For one student, time and effort paying off

2008 KIPP graduate Khalil Flemming, 14, is headed this fall to Phillips Academy in Andover. (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

LYNN - Khalil Flemming is busy.

In June, he graduated from the eighth grade at KIPP Academy Lynn. Last week, he acted in a TV commercial, and next month he'll be moving to Andover to attend Phillips Academy.

Even though he spent years at KIPP, putting in rigorous 9 1/2-hour days and attending optional classes on Saturdays, he's made it a priority to come back to the school and volunteer to help what he calls his second family.

Flemming is unsure whether he would have been accepted at the prestigious prep school if he had attended another school.

"It would have been more difficult," says Flemming, who came to the school three years ago with a desire to be challenged academically.

Before arriving at KIPP, he said, he spent five hours a day playing video games and watching TV. Now, that's down to one hour a day - and only if he has the time.

"They challenged me here," says Flemming, who has taken part in spelling and geography bees, and was encouraged to take part in the Center for Talented Youth, at Johns Hopkins University. Through the program, which identifies students with high academic abilities, Flemming took the SAT test in the seventh grade and scored over 1,000.

Flemming says the school's academics - such as having two hours of homework each night - met his need. But Flemming also says the school's theme of character-building, through affirmations such as "Work Hard, Be Nice," and "There are no shortcuts," was just as important and will stay with him throughout his life.

"I don't think kids are always taught to do right - sometimes it's family and sometimes they're just not raised the right way. But a lot of time it starts at school, because school is where you spend a lot of your time of your day. And when the school is enforcing, on top of good academics, being polite and doing extracurricular activities and being a good friend, that's when you do more than just get good grades at school."

Steven Rosenberg can be reached at srosenberg@globe.com.