Greetings!
Happy summer! Before everyone starts escaping the Texas heat, we'd like to fill you in on what's happening at KIPP. 
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Climbing the Mountain - Jill's Journal
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Last week marked the end of the 2010-11 school year. May was quite a busy month full of end-of-year exams, class field lessons across the state and country, college acceptance letters, hiring teachers for our new and growing schools, and working with the Texas legislature to support public education funding and charter school access to the Permanent School Fund for facilities. Whew! By far my proudest moment this year was at our annual Pennant Ceremony. You can read more about it below, but I just want to say that nothing is more inspiring for me than to watch the students who helped found our original middle school stand before the entire KIPP Austin community - now 1,000 students strong - and hold up the pennant for the college they plan to attend. They joined us in 5th grade when this goal felt so far away. And here they are at the top of the mountain. That is KIPP. And we will stay with them until they achieve the ultimate goal - a college degree and the opportunity it brings.  All of our students achieved milestones on their climb this year, and those that earned it, embarked on end-of-year field lessons to celebrate as well as discover. These class trips - which students work to earn throughout the year - are much more than they may seem on the surface. On these annual trips our students experience many firsts that help prepare them socially and emotionally for college. In addition to visiting college campuses, they visit historical landmarks, explore national parks or major cities, spend the night in a tent or hotel, and travel on a train or plane.
 This year, classes traveled around Texas, toured Southern states, visited Boston and New York, and hiked and camped in Arches National Park Utah. We know this vital KIPP enrichment program has a profound impact on our students' success and we are committed to continuing this program despite the state funding cuts.
While the final school finance plan remains a key issue in the recently-called Special Session, last month I announced our budget reduction measures to our teachers and staff. We made a 10 percent budget cut across the district in anticipation of a reduction in state funding close to that amount. We were able to keep all current positions although we have scaled back future staffing models. While the cuts are difficult, I know we are stronger having gone through this process. At KIPP we are always committed to a better way. And while "a better way" includes our firm belief that we cannot fundraise our way out of this new state funding reality, each day of this difficult legislative session I have thought about how grateful I am for all of our friends and supporters. We absolutely could not do it without you. Thank you for believing in us. Jill |
| KIPP Austin Healthy Living Kitchen Grand Opening | 
We recently celebrated the grand opening of the KIPP Austin Healthy Living Kitchen with a ribbon-cutting ceremony honoring St. David's Foundation. Our new commercial kitchen was fully equipped through a generous gift from St. David's Foundation. This new state-of-the-art facility enables us to serve more nutritious meals to our students and is the center of our wellness program. In addition to providing our students with two healthy meals a day, the kitchen will also be used for cooking classes for both parents and students.
Our Wellness Coordinator Melissa Laurel and a parent, Pat Rios, spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony about the impact of our wellness program.
 After the ceremony, St. David's Foundation staff and board members toured the facility with our Executive Chef Kirsten Eadie and ate lunch with some of our KIPPsters. Our students were quite excited about the visitors, including St. David's CEO Earl Maxwell and Senior Program Officer Dr. Roberto Rodriguez. "St. David's Foundation is committed to a more healthy community and is particularly interested in investing in projects that positively impact underserved communities. KIPP Austin has a proven track record of success and we are proud to partner with KIPP to improve the nutritional quality of their meals," said Maxwell. We are fortunate to have such a wonderful partnership with St. David's Foundation!
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Class of 2011 Pennant Ceremony: Proving What is Possible
|  Our second class of KIPPsters is heading to college! Recently, at our annual Pennant Ceremony, members of the Class of 2011 announced to the entire KIPP Austin community the college they plan to attend. This unique KIPP tradition brings KIPP students, alumni, teachers, parents and friends together to celebrate our college-bound KIPPsters and inspire those that will follow. At the ceremony, members of the Class of 2011 spoke about their journey to this moment and their future plans. There are no more powerful role models for our KIPPsters persevering every day to reach similar goals.  The Class of 2011 graduated from our original middle school before we had a high school. They have since worked with our KIPP Through College (KTC) team to continue their climb to and through college. Through the KTC program, our alumni have been assisted with high school coursework, SAT prep, college applications, the financial aid process, and summer internships. We are so proud of these students and know it is just the first of many great accomplishments to come! Our KTC team will continue to work with our alumni as they persist through college.
As of today, 81 percent of our Class of 2011 are on track to matriculate to college this fall. Our KTC team continues to work with those on waiting lists and those still securing much-needed financial aid. We will have a final matriculation number this fall.  See below for a full list of colleges the Class of 2011 has been accepted to:
Angelo State University, Austin College, Austin Community College, Baylor University, Concordia University, Cornell College, Grambling State University, Houston Baptist University, Huston-Tillotson University, University of the Incarnate Word, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, University of North Texas, Our Lady of the Lake, Prairie View A&M University, Sam Houston State University, Sewanee: The University of the South, Southwestern University, St. Edward's University, St. John's University - Manhattan Campus, St. Mary's University, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Texas State University, Texas Woman's University, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at San Antonio. |
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Sincerely,
KIPP Austin Public Schools |
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Donor Spotlight
Grant Thomas
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KIPP Austin relies on community support to further our mission of putting underserved students on the path to success in college and life. KIPP would not be what it is today without the support of founding board member Grant Thomas. Grant has been involved in education his whole life, and first got involved with KIPP Austin when Jill was opening our first school in 2002. Jill remembers being told that when she got to Austin, "you must call Grant Thomas." Grant says when he visited KIPP for the first time in the spring of '03 he was floored. "Student after student came over, shook my hand and welcomed me to the school. That just wasn't happening elsewhere. Then, I asked the students what the signs and posters all around us reading '2010' meant, and students quickly and unapologetically responded, 'That's the year we are going to college!' That sealed the deal for me. Right away I knew something special was going on."
Grant has not only served as a board member for eight years, and along with his wife Margot financially supported KIPP Austin, but he also established the Plan II/KIPP Partnership, a mentoring program that is changing the lives of our students. Briefly described, the partnership centers on students from the Plan II Honors Program at UT mentoring middle school KIPPsters at KACP. This only seemed natural, after all , as Grant started the original PAL (Peer Assistance and Leadership) Program in Austin in 1980, and over the next 14 years guided its growth into a model peer-mentoring program that is now being implemented by hundreds of school districts throughout Texas and beyond.
Launched in the fall of 2007, the Plan II/KIPP Partnership (P2K, for short) is envisioned by Plan II officials as the first step in a broader effort to build a model program for civic engagement and service among Plan II students. The basic idea behind P2K is simple: As KIPPsters take on the challenge of "climbing the mountain to college," Plan II students are familiar with the view from the 'mountaintop," and thus are uniquely well-suited to serve as mentors, role models, and inspirations to their younger mentees. And in the process, Plan II students become deeply immersed in issues related to educational opportunity and reform - thus it may be no accident that at least eight P2K/UT graduates are now Teach for America corps members. The program is now in its fourth year, and good many Plan II students have continued to serve as mentors, well after their enrollment in the year-long class has ended. Moreover, the program has inspired "spinoff" expansion efforts on other KIPP Austin campuses, engaging Plan II volunteers at KAL and KAC. The stories our teachers tell about the difference the mentoring relationships have made in our KIPPsters' lives are inspiring - as are stories from mentors and mentees. The students in the program have more confidence and do better in the classroom, because they have a true relationship with someone they look up to who is living their dream. They see that they can do it, too.
Grant says he is proud to be a part of KIPP Austin and a school network that is at the forefront of education reform. "KIPP Austin has allowed me channel my passions for education and peer mentoring relationships into the work of KIPP, and I don't doubt that there are lots of other folks in the community whose interests and talents can be similarly channeled into volunteer efforts that further the KIPP cause. So, I encourage others to get on the bus - there's plenty of room, and it's definitely going places!"
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