This week, we are excited to profile the extraordinary David Spencer, executive director of KIPP Indy.
While he was an undergraduate student at Texas Christian University, David Spencer was preparing for the LSAT. Soon to graduate with a degree in journalism and political science, law school was his next step — what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
As he was in the middle of studying for the LSAT, someone from Teach For America reached out to him.
“The rest is history. I heard what Teach For America wanted to do, specifically for our students of color, and I wanted to be part of that,” David said.
David was placed in Houston in 2008 teaching middle school in a school with a new leader, who he found inspiring.
“She not only led but she developed us as leaders,” he said. “I saw the impact of empowering people. I realized, this is what I want to do. I want to work with people who are passionate. It can change a trajectory. At that moment, I knew I wanted to be a school leader.”
Goodbye, law school
David was hooked. He went on to work for YES Prep Public Schools in Houston. (Which Jed recently talked to Chris Barbic about.) This experience helped David see the assets of the charter school model.
“The level of consistency that came with the autonomy was a major benefit,” he said. “We have the opportunity to operate schools in a unique setting that is strategically positioned to increase outcomes for students. That is something we have to work together to ensure.”
David then moved to Chicago and served as an assistant principal at Moving Everest Charter School before heading to Indianapolis to serve as founding school leader at KIPP Indy’s first high school, which opened in 2019.
“When I came to interview initially, as part of my second interview or something, they had me meet with a variety of community members. And I had always been part of schools that were part of their community,” David said. “KIPP Indy was the first place that I came and realized it was not just words that were said, but actions that were lived out.”
‘Truly a community’
Those deep, genuine community connections came to be something David desperately needed to draw on.
“Being the high school leader — but also being the high school leader in the midst of the pandemic — we had to call on the community,” he said. “Without missing a beat, they were like, ‘This is our community we want to make sure we’re supporting you and supporting you well.’ They helped with jobs and resources for our students, tracking down absent students, home visits. Pastors in our community have always made themselves available. You feel it and it is not in a way that is exploitative of any party. It is truly a community.”
School leader to network leader
After his first class of high school students graduated, David moved into the COO role for KIPP Indy in 2023. The network educates 1,500 students in grades K-12. This school year, he’s started as executive director.
“When you have a community that’s behind you, in the way that’s true here, being part of the next phase for KIPP Indy is such an honor,” David said.
He’s taking the helm at an exciting time in Indianapolis — where Jed says a “North Star” has arrived. Indiana recently saw the launch of the Indiana Charter Innovation Center, on top of the already courageous work being done by The Mind Trust.
According to David, even amid the exciting changes happening, keeping the community at the center is crucial — something he believes KIPP Indy does well.
“We have to remember that we’re part of a community that, in almost all cases, the community has been here before we were. We have to make sure we’re part of the community, that we continue to push the academic outcomes, but also are responsive to the needs of our community,” he said. “Cities are changing, and we have to quickly change in order to meet the moment.”
Never settling
As he embarks on this new role, David remains motivated by charter school leaders’ devotion to improving every day.
“I’ve had the opportunity to be in several settings with charter school leaders, and the charter school movement has been going on for long enough now that it would be conceivable that our networks operate from a playbook that we just press play with every year,” he said. “However, I have seen, regardless of the network, I’ve seen improvements every single year that are responsive to data, but also that’s informed by new learnings in the education atmosphere that we all experience. There’s a desire to continually grow and get better and learn from one another.”
He’s also inspired by the charter movement’s commitment to never settling — something not only reflected in the movement, but in his own career.
“There is not a peg in this large system that we have that isn’t working tirelessly for our students and to provide the best for them,” he said. “We’ve consistently shown that there is a desire to not settle for good enough. We have to become better every single day because students’ lives are entrusted to us every single day when their families drop them off with us.”