History

About KIPP Infinity

In July 2005, principal Joe Negron and a team of five teachers founded KIPP Infinity Charter School, serving 75 fifth graders primarily from Washington Heights, West Harlem, and the South Bronx. To prepare for the opening of KIPP Infinity, Negron participated in the KIPP Foundation’s twelve-month School Leadership Program, which includes coursework in an academic setting, residencies at KIPP schools and other exemplary schools, and a six-month school start-up period.

Since its founding, KIPP Infinity has added a grade each year, and in July 2008, the school grew to full capacity, to serve approximately 280 students in fifth through eighth grade. Through the generosity of Chancellor Joel Klein and the New York City Department of Education, KIPP Infinity operates in a shared public school space.

The KIPP to College alumni support program assists KIPP Infinity students in the high school admissions process and will provide KIPP Infinity alumni with academic and personal support throughout high school and college.

KIPP Infinity is part of the KIPP NYC family, including four public middle schools (KIPP Academy, KIPP STAR, KIPP AMP, and KIPP Infinity), KIPP to College, the Shared Services Team providing development, operations, finance, and technology support to all schools and programs, and new initiatives including planning for the opening of KIPP NYC elementary and high schools.

About KIPP

KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) began in 1994 when Teach For America alumni Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg piloted a fifth grade public school program in inner-city Houston. In 1995, Levin moved to New York to found KIPP Academy in the South Bronx, while Feinberg founded KIPP Academy, Houston. Both schools grew to serve students in grades five through eight.

From the beginning, KIPP was committed to the philosophy that there are no shortcuts to success and happiness in life. We promised to do whatever it took to help our students succeed, and we maintained an unrelenting focus on results. We offered an extended day and an extended year, and we asked students and teachers to “Be nice” and “Work hard.”

In the spring of 2000, Don and Doris Fisher, co-founders of the Gap, Inc., made it possible for KIPP to replicate its success nationwide by funding the creation of the KIPP Foundation to recruit, train, and support educators of talent and dedication as they found and run new KIPP schools in high-need communities across the country. There are currently 66 KIPP schools serving a total of 16,000 students. Click here to see where we are.

All KIPP schools are open-enrollment public schools. Admission is determined by lottery, regardless of prior academic record, conduct, or socio-economic background.