The clock is running out in the Bluff

21Aug09

Will these folks be able to get their act together in time to apply for a new public school for the city? The deadline is 5:00 p.m. . . .

. . . .

“PINE BLUFF AN OPTION FOR KIPP SCHOOL,” KATV’s top story, August 19, 2009, 10:00 p.m.

Pine Bluff, AR – Trudy Redus has a difficult job — she’s a mother in Pine Bluff [and Mayor Carl Redus' wife], but on this night she has hope. She attended a [Rotary] meeting at Pine Bluff Country Club [earlier this month] to support a plan to bring a KIPP Charter School to Pine Bluff.

Trudy Redus, Pine Bluff Resident
“I think it would be a wonderful opportunity for our community to have that choice. I’ve seen what KIPP has done in our communities and what they do for these children.”

KIPP is the “knowledge is power” program. There’s already one KIPP school in Helena-West Helena. A second Arkansas school will be built in time for the 2010 school year. The candidates are Blytheville, West Memphis, and Pine Bluff.

Joy Blankenship, Pine Bluff Director of Downtown Development
“I just feel like it is a must for our community. If we don’t get it this time, maybe the next year, but I believe KIPP will eventually be here in Pine Bluff.”

As you can tell, Joy Blankenship wants KIPP in Pine Bluff. The Director of Downtown Development in Pine Bluff says she’s already been looking at several possible sights for the school.

Joy Blankenship, Pine Bluff Director of Downtown Development
“The power of going to college, the power of finding jobs — that is what KIPP is all about.”

A coalition that supports the plan drafted an official application. No word on when KIPP will make a decision. Backers say the school would give Pine Bluff kids a stronger education.

Trudy Redus, Pine Bluff Resident
“I think if we could get the community to see exactly what KIPP does, what it offers and have the parents take a look at the program — I think it would be a great thing for the children.”

KIPP officials say the program would start with fifth graders and be expanded as the first students progressed.

. . . .

SUPPORTERS RALLY TO ‘BRING KIPP TO PINE BLUFF’

By Amy Riggin/Pine Bluff Commercial Staff
Thursday, August 20, 2009, 8:16 AM

A coalition formed to land a charter school in Pine Bluff had a good showing of supporters Wednesday, with people joining hands and chanting “bring KIPP to Pine Bluff.”

Maisie Wright, who will lead the next new KIPP charter school in the Delta, speaks to a group in Pine Bluff about how the program works. Pine Bluff Commercial/Amy Riggin

More than 60 people attended a meeting at the Donald W. Reynolds Community Services Center. Knowledge Is Power Program officials explained how the school would operate if Pine Bluff is chosen over West Memphis and Blytheville. KIPP will announce its decision Aug. 30.

Several of those in attendance made personal appeals for KIPP to choose Pine Bluff. Trudy Redus, wife of Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr., said supporters will do “whatever it takes.”

Scott Shirey, director of the KIPP Delta College Preparatory School in Helena-West Helena, was on hand along with Maisie Wright, who will lead the new KIPP school. Dr. Ginny Blankenship, a Pine Bluff native and research and fiscal policy director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families in Little Rock, is the leader of the local coalition.

“KIPP’s results may be unprecedented,” Blankenship said before ticking off a list of positive media coverage the program has received, which focused on high test scores and 80 percent of students going on to college.

Shirey spoke of KIPP’s longer school days and “no shortcuts” philosophy — a message that was well-received by those in attendance. And he said the freedom charter schools have, particularly the ability to hire and fire teachers at will, reaps dividends because KIPP can select the most qualified.

“We outperformed the state in almost every (test) area last year,” he said. “The longer students are at KIPP, the more they start to shine.”

Wright said teachers also do “whatever it takes” to ensure success, including taking late-night calls from students, giving them rides to school and working with them after school.

Also Wednesday, Pine Bluff Cable Television general manager Marc Billingsley announced that the company would donate $25,000 to a KIPP school in Pine Bluff, should the city be chosen. The money would be payable in $5,000 installments over five years.

Financial support from the community is one of the things KIPP is looking for, Shirey said.

“The relationship has to be built between the community and the school leader,” he added. “If she (Wright) is happy and supported by friends, she’s going to be a more productive school leader for our students.”

KIPP wants to operate 12 schools in three Delta towns within 10 years, including the three in Helena-West Helena and the one it will open in 2010. The program operates 66 free, open-enrollment, public charter schools across the U.S.

Shirey said “even if you don’t care a thing about children,” people in the community should know that KIPP has had a $6 million economic impact in Helena-West Helena.

“It is coming back to life,” he said.

He also addressed concerns that existing public schools will suffer, maintaining that competition actually results in higher achievement for them as well.

“When schools compete, students win, parents win,” Shirey said.

. . . .

Letter to the editor, The Pine Bluff Commercial, August 21, 2009

KIPP meeting was informative

“I went to the KIPP meeting  and it was a very good and informative meeting. I think it is a great idea to bring this type of school into our city. To have competition with the standard way of learning will raise the bar for everybody.”

Albert King, Jr.

Pine Bluff, AR

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