Our Mission

Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Our History in North Carolina

KIPP NC builds on a rich tradition of academic excellence and relentless fight for social justice present from the founding of the two KIPP regions merged for its creation, KIPP Eastern North Carolina and KIPP Charlotte. KIPP ENC was the second oldest KIPP region in the nation. In its 20 years of operation, KIPP ENC was a cornerstone for students and families in rural Gaston and Halifax. Over the past ten years, it grew to serve even more students by establishing a presence in Durham. KIPP Charlotte, which grew out of the strong traditions and academics of KIPP ENC, supported students and families for the past 13 years. The two regions merged on July 1, 2021, to form KIPP NC, the largest public school district in North Carolina serving an equal number of rural and urban students at scale.

Building Liberatory Cultures

KIPP NC is committed to co-creating schools and a regional support team that actively envisions and creates liberatory spaces, particularly ones that decenter Whiteness. We believe liberatory cultures are ones where the success of the whole group is defined and achieved by creating conditions for every member to thrive, innovate, and experience belonging. We seek to dismantle structures of inequality within our organization, schools, and classrooms throughout the state. All of this will be in a tireless effort to create classrooms that are homeplaces for our students, places where they feel safe, loved, validated, seen, and heard, places where all their beautiful identities will be affirmed and celebrated, and places where they will learn the academic knowledge and skills needed for college, career, and beyond.

Students raising hands

KIPP NC’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We are building a statewide network of schools preparing kids for success in college and life, and we are grounded in the realities and experiences of our students and families.

Our strength and resolve, our health as a team and family, our productivity and effectiveness, and the quality of the decisions we make — are all rooted in our diversity. We strive to create an environment in which every member of our team can bring their full identity and experience to the work.

We embrace, honor, and celebrate our differences across race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender orientation, physical abilities, socio-economic class, and other characteristics that construct our unique identities.

We are especially committed to attracting and developing individuals who share the life experiences of our students because we believe the best work we do is grounded in the realities and experiences of our families and KIPPsters.