost all of the other competitors were high school teams that had been a part of the event for many years. The KIPP Austin team faced many challenged as their robot's wheels would not stay on the axles, making it impossible for them to move around the field.  But the KIPPsters did not give up - after each of the eight rounds they continued to work tirelessly to improve their robot for the next round. 

The students were lead by 8th grade science teacher, Eddie Rice, who says the real success of building the robot came in the six weeks leading up to the event. He says students went through the design process of understanding the problem, brainstorming, creating models, and then constructing the robot.  Words like friction, tension, pressure, and torque were the norm.  Many learned how to use a screwdriver or a hand-saw for the first time, in addition to learning how to connect batteries and wires to a mini-computer. We are very proud of our robotics team and know they will be back to compete again!

MSNBC

KIPP Austin Collegiate, our brand-new high school, was featured in September on MSNBC as part of a special hosted by Bill Cosby titled "About Our Children".  The piece was a live town hall meeting at Howard University focusing on the issues of education, parenting, and health care in America today. 

 

About Us

Make a Donation

Teach at or Lead a KIPP Austin School

Information about Registering a Student

Find us on Facebook