08:11 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Claudia Dunemann wanted to improve her granddaughter's declining grades. So two years ago, she enrolled 10-year-old Clarisa Dunemann in KIPP TRUTH Academy, an Oak Cliff charter school.

"Clarisa had gone from a good student to a very bad student, and her previous school was considering putting her in special ed," the grandmother said. "After two years at KIPP, she is on the honor roll and this year has all A's and one B."

Clarisa, a fifth-grader who likes to sing, write poetry and read biographies, said she feels better about herself and her chance to become a journalist.

"I feel good because ... [KIPP] is preparing me for college," the 12-year-old said.

The tax-supported college-preparatory middle school, in the Lancaster-Kiest Shopping Center at Kiest Boulevard and Lancaster Road, is part of a national program that includes 38 exemplary schools. National media, including The New York Times and 60 Minutes, have lauded the school's academic success.

Youths living south of Interstate 30 and within Loop 12 are given priority in admissions.

KIPP administrators said the average fifth-grader entering the program reads at a second-grade level. Last year's fifth-graders improved more than two grade levels in reading and mathematics, and alumni have won about $18 million in scholarships to top high schools, officials said.

The academy is still controversial since many parents are hesitant to commit to the school's nontraditional hours and days. Weekday classes are from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Students leave two hours earlier on Fridays.) Students attend classes on alternate Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. They also attend a mandatory three-week summer school from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

(KIPP stands for "Knowledge is Power Program." TRUTH stands for tenacity, respect, understanding, teamwork and honor.)

Foundations and taxes fund the nonprofit school. Parents pay only for uniforms and a $5 monthly fee to subsidize Saturday classes.

Mrs. Dunemann, a Christian missionary and retired social worker, speaks often of her granddaughter's improvement and has inspired several relatives and friends to enroll their children at KIPP.

Clarisa's transformation is a proud example of what the school wants to do with many more youths who are struggling, Mrs. Dunemann and school officials said.

KIPP is seeking to increase enrollment this year, from about 110 students to about 140 – particularly fifth-graders – and plans to add an extra grade next year, said principal Steve Colmus.

Besides longer class hours, the academy stresses that students should think often of their future, he said.

"They are not known as fifth-graders, for example, but by the year that they will go to college," the principal said of the coming school year's crop of fifth-graders. "This is the Class of 2013."

He said his challenge is informing the public about the academy and convincing more parents that the academic regimen will help their children.

"We're proud of our national track record and that we're part of a movement that demonstrates over and over that this method works," Mr. Colmus said. "We want folks to know that they have options."

To inquire, call 214-375-8326 or visit www.kipptruth.org.

ABOUT TOWN: Former choir members are invited to participate in a reunion musical workshop at 8 tonight and 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, with a closing musical at 6 p.m. Saturday at Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, 11611 Webb Chapel Road. The activity is part of the 141st anniversary of the church, which members say is the oldest black Baptist church in Dallas County. Cornis Wells Reddick will lead the singers. The anniversary church service will be at 10 a.m. Sunday. Call 972-241-6151 to inquire.

• Congratulations to educator Rosie Sorrells and Dallas Black Dance Theatre founder and director Ann Williams, whom the Dallas alumni chapter of Texas Woman's University recently honored as distinguished alumnae. To learn more about the chapter, call 972-239-1683.

E-mail nwade@dallasnews.com

or fax information to 214-977-8319