Charter Schools Are Public Schools: This KIPP School Is Proving That Charters Provide What Parents Want (Application Deadline Jan. 29th)

27Jan
by Monica Luna Gonzalez

Many are interested in charter schools but what distinguishes them? Do they provide what parents want? My cousin Melissa Albarenga, has an interesting perspective on one of them. She is the office manager at KIPP Comienza Community Prep. in Huntington Park and has become a true believer. Of course she’s biased now, but in the process of finding her job after graduating from University of California at Santa Barbara, she applied to many places and had a great feeling about this one and now two years later has seen first hand what positively distinguishes this school. The school’s mission is to provide a well rounded education by embedding strong values, giving their students a sense of community, providing academic skills, and guiding their students to attend and complete college. The information that follows will help give you a better insight to the uniqueness of charter schools, KIPP Comienza in particular.    

Embedding strong values is key, KIPP Comienza has a special set of core values which are found in their handbook that are unique to their school. But what do these values mean to the kids?

  • Courage: The ability to name, face, and overcome fears.
  • Ganas: The desire to approach situations and challenges with grit and zest.
  • Honor: The dedication to respect and love our community and each other.
  • Reflection: The examination of our self, our community, and our world.

Students are learning to talk problems out, respect people, begin things independently, and persistence. KIPP Comienza is paving the way so these young kids can be responsible and contributing citizens one day.

Giving the kids a sense of community is important. What they do is, take local field trips, plant trees at local parks, participate in extracurricular activities like music and art, and visit colleges. This allows the kids to feel like they are getting involved, feel pride, and the desire to help their community.

Academically, the students are succeeding. Their test scores on the same standardized tests that other LAUSD schools are taking are higher.  Their academic performance is in the 900 range, on a scale from 200-1000.  What is the cause of these results? While sticking close to guidelines, teachers have the flexibility to adapt and change curriculum based on the student’s needs.

KIPP Comienza has class sizes of 23-30 students.  In addition, they prioritize teaching math and reading in small groups in all grade levels to ensure that all students are learning at their individual level.  If a student needs extra support a teacher will work with that student before or after school. Melissa said the following about the teachers that work at KIPP Comienza:  “They truly care and are here to help our kids, they get paid salary and work well beyond their hours. They do whatever it takes to help students thrive.”


They offer guidance all the way to and through college. Their program, KIPP through College offers continued support to their alumni. For those students who continue to a KIPP middle school and graduate from 8th grade, the program will follow them through high school, offer assistance in applying to colleges, offer support with the college enrollment process, and once that person is in college, a KIPP advisor is assigned to them for any support they might need towards college graduation.
It’s clear that there is a uniqueness to KIPP Comienza Community Prep. that is helping them thrive. The school’s commitment to provide each student with a great education by teaching them values and giving them purpose is delivering results for them. With support from dedicated teachers,student’s commitment to learn,and so much more the students are creating a strong foundation that will be hard to pull away from. If you would like more information on this school you can visit their website at kippcomienza.org. Applications are due January 29th.

 

En Español 

Escuelas Charter Son Escuelas Publicas: Esta Escuela KIPP Comprueba Que Charters Proveen Lo Que Padres Quieren (Aplicación 29 de enero) 

Muchos están interesados en las escuelas Chárter, pero que es lo que realmente las distingue? Mi prima Melissa Albarenga, tiene una perspectiva interesante sobre de ellas. Ella es la gerente de la oficina en la escuela KIPP Comienza Community Prep. en Huntington Park y se ha convertido en una verdadera creyente en escuelas Chárter. Por supuesto que ahora es segada, pero en el proceso de encontrar su puesto de trabajo después de graduarse de la Universidad de Santa Bárbara, aplicó a muchos lugares y tenía una gran sensación sobre ésta escuela y de primera mano ahora dos años después ha visto lo que distingue positivamente esta escuela. La misión de la escuela es proporcionar una educación completa, mediante la incorporación de valores de importancia, dando a sus estudiantes un sentido de comunidad, proporcionando habilidades académicas, y guiar a sus estudiantes a asistir a la universidad y terminar. La información que sigue ayudará a darle una mejor comprensión de la singularidad de las escuelas charter, KIPP Comienza Community Prep. en particular.    

Incorporación de valores fuertes es la clave, KIPP Comienza tiene un conjunto especial de valores fundamentales que se encuentran en su manual que son únicos a su escuela . Pero, ¿qué significan estos valores a los niños

  • Valor: La capacidad de nombrar, dar la cara y superar los miedos.
  • Ganas: El deseo de acercarse a situaciones y desafíos con mente positiva y la ralladura.
  • Honor: La dedicación a respetar y amar a nuestra comunidad y entre sí .
  • Reflexión: El examen en sí mismo, nuestra comunidad y nuestro mundo.

Los estudiantes están aprendiendo a hablar problemas cabo, respetar a las personas, comenzarán las cosas de manera independiente, y la persistencia. KIPP Comienza está allanando el camino por lo que estos niños pequeños pueden ser responsables y ciudadanos contribuyentes un día.

Dar a los niños un sentido de comunidad es importante. Lo que hacen es, tomar excursiones locales, plantar árboles en los parques locales, participar en actividades extracurriculares como la música y el arte, y visitar a colegios. Esto permite que los niños sientan que se están involucrando, sienten orgullo y el deseo de ayudar a su comunidad.

Académicamente, los estudiantes están teniendo éxito. Sus resultados de las pruebas en las mismas pruebas estandarizadas que otras escuelas del LAUSD están tomando son más altos. Su rendimiento académico está en el rango de 900, en una escala de 200-1000. ¿Cuál es la causa de estos resultados? Mientras pegándose a las directrices, los maestros tienen la flexibilidad para adaptarse y cambiar currículo basado en las necesidades del estudiante.

KIPP Comienza tiene clases de tamaño de 23-30 estudiantes. Además, ellos priorizan la enseñanza de las matemáticas y la lectura en pequeños grupos en todos los niveles de grado para asegurar que todos los estudiantes están aprendiendo en su nivel individual. Si un estudiante necesita apoyo adicional profesor trabajará con el estudiante antes o después de la escuela. Melissa dijo lo siguiente acerca de los maestros que trabajan en KIPP Comienza: “.. Ellos realmente se preocupan y están aquí para ayudar a nuestros hijos, que se les paga el sueldo y trabajo mucho más allá de sus horas Hacen todo lo posible para ayudar a los estudiantes prosperan”


Ellos ofrecen una guía todo el camino hacia ya través de la universidad. Su programa, KIPP través College ofrece apoyo continuo a sus ex alumnos. Para aquellos estudiantes que siguen una escuela media KIPP y graduarse de octavo grado, el programa va a seguir a través de la escuela secundaria, ofrecer asistencia en la aplicación a las universidades, ofrecer apoyo con el proceso de inscripción en la universidad, y una vez que la persona está en la universidad, una escuela KIPP consejero es asignado a ellos para cualquier ayuda que puedan necesitar para la graduación de la universidad.

Está claro que hay una singularidad a KIPP Comienza Community Prep. que está ayudando a prosperar. El compromiso de la escuela para proporcionar a cada estudiante con una gran educación, enseñándoles valores y darles finalidad es la obtención de resultados para ellos. Con el apoyo de maestros dedicados, el compromiso del estudiante para aprender, y mucho más los estudiantes están creando una base sólida que será difícil alejarse de. Si desea más información sobre esta escuela se puede visitar su sitio web en kippcomienza.org Las aplicaciones deben presentarse 29 de enero.

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Monica Luna Gonzalez

Monica Luna Gonzalez is a certified Life Coach who works with parents by helping them learn to utilize their amazing parenting skills. She began this line of work after working solely with children for over two years and learning of a disconnect between a lot of the child-parent relationships. She is a mom of two children. Her oldest is a freshman in college and her youngest is shopping for preschools. She was a teen mom who graduated from Bell High School, despite the challenges that came from being a teen mom. She wishes she would have been prepared for college right after high school, which is why she wants to help others improve their children's chances for a better education. She is a non-traditional college student as she returned to college 18 years after graduating from high school.

One thought on “Charter Schools Are Public Schools: This KIPP School Is Proving That Charters Provide What Parents Want (Application Deadline Jan. 29th)”

  1. Michelle Cuevas

    Good Morning. I am currently a mother of a KIPP Student. And definitely agree with this article. My son struggles with ADHD and developed behavioral issues.. We struggled w/ this for a few years and I felt LAUSD kinda giving up on my son. He eventually was transferred into a private school that takes kids with learning disabilities and behavioral issues. I was determined to get him out, as the school in my opinion did not provide the positive examples my son needed to motivate him to do better. Today my son is a straight A student w/ Zero behavior issues and enjoys all the classes and extra curricular activities KIPP offers. This defenitly motivates him to be top in his classes and I couldn’t be more proud. KIPP school helped my son turn into a motivated student I always wanted him to be.

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