On the heels of the announcement that Bruce and Martha Karsh have pledged $3 million to KIPP LA over the next three years, the Karshes graciously opened their home to KIPP LA's friends, both new and old, who were introduced -- or re-introduced -- to KIPP LA's culture of high expectations, excellence, and results.

Guests were treated to student performances and heard first-hand how KIPP LA has changed students' lives. KIPP Raíces Academy kindergarteners, or "Achievers" as they are known at school, got the evening off to an inspiring start when they performed their school cheer: "In 2021, when high school is done, success has just begun, because in 2025, Achievers will rise as college alumni."  

Mrs. Karsh spoke about her visit to KIPP Academy of Opportunity last summer, where she says she was "blown away". She recounted what her tour guides, who were KAO alumni, told her they liked about KAO: "We liked being in an educational community that supported us, and we liked having teachers and school leaders who really cared about what happened to us ... both at [KIPP] and beyond," Mrs. Karsh remembered them saying.

Special guest State Senator Gloria Romero served as the keynote speaker, talking passionately about the need to improve education in California. "KIPP is the model," she said, when it comes to education reform in this state.

Thank you to the Karsh family for being such wonderful hosts, to Senator Romero for speaking so eloquently about how we can transform public education together, and to the KIPPsters who blew us all away.

At KIPP LA Prep's lottery for new students, a fourth-grade girl in a Princeton University t-shirt sat in the front row with her fingers crossed, waiting patiently to hear if she would win a spot in the school's 2009-10 fifth grade class. Her mother shrieked with delight when the girl's name was called -- and then the names of her two best friends.

As open-enrollment schools, KIPP LA's schools must hold lotteries if more students seek spaces than are available. KIPP LA Prep and KIPP LA's two other schools, KIPP Academy of Opportunity and KIPP Raíces Academy, all held lotteries late last month and saw their schools flooded with families hoping their children would be able to enroll in schools that will help them "climb the mountain" to college.

"The overwhelming response we received goes to show that there is a huge demand for excellent schools in our community," said KIPP LA Prep School Leader Angella Martinez. "We wish we could offer spots to all the families who are interested," she added. As KIPP LA expands to 14 schools over the next decade, we hope to come a little closer to doing just that.

Pictured above: KIPP Academy of Opportunity students and teacher Robert Newman, with Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (center) and the three Holocaust survivors students interviewed (at left).

For six KIPP Academy of Opportunity students, history came alive last month through the California State Assembly's Holocaust Memorial Project.

Under the auspices of Assembly Speaker Karen Bass' office, each student had the opportunity to interview a Holocaust survivor and then wrote on essay about the survivor's life. The experience culminated in a trip to Sacramento, where students attended a Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony on the floor of the assembly chamber and met Speaker Bass.  

"The students who participated have a whole new appreciation for the importance of remembering the Holocaust, so the world never experiences such a terrible tragedy again," said Robert Newman, KAO's eighth grade social studies teacher, who joined the KIPPsters in Sacramento.

Thank you to Speaker Bass and her staff for giving our students this unique opportunity. It was surely an experience our students will never forget.