Learning desires

At Lynn school, students investing in their futures

Fifth-grader Ariyanna Agnew offers to answer a question in math class at KIPP Academy Lynn on the third day of school. (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

The kids say that, at their old schools, college was the last thing on their minds. There they tried to make it through a day without fighting or being tempted to join a gang - or to take drugs.

But inside KIPP Academy Lynn, they'll tell you they're not only safe, but inspired. KIPP, an acronym for the Knowledge Is Power Program, began as a charter middle school in the city four years ago and is part of a national set of schools that now number 66. Combining a philosophy of 9 1/2-hour school days with a commitment to prepare students for college, the staff also has a no-nonsense approach to conduct, and emphasizes character-building as much as academic achievement.

"We've got to make it much cooler to be a nerd than a thug," explained Josh Zoia, the school's principal and founder.

Four years ago, when Zoia opened the school, he promised all of the incoming students that he would help them go to college despite the fact that most had failed their MCAS tests the year before. By demographics, the numbers pointed to a school that looked a lot like other Massachusetts inner-city middle schools that had failed to produce college-track students. More than 80 percent of the students were minority, 85 percent lived at or below the poverty line, and more than 50 percent came from single-parent households.

Now, KIPP students' scores surpass those of Lynn district schools and state MCAS averages, and its 2007 English and math scores bested Swampscott and Marblehead, respectively.

Compared with area public schools, KIPP students spend an additional 60 percent of time in the classroom during the school year - they begin school in August, and about-one third attend optional classes on Saturdays. Zoia believes the extra classroom time, along with an emphasis on good conduct and effort, leads to achievement, and points to his first eighth-grade graduating class last June. All 53 graduates will attend high school, and 35 have been accepted to private schools - including Phillips Academy and Pingree School. In addition, the students will receive $1.2 million in financial aid.

"We promise them college," said Zoia. "And I really take that vow as seriously as a wedding vow. We say if you're willing to go through all of the things at KIPP - and put the time in and be nice and follow the rules and push yourself - then we're going to help you."

Zoia and the staff say that another important step toward learning is to ask questions; and to make sure students get answers, the 25 teachers on staff are equipped with cellphones so students can reach them until 10 each night. Most teachers work more than 60 hours a week, and are held to the same standard as students.

"I've never seen anything as positive as this in relation to education," said Brendan O'Higgins, who teaches phys-ed, Greek, and Latin and has taught for 29 years in both Ireland and the United States. "It's total commitment to an education between family, teachers, and the student."

Located on the grounds of a Roman Catholic church, there are 12 classrooms, and classes average about 30 students. Inside the rooms, affirmations cover the walls, reading: "Work hard, be nice," "There are no shortcuts," "Team beats individual," and "All of us will learn."

In class, students can speak only when called upon or while working with other students on a project. In between classes, students walk in single file to other classes in silence; at lunch, students are not allowed to talk until everyone has their food. Zoia says that the silence sets a discipline in the school so students can focus better, and it all but eliminates gossiping and bullying.

But even before they can achieve, KIPP instills a culture in which students have to earn everything they receive. Each week, students receive a progress report or a "paycheck" on which teachers comment on their participation, homework, classwork, effort, and behavior. If students don't receive a minimum of 35 out of 50 possible points, they're ineligible to attend recess, electives such as dance or photography, or go on field trips.

The students buy into the program because they want to succeed and need the structure, says Mdolelle Dolo, who is 13 and began eighth grade this month. "It helps because if we didn't have the discipline we'd be free to do whatever we wanted, and I don't think that would benefit us in the long run," said Dolo, who dreams of going to Harvard and becoming a doctor.

For Khalil Flemming, discipline and earning are keys to success. "If you earn something you'll be able to do whatever you want, and that's a good thing to know in life," said Flemming, 14, a recent eighth-grade graduate who received a four-year scholarship to Phillips Academy.

Leandro Diaz calls KIPP his second home, and credits KIPP with shaping his character. At 16, he is one of the oldest eighth-graders, but that doesn't bother Diaz, who came to Lynn from the Dominican Republic in 2004, speaking only Spanish. He didn't learn to speak English until he came to KIPP in 2005. "This school has changed my life. It's something I call my second life. . . . I now realize things I may never have realized, like wanting to help people," said Diaz, who plans to go to college and become a social worker.

With the temperature over 80 degrees on a mid-August day, 96 fifth-graders - who were chosen in a lottery of more than 300 applications - sit in the basement cafeteria on their first day of school, listening to teachers talk about KIPP.

"How many would like to be in a school where there is no gossip, bullying, and teasing," asks the school's dean, Nat Jones.

Ariyanna Agnew raises her hand, along with all of her new KIPP teammates (the school doesn't use the word classmate). As they learn the school's strict behavior rules, they also discover that learning isn't all about listening. Later, in another class, they learn their multiplication tables by singing rhymes.

"Six, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 54, 60, 66, 72, how do you do? How do you do?" they sing.

Meanwhile, outside in the parking lot, social studies teacher Mike Brown is leading 24 kids on a virtual expedition across the Bering Straits land bridge.

Kids tentatively walk across chairs and stand at attention when Brown explains how the Native Americans walked from land that is now Siberia to Alaska. "They found the New World because they were hungry. And that's how Native Americans came to America," said Brown.

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