Who We Are
KIPP Heartwood Academy (grades 5-8) is a public charter middle school located in San José.
Mission
The mission of KIPP Heartwood Academy is to deepen the knowledge, skills, character, and intellectual habits our middle school students need to excel in high school and college, and to make positive change every single day.
KIPP has a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Read more about our commitment to the work here.
Honors
2021 California Distinguished School
Top Bay Area Public Schools for Underserved Students
2017-2018 California Honor Roll
2010 National Blue Ribbon Award
Values
Honor | Excellence | Absolute Determination | Responsibility | Team
Special Education at KIPP
All students are welcome! We recognize the unique needs of each student and design high quality and specialized programs that enable each student to fully participate in their school community and the world at large. Special education services are available at all KIPP schools. Learn more about the SPED Program.
Mental Health & Wellness
KIPP Northern California aims to provide high-quality, client-centered, and culturally responsive mental health services designed to support students with varying levels of need. All students should have access to quality mental health services and as such, all services are free to students and provided regardless of insurance in order to reduce barriers to mental health care, meet students where they are at, and challenge mental health stigma. Learn more about our Mental Health and Wellness Program.
Enrollment Information
Applications for the 2024-25 school year are open for grades 5-8. You can submit your online application here.
Only applications that are received by the open enrollment deadline will be considered in the lottery. Applications received after the open enrollment deadline will be considered on a first-come first-served basis. Lottery decisions will be sent to families via text and email.
To submit an application or inquire about your status, please log in to your SchoolMint account at kippnorcal.schoolmint.net/.
What Makes KIPP Different?
With a focus on character and academics, our free public charter schools prepare students for success in college and opportunity in life.
Sense of Belonging
KIPP provides a positive, supportive, and anti-racist learning environment where all students are known, respected, and empowered.
- 100% of our schools prioritize social-emotional learning through a Multi-Tiered System of Supports; 100% of our schools have mental health counselors, which is available to all students irrespective of insurance status
Academic Excellence
KIPP fosters a culture of academic excellence and intellectual curiosity through individualized instruction that meets the learning needs of every student.
- KIPP Northern California high schools are ranked in the top 10% of public high schools in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report
- KIPP students gain significantly more learning— equivalent to 80 additional days in math and 70 additional days in reading compared to their peers in non-KIPP schools. *According to a Stanford University study
- 59% of KIPP students meet or exceed California State academic standards for English Language Arts (compared to 50% across the state)
- 47% of KIPP students meet or exceed California State academic standards for Math (compared to 39% across the state) *2021 results
- Award winning schools, for example: 11 California Distinguished School Awards, 2 National Blue Ribbon Awards, among others
Family & Community Partnerships
KIPP partners with families and local organizations in their communities to support healthy development for children.
- KIPP partners with community organizations including: El Concilio California, YMCA, Community Partnerships for Families of San Joaquin, Housing Authority of San Joaquin, Boys & Girls Club, College Track, Bayview Hunters’ Point Clinic, among many others
Developing Leaders of Color
KIPP creates a sense of belonging and fortifies the positive racial identity of emerging leaders of color at our schools.
- 71% of our executive team, 65% of our school principals, and 63% of our teachers identify as people of color
College and Career Guidance
KIPP works with high school students and 4,000 alumni each year on a path to college, career, and beyond.
- Over time, 94% of all KIPP Northern California high school students have matriculated to college and progressive pathways
- Our alumni graduate college at four times the rate of their peers
Becoming Anti-Racist
We embed anti-racism into the core of who we are and what we do.
- We seek to disrupt racial and socio-economic inequities in access and outcomes so that ALL of our students, families, and alumni thrive
- The pandemic has disproportionately affected the academic and socio-emotional progress of students like ours, especially Black students, students who qualify for specialized services, and multilingual learners
- To ensure we are designing for success at the margins, we are implementing a set of strategies to expand an equitable funding model for students who have an individualized education plan (IEP) and/or are multilingual learners, and schools with large populations of students in these groups