elementary school teacher

high school teacher

early childhood teacher

director of recruiting

instructional coach

KIPP DC

I was told by my Career Alumni Association of a great opportunity with KIPP DC, so I applied.  I have successfully completed 3 internships with global organizations taking part in major projects, so I know my skills and education are in line to work for the entry level opportunities that the company posted.  KIPP DC vacancy clearly reads entry level with " 0-years " of experience needed ( I have 2-years), minimum Associates Degree, (I have a  Masters) along with 2+ years of volunteer experience in education with children mentoring and tutoring and I am currently work in higher education, but was told that I do not have the experience for this job.  What is even more alarming is that this position is advertised approximately every 3 months which tells me that the "person" that they hire and does have the experience, is not working out for one reason or another. It sounds to me like the recruiter does not know how to effectively source candidates that fit the organizational culture or that the chosen individual is not qualified for the job.  Either way for an organization that has a mission as great as KIPP DC, it’s amazing that they have no idea how to find candidates to support the educational practices that they are trying to instill.  Very sad and I have advised my alumni not to send our students there because they will not be treated in a fair and just manner.

Working at this school is a difficult but rewarding experience. Contractually your working day is 730am-530pm at a minimum, however it is difficult to accomplish everything in that amount of time. Most teachers are at school at least from 7am-6pm.. new teachers often longer. Once you have taught for several years you will likely be able to leave on time.

There are many wonderful students and some tricky students. It is very challenging as everyday you will encounter issues with students that you will need to resolve. 

If you teach a main content area you will teach 3 90-minute classes per day, supervise a 30-minute lunch, and probably supervise 1-2 small group intervention classes. You will likely have 2 hours of prep, but sometimes those prep hours must be spent doing other activites such as intervention. If you teach a special you will teach 6 60-minute classes three days a week and 3 60-75 minute classes twice a week. You will have two planning blocks per week of three hours each. 
 
There is an option to lead extracurricular activities after school if you are interested. 

Those that stay do so because at the end of the year it is wonderful to see how the kids have grown. 

The work environment has gotten less pleasant recently. Hopefully it will eventually get back to the cohesive and supportive workplace it once was.

I had the pleasure of working for Kipp Dc Quest Academy this year. I loveee loveee the students even though some of them have severe behavior issues that was the hardest thing i had to adjust to. You get to know and work with some good colleagues they treat you almost like family. However the Administration team is horrible. I do not understand how they got promoted to their positions. The Vice principal Ms Wilkerson is unprofessional and she is a very nasty person. They talk down to you as if you are one of the kids. They have no control over those behaviors yet they have over the top high expectations for the teachers. They hold your job over your head and they dont offer you support at all. They are one way with the higher ups but when they get behind closed doors they are totally different people. The rest of the employees are scared to speak up because the principal and vice principal always hold your job over your head. I love the organization itself but when ever you have horrible administration who twist your words and hold grudges against you its a toxic work enviornment. Oh dont go to HR because they are just gonna go back and tell the people who you had a problem with.

The school culture on the campus I work at is poor and I’ve heard that it’s pretty similar on other campuses as well. The administration does not take any accountability for what is going wrong in the schools and blames it fully on teachers. Teachers are expected to deal with every possible situation in the classroom without removing students (including fights). Students are not held to high expectations consistently by admin and are sent mixed messages when it comes to consequences, so student behavior is poor (including their interactions with teachers). On top of this, students are given no opportunity to be kids, including little to no recess time. Teachers are not given any autonomy over what/how they teach the concepts they love which takes away from teacher satisfaction. When you dare to veer outside of the assigned curriculum for even a day, you are often met with interrogating questions about student test scores and data - “are your students’ test scores good enough to be having a game day?” The one good thing I’ve found is that the teachers care deeply about the students, so much so that they will continue to love a student who regularly disrespects them. Overall, I would think carefully before taking a job as a teacher at KIPP DC.

I wanted to love KIPP DC because of their great track record. You cannot refute all the good work they are doing in the most under-represented neighborhoods of DC, and who does not want to be a part of that? Unfortunately, management in the headquarters office is full of bullies. 

Supervisors can be quite hostile, and they are known for cursing up a storm when there is a problem. The mentality is, "If you are not with us you are against us." And being "with us" means spending 60+ hours chained to a desk with no lunch break (seriously they told me that I should not take a lunch break) and dirty looks when I leave on time. The hours are already long as a typical work day is 9-6. I, for one, do not do well with being cooped up in the office for nine hours at a time. 

Few managers are easy to get a long with. Others take advantage of their seniority, arriving late/leaving early, and judging others who try to leave on time to get home to their families. The mentality is "Word Hard. Be Nice." and "Do whatever it takes." Few actually live up to this mentality.

I was told that people who last more than year have more autonomy and are judged less than the newbies. To succeed at in the KIPP DC headquarters office, you must have a tough skin and hope for a reasonable supervisor. 

A typical day at work - Student are rewarded for disrespectful/disruptive behavior. Admin gossips in the office while teachers can barely get a bathroom break. MEETINGS, MEETINGS, AND MORE MEETINGS. The amount of curriculum and data meetings we have is ridiculous! If you actually look at the data, you'll see that the "curriculum" does not work so meeting are a waste of time. Meting time should be for teachers to prep the 10,000 supplementary materials they will need to actually make sense of a lesson.

What I learned - It's not what you know, it's who you know. School admin teams and HQ are full of under qualified individuals that are besties. 

Management - If your 1-to-1 likes you, you'll be fine. If not, good luck being taken seriously. 

Hardest part of the job- Being forced to teach "curriculum" that's being developed by a team that has zero credentials to do so.

Most enjoyable- I loooooove my students! They are my reason why, but it's hard because they deserve a better quality education.

The hiring process here is very complicated or at least made to appear this way, but in reality its much easier if you know someone on the inside to help you succeed yourself in. The first time I was rejected by the first attempt, even though I had more than enough experience (Work Experience/Education). I had a phone interview and the process was a couple of steps of different interviews or at least it was explained this way. 

Next attempt, I tried with someone whom I known to work for the company, I was immediately contacted within a week versus 3 weeks on first attempt. The HR person I spoke to whom I know exactly by voice now, was more friendly, I wont reveal any names because they know who they are. And the process at this attempt was expressed much quicker, I had interviews scheduled immediately versus the we will contact you and inform you about the next phase in the process. 

I was stunned by this process and I honestly do not want to work here after going through this.

There is a big gap between what the needs are of black and brown students and what we actually provide them with. Across the board each KIPP DC school is ran different structurally. In my case this meant having a school leader who was sneaky, ruthless and  manipulative that would attempt to harass you for not doing things their way. This also meant having another leader who was not often present, lack of discipline and supports in the building but people who cared. I would only recommend that people who want to stay out of the way and not bring up the real problems surrounding diversity and inclusion in KIPP DC schools. Low data is celebrated and the actual problems are not addressed. The most disappointed part is black leadership is silent about these issues. I understand they may want to play the political game but when does it stop.

I loved the kids that was the best part of my job but that is the best part for any teacher. KIPP is very dedicated to the work they do and the service that they provide for students and families but sometimes that means forgoing time with your own family and for your own life. When you work at KIPP though the employees and Admin will never admit this, you live breathe eat and sleep KIPP and kids and education. This isn't all bad though. A typical day is around 8-10 hours a day. I loved my co workers but working with all women or mostly women can get a little difficult. I loved my managers they really helped me grow and develop not only as a teacher but as a professional.

There is not a typical day at KIPP DC. Kipp DC believes in teamwork so there is a possibility that you may do things outside of your job description. I've learned a lot in terms of my position and dealing with special education services such as online programs, registration, updating IEP's and many other tasks. The most enjoyable part of this job is working with students when needed and building great relationships with staff and parents. The hardest part of this job would be management and how they go about handling any situation, however, they see fit. Majority Co-workers at KIPP are okay, the co-workers I've come in contact with are awesome.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Elementary school teacher 14 salaries reported	$73,779 per year
High school teacher 14 salaries reported	$76,582 per year
Early childhood teacher 12 salaries reported	$64,059 per year
Director of recruiting 6 salaries reported	$149,520 per year
Instructional coach 7 salaries reported	$99,033 per year

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