About KIPP Academy of Opportunity

KIPP Academy of Opportunity (KAO) opened in summer 2003 in South Los Angeles with 90 fifth-grade students, under the leadership of founder Mikelle Willis. The school subsequently expanded annually, reaching capacity with grades five through eight in fall 2006.

Over the past six years, KAO has firmly established itself in the South Los Angeles community as a high-performing public charter school.

Our commitment to giving students more time in the classroom, creating high expectations, and focusing on results has enabled our students to make incredible strides. From fifth to eighth grade, the percentage of KAO students scoring at or above the national average has risen from 16 to 62 in reading and from 19 to 83 in math, as measured by the SAT-10, a nationally-administered test.

KAO has placed 95 percent of our alumni in college-preparatory high schools, including several prestigious boarding, parochial, and independent day schools. For more on our results, click here.

KAO currently serves 360 students in grades five through eight. Ninety-one percent of students are African-American; 9 percent are Latino. Eighty percent of students qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program.

To learn more about KAO and meet our students, watch our video.