Anonymous wrote:KIPP is a cult.
This is over the top but I'll share my experience. My husband and I looked into the school in August of 2010 when we came back to DC and had almost no options available to us. My takeaway was that KIPP is a good school depending on what your needs are and what you're looking for.
There are some children who, because of their family situation, need the longer hours and aren't necessarily hurt by the drilling of basics because they aren't getting much reinforcement at home. I could be wrong, but I believe KIPPs model was created to address the needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged children. That's not to say that middle class children can not benefit from their program, but the longer hours, mandatory Saturday school, and preaching of parenting techniques can seem a little "much" for those who are highly educated, work with their kids at home and expose them to cultural activities on a regular basis. That being said, they gave me the number of a KIPP parent who I did call and speak with. She was solidly middle class and happy with the school.
However, when we took a tour of KIPP GROW with the administration, they were just a little too condescending for my taste. She talked as though my child needed "saving." (As an AA I've learned to take these assumptions in stride

). In their defense, it could have been this one administrator and she could have been having a bad day. In the end, it just wasn't a good fit for our family.