KIPP Collegiate High is centered right in the heart of North Memphis. The school serves 99.8% minority students, according to the U.S. News report. This is a part of the city that is often overlooked by most. Antonio Burt, Chief Executive Officer, highlights, “… if we think about Memphis, KIPP Memphis is located in an area that throughout the course of the years hasn’t had a lot of investment to take place. And so it’s important for me to bring external partnerships into our community to really provide a robust, academic program, but more importantly, to give our kids exposure; exposure is that one drive that hinders, you know, kids in urban inner-city America.” This new partnership between KIPP Collegiate High and Peer Power is a transformative investment in the lives of these students and their futures. Our goal is to enhance the academic and social-emotional support for the students here at KIPP Collegiate by introducing high-quality tutoring and mentoring services from Success Coaches who look like them and sharing our access to new knowledge, experiences, and opportunities.
From day one, we began collaborating with Chief of School Lischa Brooks and KMCH Principal Tonye McBride. They excitedly shared the opportunities that the Peer Power team had to make an impact. These opportunities included helping to increase student GPA, increasing ACT scores, and breaking down the ratio between teacher and students. U.S. News also reports that KIPP Collegiate High serves 466 students with a student-to-teacher ratio of 15:1. This was one of the first challenges that we knew we could immediately address by strategically staffing EOC and ACT classrooms. In the short time that we have been here, there has been a noticeable shift. Chief Brooks states,
No longer do students have to wait for the teacher to come and meet with them individually. There’s someone there right now. So, we see students who wouldn’t ordinarily ask questions. We see them asking questions of the Peer Power tutors. We see them asking them, you know, come over here, can you help me with this problem? And so seeing that happen just within the two weeks that they’ve been here, I know that we’ll continue to see great gains in not only the students’ performance in school, but how excited they are about learning.
The presence of Success Coaches in English, Math, Science, ACT, and History classes four days a week is already making waves at KIPP. Teachers have embraced their Success Coaches and have already begun making space for them, allowing Success Coaches to lead through small group instruction and co-leading engaging lessons in class. Ms. Robertson, Biology, has recognized the value of this partnership. She affectionately refers to her Success Coaches David, Waheed, and Eariana as “gifts.” Her “gifts” have been on full display as they have set up stations that focus on small group intervention through the creation of fun and engaging lessons. It is truly a beautiful collaboration between teacher and Success Coach that has quickly developed in room 220.
One of the best indicators of the work for Peer Power is the strength of the relationships that are built. Walking through the halls and seeing Success Coaches, like Quentin Smith or David Scurlock, standing side by side with their teachers or creating handshakes with their new students shows that Success Coaches are becoming a part of the KIPP Community. These relationships reflect as Success Coaches help to redirect students who are off track and as they are able to engage and push students inside of the classroom toward success. As relationships grow, we are seeing excitement and engagement grow as well. Chief Brooks acknowledges the positive effects, stating,
…it’s really working out well for us. So, we have students who are excited about coming to school every day because they know when they get to class, they will have an opportunity to engage with the Success Coaches. And they also know that, you know, Peer Power and KIPP Memphis are working together to make sure that they are successful.
We are thrilled to know that Peer Power’s presence is already creating a positive impact, which we hope over time will translate into those more long-term goals: increased GPA and ACT scores. The collaboration between KIPP Collegiate High and Peer Power is on track for significant academic impact. School administrators and staff eagerly share how the team can best provide even more academic and mentoring support outside of the classroom. Coach Smith, Cheerleading Coach, has shown keen interest in establishing a Peer Power club or after-school tutoring session that would be tailored for students engaged in extracurricular activities, such as sports, band, and choir. Meanwhile, the KIPP Forward team, led by Ms. Wooten and Ms. Ross, is taking proactive measures by inviting the Peer Power team to engage with juniors and seniors around college/career prep and about Peer Power’s camps providing ACT prep and Workforce training. Even Principal McBride’s call for targeted ACT Prep to elevate the current ACT average of 15 has given the team an ambitious yet achievable goal.
Together, we are paving the way for brighter futures at KIPP—where Peer Power truly feels like home sweet home!