About
In July 2007, KIPP Sharpstown College Prep opened its doors to its founding 5th grade class. The founding school leader, Chong-Hao Fu, envisioned a unique KIPP school in Southwest that provided a rigorous college-preparatory education for all, as well as offered students world-class fine arts classes. A former teacher at KIPP Academy Middle School in Houston, Mr. Fu was excited to work in the same community he had previously taught. He led the school for four years and was proud to watch the founding class of 2015 be promoted to High School. His tenure as a school leader was marked by high academic achievement and the development of the school fine arts program. In 2011, Karima Wilson moved from the role of Assistant Principal to School Leader. She has worked at KIPP Sharpstown College Prep since its founding and is committed to growing the school to the highest levels of success.
Kristen Reyes
Dance Director
I am a dance teacher for KIPP Houston Public School. I teach at a middle school for the fine arts. Our aim is to mold young artists through a rigorous curriculum so that they can audition for intense programs like High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. I hope to encourage students to embrace the arts in all areas of their lives. My long term goal is to pursue Dance Movement Therapy.
Tobias Whitman
5th grade math
I teach math at a Title I school in Houston, Texas. My students work hard to learn all they can without using many of the resources other schools have readily available.
Jeannie Kim
Seventh Grade English Teacher
Hi! I am a second-year Seventh Grade English teacher at KIPP Sharpstown. I came into education to give back what I received from my teachers, specifically to teach communication to strengthen social bonds and understanding among each other.
Charnissia Smith
8th Grade ELA Teacher
I teach 8th Grade ELA at KIPP Sharpstown College Prep in Houston, Texas. More than 75% of my students come from low-income backgrounds and over 35% are English Language Learners. I love teaching my students because they come excited to learn, are not afraid to make mistakes, and teach me about the world every day.
Katie Seelye
8th Algebra
I teacher 8th grade Pre-Algebra and Algebra at KIPP Sharpstown.
Lee Rivera
Orchestra Director
My name is Lee Rivera. I teach the orchestra program at KIPP Sharpstown College Prep. The mission of our school is a very powerful one... to ensure that our students internalize the habits of self-reliance, honor, achievement, responsibility to others, and persistence in order to become life-long learners capable of excelling in college and committed to transforming tomorrow. I teach string orchestra to fifth through eighth grade students. My main goal for my students is that they learn to become life-long music lovers, and are able to pass that love of music onto future generations. We value the fine arts very highly at our school. So much so, that each and every student is enrolled in one of our five fine arts classes (orchestra, choir, visual art, dance and theatre) for all four years they are here. We work very hard to provide the students with a high quality arts education along side their rigorous study in the other content areas. With this in mind, I fully believe we help to make our students into well rounded and community conscience individuals who will become strong productive members of our society in the future.
Marlena Dobbs
Teacher
SECONDARY EDUCATOR IN HISD TEACH FOR AMERICA 2013 CORPS MEMBER
Fabeah Adu-Oppong
Blended Learning Teacher
My name is Fabeah Adu-Oppong and this year I'm one of 2 blended learning interventionist at KIPP Sharpstown. KIPP Sharpstown is a charter school where my students attend school from 7:15 - 5 pm. KIPP Sharpstown is a Title One school where we have about 90% of students on free or reduced lunch. We have a large population of English Language Learners.
Davis Kim
7th Grade Science Teacher
If someone had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was six, when I was ten, or even when I was eighteen, I would not have said that I wanted to be a teacher. It was a job that I deeply respected, but I wanted to pursue something in the medical field, channeling the high expectations that I had internalized as a first generation child of two Korean immigrants. However, my experiences with Breakthrough were able to change the mindset that I had so dearly held to. It is difficult to verbalize the extent to which these couple of summers acted as a turning point to my life, because my decision to pursue teaching comprised of many individual moments: a student’s growth in science, a student being able to play Maple Leaf Rag on the piano by the end of the summer, getting messages from students detailing their academic achievement in chemistry. The part that touched me the most weren’t necessarily these successes themselves; it was the fact that I was able to celebrate these accomplishments with them, as someone who played a role in their success. I had so much “success” as a Breakthrough teacher that I wanted to continue working in this field – to continue to inspire victories, to invest students in science, and to be an important, albeit short, part of their lives. In college, I majored in Neuroscience and Music, majors that had nothing to do with education. However, I don’t necessarily see that as a con. The school that I work at is considered a “fine arts” school, where all of our students are required to take a fine art of some kind. I bring a plethora of artistic experiences to the table, and I have been able to develop deep relationships with my students, on the sole fact that I am so knowledgeable about my particular fine art – music. It has also allowed me to invest myself more deeply into the school itself, as I find myself volunteering to accompany the choir, helping conduct rehearsals and sectionals, assisting the orchestra teacher, or pushing into classes to provide musical feedback to my very own students. It has provided the students an opportunity to see Mr. Kim outside of the realm of science, and it has also allowed me to see my students in their element – an exciting moment in itself. Majoring in Neuroscience allowed me to become strong in the content that I am teaching right now, opening up many opportunities for me to push rigor in the classroom, and allowing me to connect science to the real world in many ways. I talk about the research I did as a Neuroscience student, the interesting conferences I was able to go to, the avenues of my major, and the importance of understanding even a rudimentary level of science for their daily lives. I believe that because I am confident in my content, I can focus on other aspects of teaching, such as how to make that content accessible to all of my students.
