The elementary school that superstar basketball player Lebron James set up in his hometown of Akron, Ohio isn’t like other schools connected to celebrities. That’s mainly because the I Promise school, as it’s known, is not a charter school run by a private operator but a public school operated by the district. The school’s $2 million budget is funded by the district, roughly the same amount per pupil that it spends in other schools, with Mr. James’s foundation providing another $600,000 in financial support for additional teaching staff to help reduce class sizes, and an additional hour of after-school programming and tutors. On top of that, the school also offers meditation for students and free breakfast in the morning.
What makes the school truly special, however, is the resources and attention it devotes to parents, which educators consider a key to its success. Mr. James’s foundation covers the cost of all expenses in the school’s family resource center, which provides parents with G.E.D. preparation, work advice, health and legal services, and even a quarterly barbershop. The school opened with some skepticism, but now it’s winning over those skeptics as the inaugural class of third and fourth graders at I Promise posted extraordinary results in their first set of district assessments. Ninety percent met or exceeded individual growth goals in reading and math, outpacing their peers across the district. What this shows us is that when schools give parents the assistance they need, it gives kids the opportunity to thrive at school.
