A Day in the Life
A Day in Your Life as a KIPP Academy Middle School Sixth Grader:
6:30 a.m. Wake up at home.
Your alarm goes off and you are ready to tackle another day at KIPP! Pulling on your blue uniform shirt, you're happy to have graduated from fifth graders' white shirts and looking forward to seventh graders' red ones next year. You tuck your shirt into your khaki pants, double-checking to make sure your shirt is tucked in. You don't want to lose hard-earned points off of your paycheck for messiness!
7:25 a.m. Arrive at school.
You arrive at school and get your breakfast in the cafeteria to take it with you to homeroom. Over toast and eggs, you write a letter to a sports hero of your choice describing KIPP’s recent Field Day. Meanwhile, your homeroom teacher checks your notebook organization and gives you two extra ganas points because you’ve worked so hard to be a more organized student! When you're through, you catch up with your science teacher, Mr. Merson, for clarification on a new idea for your science project.
8:00 - 11:45 a.m. Morning Academics.
Your academic day starts with 100 minutes each of Math and Reading. Your teachers judge your progress based on your homework, group work, class participation, portfolio projects, and tests and quizzes. You feel empowered when you give a well-reasoned answer about persuasive essays and all of your classmates SLANT toward you!
11:45 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. Lunch.
Lunch is a welcome half hour to socialize with your classmates and spend some of your paycheck balance to purchase supplies, toys, treats and uniform shirts from the school store. On Tuesdays – Thursdays when the school store is closed, lunch includes a ten minute team activity to get ready for your class trip to Utah in June.
12:20 – 4:00 p.m. Afternoon Academics.
Today in Science you and your lab partner conduct an experiment about freezing points while making ice cream. Who knew class could be so delicious? You share your notes from the week before with a classmate who was out sick with the flu, and your teacher notices your good deed and rewards you with ganas points. You are excited that your paycheck balance is increasing to enable you to attend the end-of-year class trip.
After Science, you look forward to blowing off some steam in Physical Education. Following a spirited game of doubles tennis you head down the hall to Orchestra class. You're practicing for a winter concert and still trying to perfect several songs. It's hard to believe that when you came to KIPP as a fifth grader, you couldn't read music and now you're playing the violin!
4:00– 5:00 p.m. Tutoring
In the final hour of the school day, you and your classmates split up for a variety of enrichment classes and activities. Despite your hard work, you’re still struggling with percentages and fractions. For three weeks, instead of cultural dance or storytelling, you are working in a group of 3 students with a tutor. It’s hard work, but you can tell it’s really starting to pay off.
7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Homework Time.
You complete your spelling lists and history essay but are stuck on the math word problems. Luckily, you have all your teachers' mobile phone numbers, and five minutes on the phone with your math teacher clears up your confusion. You bring your work to your mom to show her how much you're learning. She signs your assignment notebook to show she's checked your work.
9:00 – 9:30 p.m. Pleasure Reading.
You finally have time to read another chapter of the new Harry Potter book! You're required to read for pleasure half an hour each day, and time flies while you learn what happens to Harry and his friends.
9:30 p.m. Bedtime.
Lights out! You need to get plenty of rest to make sure you're alert and on task for your next day at KIPP. After a day of work and fun, you're one step closer to college...
