Kipp-Step

Returning in 2021

The KIPP STEP Summer Program at Deerfield provides a unique opportunity for selected seventh graders from three middle schools in the Pioneer Valley and from dozens of KIPP middle schools around the nation to experience the academic rigor and lifestyle of a top boarding school. The program’s emphasis on science and ELA will develop students’ skills in research, writing, presentation, discussion, studying, time management, and critical thinking–skills necessary to find success in the most challenging academic environments. The program also aims to spark a passion for science in students through the intensive physics and biology focus.

Participants will benefit from the low student to teacher ratio, small class size, and intimate nature of the three-week residential program. The KIPP STEP Summer Program is intentionally designed for academically strong, intellectually curious students who exhibit character, personal responsibility, independence, leadership, teamwork, and a strong and sincere interest in attending a boarding school.

In partnership, KIPP and Deerfield Academy teachers design the curriculum and deliver instruction during the program. Students will engage in four 70-minute academic periods per day with additional time devoted to independent study, advisor meetings, sports, the arts, field trips and fun. Saturday morning classes will be held. Living on the Deerfield Academy campus in dormitories with adult supervision, student will experience the structured independence associated with boarding school life.

KIPP STEP prepared me for high school by enhancing my writing skills. Writing is a big part of high school, I quickly learned this past month at Deerfield. In KIPP STEP your English teacher will spend an hour everyday just to improve your writing and teach you how to become better writers. That experience helped me so much, and I always think back to it when I need to write something.

I learned that working hard can get you to anywhere you want to go. I also learned that it is important to always carry yourself with dignity and to always represent yourself and your school well… I also learned that it is better to reach out to other people instead of waiting for them to reach out to you. It is important to just throw yourself out there sometimes and try new things.

…the biggest benefit is confidence. She is very smart and shy, and she needs to push herself to participate. Being in an environment like STEP has helped her feel more comfortable as a gifted and talented student, and she is much more comfortable advocating about her needs with me. She is now smart AND proud of how smart and hard-working she is.

Both of my students have come back with a stronger sense of maturity and independence since both of them had not really ever been away from home or their families ever before. They seem more confident about themselves and yet at the same time, more humble.

[Her] tone, level of maturity, and demeanor all suggest that she has come away from the KIPP STEP program with a more worldly understanding of the rigor and requirements of a prep school environment. She carries herself with dignity and has earned the responsibility of being part of our student leadership program in the 8th grade.

Because of the KIPP STEP program I have also brought back an education from some of the greatest teachers I have ever met. Since the program, I have shared what I learned with my parents, grandparents, Aunt, Uncle, and my younger cousins. An example of this is that before, physics and I had never agreed. Now I understand parts of it, and can enjoy it and teach others.