KIPP DC College Prep Uniform & Dress Code
KIPP DC’s dress code seeks to promote community and belonging, maximize learning, reflect our college and career aspirations, and encourage student expression and choice. KIPP DC wants to ensure that students are prepared each day to comfortably participate in and focus on all school activities. At KCP we strive to provide an academically focused, college prep high school environment, and we ask that our students dress in pre-professional college prep attire at school. Accordingly, all KIPP DC College Prep students are required to adhere to the dress code described below.
KCP Dress Code Guidelines
- KCP Tops: Students may wear a white or blue KCP button down or KCP polo shirt in navy, white, gold or black (black for seniors only) and any KCP branded apparel from our online uniform store. NAF polo shirts and sweaters are acceptable for NAF students. KCP students may not wear any non-KIPP shirts, sweatshirts, jackets or outerwear in the school building. In a case where a child has no available KCP uniform shirts, a plain white polo shirt or plain white button down shirt is acceptable as long as the shirt has no visible logos or designs. KCP t-shirts and college t-shirts are permitted on Fridays Only.
- KCP Bottoms: Students may wear professional tan, navy blue, gray, black or denim pants or jeans, including khaki shorts or skirts. All pants must be appropriately sized, worn at the waist, and not ripped, distressed or torn in any way. Shorts or skirts must be fingertip length and all skirts must have shorts, tights, or leggings Leggings worn on their own are not permitted at school. Athletic pants and shorts, including sweatpants/joggers (not leggings) are permitted on Fridays only.
- KCP Shoes: Students should wear comfortable school-appropriate shoes. Students should not wear shoes that restrict their ability to move around the building and participate in physical education or other activities safely. Sneakers and crocs are acceptable. Open toed sandals, slides, flip-flops, slippers, or high heels may not be worn at school.
- KCP ID & backpack: All students must wear a KCP lanyard with a KCP ID visible at all times in the school building. Lanyards and IDs will be distributed the first week of school. Students will need to scan their ID to enter the building each All students must bring a backpack to and from school each day to carry their school issued laptop and charger, instructional materials, notebooks, textbooks and writing utensils.
Note: If students arrive at school in shirts or pants that are not appropriate for school, they will be given the option to call home and have an appropriate item brought to school, or to be issued a clean KCP polo shirt and tan khakis to wear for the day and assigned to after school detention. If students arrive at school in shoes that are not safe or appropriate for school, they will be asked to call a family member to bring up replacement shoes, as we are not able to provide school-issued replacement shoes for students.
KIPP DC respects and protects students’ religious, ethnic, and cultural expression. Students may wear any religiously, ethnically, or culturally specific head coverings or hairstyles, including but not limited to hijabs, yarmulkes, and head/hair scarves or wraps. We strive to uphold a college-prep pre-professional environment at KCP, and students may not wear ski masks, bonnets or durags to school. Ski masks are never permitted anywhere on school grounds or at any KIPP DC activity and if seen, will be confiscated and only returned to a parent or guardian.
The following clothing is prohibited at any KIPP DC campus before, during or after school, including weekends and athletic events and will result in disciplinary action.
Any article of clothing, accessory, or markings on clothes or skin that:
- Exhibit curse words, slurs, or hate
- Display emblems, symbols, signs, or other things which are clear evidence of affiliation with illegal drugs, alcohol, violence, hate groups, or criminally motivated