Charter school partnership simulates law school experience for 8th graders with "Jr. JDs"

Clients KIPP 3:D Academy

Jones Day Houston has developed a new initiative called "the Jr. JD Program" as a part of its commitment to diversity and to establish an educational outreach to underprivileged children in Houston. In the program, which was developed in 2007 and implemented in 2008, Jones Day attorneys simulate a "law school" experience for 8th graders in a semester-long course on education law. The curriculum, designed by a Jones Day Houston attorney who was a former teacher, focuses on analyzing judicial opinions that have been edited to an eighth-grade reading level, and applying legal precedents. Additionally, the students visit the Jones Day Houston office, a federal judge's chambers and courtroom, and a state courtroom. A long-term goal of the program is to expose students to attorneys and their backgrounds and encourage them to consider careers in the legal profession. The "Jr. JDs" are students at KIPP 3:D Academy, an inner-city charter school and part of KIPP, a national network of 57 public, college-preparatory charter schools in under-resourced communities. Although 88% of KIPP Houston's students are from low-income households, historically 87% of KIPP Houston students have attended college, more than four times the traditional public school rate. The Jones Day effort is led by Dani Gleason and Chris Palamountain.