First Full Day at KIPP!

Today was the first full day at KIPP GCP! We started the day off with a major lists of tasks, everything from cleaning fish bowls, to grading test, making bulletin boards to reading with students. Before tackling our to-do list we observed classes in both the middle school and high school to compare and contrast them. Some of things that we noticed were that the middle school classrooms were more focused on implementing discipline by using group cheers (such as 1-2-3 G-C-P when they all opened their binders at the same time). The high school was geared toward independent study to prepare students for college. Something that we noticed across all school was how college oriented they are, it is even pushed in the primary school. Aside from the students, we observed that the teachers were relatively young across all grade levels and there were many first year teachers. We perceived that this correlated with the open-mindedness of the campus and the non-traditional teaching techniques. At lunch we had the opportunity to eat and talk with several students.  Many of us found that the students were willing to have conversations outside their comfort zones and shared their perspective on KIPP. After school, a few of us stayed to watch the Poetry Outloud Competition. We were impressed by the willingness of the students to present in front of a large audience. Also all of the teachers that put in extra time to help with it and support the students. All in all we had a very long but very rewarding day at KIPP GCP; we can’t wait to go back!

-Sophia & Peter