On July 30, 2018, the I PROMISE School opened in Akron, Ohio, through a partnership between Akron Public Schools and the LeBron James Family Foundation. The public school was designed to support students facing academic difficulties and to provide help for their families as well. For James, the project connected his success in basketball with the community where he grew up.
James is familiar with the struggle kids from these areas have to deal with. He was born to a single mother that often struggled to maintain a decent, stable life for her son. When James was in fourth grade, he missed 83 days of school as his mom struggled to find a job and place for them to live. At the 2018 opening, James described the school as one of the most important moments of his career. The emphasis was on giving children a more stable route through education, drawing on his own experience of missing school while his family struggled with housing and work.
The launch plans included an extended academic year running from July to May, an eight-hour school day and a seven-week summer session with camps focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The intention was to give students more time and support for learning, including during a part of the year when ordinary classes would be out. The announced support included breakfast, lunch and snacks, along with bicycles, helmets, school supplies, uniforms and transportation for eligible students. The programme focused on children from families with limited incomes who had fallen behind academically. These provisions addressed practical parts of attending school as well as what happened in the classroom. Support also extended to parents through GED classes and help with employment. The school opened with 240 third- and fourth-grade pupils. Early plans proposed expanding to grades one through eight by 2022; that was the announced development plan, rather than a description of the initial intake.
A separate college pathway was part of the wider I PROMISE effort. The University of Akron and the foundation announced their scholarship partnership in August 2015, three years before the school opened. Eligible programme participants were offered a route to a tuition-covered university education, subject to the programme’s requirements.
Contemporary coverage discussed a possible cohort of 2,300 students and projected roughly $100 million if all went on to college. That was an estimate of a potential commitment across many students and years. It was not the price of building the school or evidence that James personally paid a single $100 million bill at its opening.
More info: lebronjamesfamilyfoundation.org
Reactions to the school’s opening
The school and the college pathway
The I PROMISE School sits within the public school system, while the foundation and its partners contribute additional support. The college scholarship pathway is another part of the broader programme. Separating these commitments makes the project easier to understand: operating a school, supporting a family and helping a student enter university involve different organisations and different stages of education.
The University of Akron’s 2015 announcement also described work on measuring student progress and recruiting university students as mentors. Those details show that the partnership was intended to reach beyond a future tuition offer. A scholarship can make college more attainable, but students still need sustained academic preparation and support before they reach that point.LeBron James Family Foundation: programmes and partnerships
Support for the whole family
The foundation describes a Family Resource Center at the school, with individual family care plans and services from community partners. Its account includes on-site GED study through Project Learn of Summit County, access to food through a pantry, and essentials such as coats and toiletries. These are concrete ways of connecting the school day with family life.
For a parent, having several services in one place can reduce the number of separate appointments and organisations to navigate. For a child, reliable meals, transport and supplies can remove everyday obstacles to taking part in class. That is the practical idea behind supporting the whole family.
The resources themselves and their results are different questions. Attendance, progress in reading and mathematics, and pupils’ experiences over time help show how well a school is working. The July 2018 opening established the beginning of the school’s work; its long-term value depends on what happens for the children and families who use it.
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