KIPP Freedom Elementary School

A message from the KIPP Freedom Faculty and Staff: 

KIPP Freedom is a charter elementary school located at 2246 Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. It is located in its own building. Sarah Kuwonu is the Founding Principal of the school, which opened in 2018. Ms. Kuwonu has over 10 years of experience teaching and leading schools.

At KIPP Freedom, we forge a pathway of enduring access to opportunity for all students. We cultivate innovative thinkers, skillful communicators, and revolutionary agents of change. By prioritizing student-driven learning experiences, we help students own their quest for knowledge. We lovingly nurture students to be socially-conscious citizens who engage their voices to advocate for themselves and others. We work passionately to afford our students the freedom to choose their paths, their truths, and their futures.

Our daily schedule includes over two hours of literacy and math instruction. During these blocks, we present our students with engaging material that promotes “cognitive struggle,” which is a fancy way of saying that we make brains sweat! Our literacy blocks include Phonics, Read Aloud, Shared Text (in first grade and above), and Guided Reading. Students are placed in small, targeted groups to receive goal-based coaching and lead rigorous textual analysis discussions. Additionally, students build their math conceptual understanding and number sense in Math Workshop, Problem Solving, and Math Routines. We cultivate independent learners and critical thinkers as students discuss, manipulate, and construct math conjectures. 

Students also engage in music, science, and ethnic studies. We believe in teaching the whole child, and that starts with explicit character education and social emotional development. You can expect your “Freedom Fighter” to learn our school’s VOICE values, attend bi-weekly social-emotional lessons led by our social work team, practice mindfulness with Calm Classroom, and celebrate at our weekly whole-school assembly, Freedom Ring.

As part of our core curriculum, we offer all students ethnic studies. In this course, students learn about their ethnocultural history and heritage through racially affirming units. Students explore identity, culture, African and Latinx studies, citizenship, and social action. The goal is for our “Freedom Fighters” to leave us after fourth grade as advocates with reverence of the past, knowledge of the present, and empowered to change the future.

Families are integral partners in the fabric of KIPP Freedom. As a community school, we regularly elicit feedback from families to ensure our instruction, culture, and operations are meeting their needs. We do this through Family VOICE surveys and Village Chats, which are intimate focus group sessions with the principal. Additionally, we host several family events, including monthly Coffee & Conversations, and annual events like the New Family BBQ, Literacy Parade, Black History Month Celebration, and Thanksgiving Potluck. Families can also get involved as field trip chaperones, classroom volunteers, and members of our Freedom Family Association.