MassDevelopment Bond Helps Lynn's KIPP Academy Public Charter School Build Addition
February 07, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Meggie Quackenbush, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2011 & 857-208-2777 (cell)
mquackenbush@massdevelopment.com
Kate Reynolds, KIPPMA, 781-656-4127
kreynolds@kippma.org
MassDevelopment has issued a $5.7 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School. The school is using bond proceeds to build, furnish, and equip an approximately 12,000-square-foot addition to its campus, which will accommodate 600 students in kindergarten through fourth grade. KIPP is also using proceeds to renovate portions of its existing 68,000-square-foot school building; to construct and equip basketball courts, parking facilities, and a new playground; and to make other miscellaneous improvements. Citizens Bank purchased the bond.
MassDevelopment provided the school with a $26 million financing package in 2011, including a tax-exempt bond and a New Market Tax Credits allocation, to build its existing building.
“Education is one of Massachusetts’ most vital resources, and MassDevelopment is proud to help broaden the Commonwealth’s educational offerings with low-cost financing, especially in our Gateway Cities,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “We are pleased to continue our support of KIPP Academy as it strengthens its opportunities for Lynn students with new academic and recreational facilities.”
KIPP Massachusetts, formed by KIPP Academy Lynn Public Charter School and KIPP Academy Boston Public Charter School, provides educationally underserved students with academic, intellectual, and character skills to maximize their potential in college and beyond. KIPP Massachusetts began enrolling students in 2004. In Lynn, KIPP serves kindergarten through twelfth grade, and in Boston, kindergarten through eighth grade. Across both districts, KIPP Massachusetts serves more than 1,700 students. The school’s mission is to educate students and families in Lynn and Boston’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, wherever the achievement gap persists, serving student demographics that mirror those of neighborhood schools in terms of race, socioeconomic status, English language ability and special education needs.
“Our kids and families have earned this beautiful new building, and we are excited the larger addition will allow us to accommodate our younger students to this High Rock Lynn campus,” said Caleb Dolan, executive director of KIPPMA. “This expansion is the most recent step in a journey that began when founder Josh Zoia opened KIPP Academy Lynn Middle School in 2004. The project reflects our core beliefs, expressed in our school motto—to work hard and be nice—because it required unwavering belief, hard work, and a team effort by all.”
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2016, MassDevelopment financed or managed 352 projects generating investment of more than $4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 8,200 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 4,200 residential units.