Welcome back KIPPsters! Start the 2024-25 school year off strong—click here for important back-to-school information.
KIPP Chicago is actively hiring. We’ve revised our hiring process for this current remote setting so that it can continue without requiring travel or in-person contact.
They choose specifically to work with families of color in low-income communities within Chicago, and that is their defining professional choice. They want to know that their school is doing right by these kids and families by setting intentional yearly growth targets for kids that will place them on a path to college graduation and holding staff accountable to students’ performance relative to those targets. They want to belong to a network of schools working for the same purposes, knowing their work contributes to city-wide and nation-wide change for people of color.
KIPP Chicago staff prize working on a diverse team. We make recruiting and hiring a diverse team a priority, and, as with everything we value, we work relentlessly and resourcefully to overcome the common obstacles to it. In the 20-21 school year, more than 65% of our staff are people of color. We value the experience of working on a staff that is diverse by color, gender, religion, and sexual orientation.
They are responsible for creating structures that set-up teachers and students to perform at their highest level every day. Calendars, schedules, special events, testing windows, data analysis cycles, observation cycles, curricula, lesson planning expectations, and grading requirements are determined far in advance and communicated clearly. Student behavioral expectations are high and upheld by every adult in the building using common management systems, moves, and constant attention to even the smallest details. Grade-level teams work tirelessly to create a common grade-level culture through similar language and messaging. The result is school environments that are safe, calm, joyful, and focused on academic growth, where students benefit from high-quality instruction year after year.
You won’t find a school environment that is less isolating and more team-oriented that KIPP Chicago. Whole-team huddles begin the day at each campus at 7:30am. We text and talk by phone throughout the day. After students leave, we collaborate from 4:15 – 5:00pm each day, including grade-level team meetings at least once a week and whole-staff meetings at least once a week. On Fridays, students leave at 2:00pm, and we spend a few hours following a data driven instruction (DDI) protocol on that week’s assessments with our content teams. We frequently text, speak, and meet with families, and we plan multiple family events on campus throughout the year.
When most of us came to KIPP Chicago, we found the level of performance expected of us to be higher than our previous work environments. We all need training and guidance to achieve and sustain that level of performance. Fortunately, KIPP Chicago staff are developed in multiple ways and by multiple people.
At the school level, teachers meet weekly with the Assistant Principal or Principal who manages them, often including observation cycles. Those same school leaders also lead professional development specific to the school’s needs during the daily afternoon collaboration time.
At the regional level, KIPP Chicago leaders provide professional development related to our curriculum.
At the national level, the KIPP Foundation offers year-long development strands through the KIPP School Leadership Program for teachers and those moving toward school leadership. Several KIPP Chicago staff are selected for these strands each year.
KIPP Chicago staff benefit from best practices established by our local schools as well as schools across the country that are accomplishing our same mission. KIPP Chicago staff are also eligible for professional development opportunities offered by the KIPP Foundation and have access to the KIPP Share social media network.
