About

KIPP Washington Heights Middle School

At KIPP Washington Heights Middle School, we want everyone — our teachers, students and families — to try or learn something today that they couldn’t or didn’t know yesterday. Through college-focused literacy and math instruction, access to technology, individualized programs, and extracurriculars, we support a community of scholars who are building a transformational school. We believe that academic and personal growth is a shared journey where we face challenges and celebrate our successes with desire, optimism, and love.

We provide students with a rigorous college-preparatory program based on Common Core standards and best practices shared by KIPP schools across the country. Technology plays a major role as programs like Khan Academy allow us to customize instruction for students, promote independent learning, and boost students’ real-world computer skills. We’ve established small homeroom groups that empower students to speak up and give shout outs to teammates.

We honor the culture of our neighborhood through our butterfly logo, which is inspired by the Mirabal Sisters – four brave women who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic during the 1950s and ’60s. Known as “The Butterflies,” the Mirabal Sisters fought to restore democracy and civil liberties to their island nation despite extreme odds. Three of them ultimately paid with their lives, including Minerva, for whom our campus is named. The Trujillo regime collapsed in 1961, but their legacy lives on through literature, art, and an international day created in their honor.