I Promise School

In 2011, head of the foundation and professional basketball player LeBron James was researching the high school dropout rate of his hometown Akron and decided upon review to create the "I PROMISE" initiative, focused on supporting the youth in his childhood community.

In November 2017, the Foundation expressed to the Akron school board their desire to create a school that aims to assist disadvantaged children with their studies. The plans were approved later that month and subsequent development of the school was initiated.

James, having grown up in Akron, struggled as a student due to unstable conditions at home. His mother was unsuccessful in finding a permanent job, forcing the family to move multiple times.[6] During this time, James was absent for 83 days in fourth grade, resulting in a substantial lack of education. His upbringing served as a motivation to provide future generations of children with similar backgrounds with special support and care.[7]

"I know these kids basically more than they know themselves. I've walked the same streets, I've rode the same bikes on the streets they ride on, I went through the same emotions, the good, the bad, the adversity. [...] Everything they're going through as kids I know and for me to be in a position where I have the resources, the finances, the people, the structure, and the city around me, why not?", he stated in a video released on Twitter.[8] James considers the school's founding as the most important professional accomplishment of his life.[9] The LeBron James Family Foundation is funding additional services for the children and families attending IPS. Some of these services include uniforms, food for families, career placement services, bikes and helmets for each student, transportation for qualified individuals, and GEDs and job placement services for parents according to Akron School District spokesman Mark Williamson.[10]

Free tuition to the University of Akron for every graduating student is covered under the pre-existing Akron I Promise Network Scholarship, which was developed between the University of Akron, the LeBron James Family Foundation, and JPMorgan Chase in 2015.[11] To qualify, Akron public school students must graduate high school with a 3.0 grade point average.[12] Additionally, the University of Akron provides eligible Akron Public School graduates full tuition under the separate Innovation Generation Scholarship.[13][14] The Foundation has contributed an estimated $2 million in start up costs, though the number will change annually based on community needs.[15][12] Students are selected based on test scores and other metrics and criteria, then placed in a lottery system.

Before the opening of IPS, the I Promise program had been in Akron elementary schools for more than 10 years. There are 32 elementary schools in the Akron Public School system and kids from all those schools will now be in one location rather than spread across all of them.[16] Prior to 2018, the IPS building had housed students in the school system that were displaced by schools which were being rebuilt.

The Akron School District bears more than half of the costs – presumably around 75 percent – once it is fully running. I Promise will eventually cost about $8 million a year to run out of the district's regular budget, covered mostly by shifting students, teachers, and money from other schools, the district says.[17]

The school is divided into "I Promise Elementary" and "I Promise Secondary", respectively teaching students from grade one to four up to grade eight.[18] As of the first day of school on July 30, 2018, 240 students are attending grades three and four. The school is set to feature grades one and two by the following year and eventually all grades by 2022.[7][3] The school is housed in the former Akron Public Schools' administration building and remains part of the Akron School District. Teachers are still on the district's payroll and curriculum is developed according to public school requirements.

After tests administered by the Northwest Evaluation Association, The New York Times reported that roughly 90% of its 240 inaugural students either met or exceeded their expected learning goals in both math and reading, making the school the district's most successful. Initially scoring in the lowest one-percentile in both fields, third and fourth graders respectively rose to the ninth and 16th percentile in reading, and to the 18th and 30th percentile in math. By the end of the school year, the school proved to be among the fastest growing performance-wise nationwide.[19][20]

While the school has garnered overwhelming support for its general concept, certain aspects have been criticized. Annual costs of the school reportedly amount to $8 million, which are by some perceived to be a burden on taxpayers living in the comparatively low-income school district.[21] Parents who meet the criteria to enroll their children at the school but failed to do so due to the school's lottery system are especially frustrated at the tax increase.[22]

Its untraditional approach has led to confusion surrounding the actual type of school of I Promise School. Many observers have mistaken the school for a charter school, a type of school that has been widely criticized,[23][24][25][26] based on the school's unique programs, way of student selection, and extended year, all of which qualities that differ from the vast majority of public schools in the United States.[27]

• School website
• Foundation website
• Akron Public Schools website