I Promise School is an American Elementary & Middle school that serves low-income and at-risk students in Northeast Akron and founded by LeBron James and the his foundation.

^{[14] [18]}The school consolidates all of the students who form part of the I Promise Network, the foundation that laid the framework for the school by offering after-school and summer programing for more than 1,200 students in the city beginning after second grade.

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The school's inauguration took place on July 30th, 2018.

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Founded in 2004, The LeBron James Family Foundation began as a mission to help underprivileged children and young adults by positively affecting their lives through education and co-curricular educational initiatives.

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The Foundation kickstarted a program called I Promise Network.

^[22]The project is an Akron-based, non-profit aimed to serve low-income and at-risk students in his hometown, and the public school could be an agent of change in the eastern Ohio city.

^[14]The institution is the intersection of James’ philanthropic Family Foundation and the I Promise Network he helped kickstart.

I Promise began as an Akron-based non-profit aimed at boosting achievement for younger students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Now the movement has the means to educate these students year-round.

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After years of having a steady success for the students involved in the program, Lebron James set out to have an institution for all of the 1,200 students involved.

^[26]In 2018, the Foundation opened the I Promise School. ^[25]

The school opened on July 30th, 2018 with 240 students spread over two grades — third and fourth.

From there, it will add second and fifth grades in 2019 and then expand to a first through eighth grade lineup (there are no current plans to offer kindergarten) by 2022.

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The core vision of the school combines science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) **** with the “We Are Family” philosophy of the LeBron James Family Foundation for students and their families.

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The plan also identifies three problems facing **** I **** Promise students that the school will take a swing at: academic performance, socio-emotional issues from trauma and poverty and parental involvement.

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The school will replace the network, and funding the foundation uses for summer programming will go toward the school.

Kids currently in the network who aren’t attending the school will continue as normal until they graduate and the network phases out.

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Just like the I Promise Network, I Promise School kids are identified in second grade primarily based on reading test scores.

Then, they’re chosen randomly from a lottery system.

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The school will start with an equal number of third- and fourth-graders.

For the 2019-20 school year, a new group of second- and third-graders will be inducted.

Then, in 2020-21, first and second grades will be added.

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The school, which eventually will house first- through eighth-graders, will add a class of first-graders each year until 2022-23.

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The school has three foundational principles: STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), restorative practices for social-emotional learning and family wraparound supports.

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The Following is also a part of the school's fundamentals:

Free tuition

Free uniforms

Free bicycle and helmet

Free transportation within two miles

Free breakfast, lunch and snacks

Food pantry for families

GEDs and job placement services for parents

Guaranteed tuition to the University of Akron for every student who graduates ^[19]

I Promise students' school days start an hour later than their peers at other schools.

They’ll also receive an additional hour after school every day called the “illumination period,” which will be a time for extra mentoring, studying or club activities.

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The school year is slightly different for I Promise School students in respect to others in their district.

They’ll receive the same amount of time off school during holidays and summer, but the time will be broken up differently to ensure year-round learning.

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