At KIPP Academy , relationships between school staff and families begin with home visits . After students are accepted to the school but before the academic year begins , KIPP teachers travel in pairs to visit homes and work through a questionnaire about family strengths , struggles , and free time . Responses are shared with the rest of the KIPP team .
Teachers make it clear on the visits that KIPP staff care about each child as a person and will treat kids in their care the same way they ’ re treated at home . Discussion of parents ’ hopes and dreams , as well as concerns about school , help establish collaboration and trust . Expectations about homework are communicated , so parents know they ’ ll need to plan for 30-60 minutes each night , as well as a space to accommodate their child ’ s work .
Part of KIPP ’ s work can be repairing previous damage , said Laura Howarth , KIPP Academy ’ s School Leader . Like every school , some KIPP parents didn ’ t graduate from high school and may not have found education to be a positive experience .
“ We meet them where they ’ re most comfortable ,” said Ms . Howarth . “ I think our work is to make
sure their child has the most positive experience possible . Through that , many parents get a different mindset about what that experience can be like .”
In the first weeks of each school year , a meeting for families introduces teachers , shares the content and scope of curriculum for the year , clearly communicates school expectations , and provides information about how to support kids at home . Then , throughout the year , KIPP maintains close contact with all families through a variety of channels . Phone calls home are made as frequently as possible , regarding both struggles and successes . KIPP also builds time for more parent-teacher conferences than the district requires , meeting with parents at the end of each of the first three quarters .
“ The more we can meet with families to let them know what expectations they can ask of their kids , the better chance they have of kids meeting that ,” said Ms . Howarth . “ Some kids are intrinsically driv-
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