LeBron James' Family Foundation and the Akron Public Schools opened the doors to the "I Promise School" on Monday, which will help some of Akron’s most challenged, at-risk students with education and support, as well as educational, career and emotional support for parents.
Most importantly, those students who complete the program and graduate will be guaranteed tuition to the University of Akron. However, the school is providing even more than that, not only for the students, but for their parents as well. LeBron took to instagram today to share more details of his I Promise school, which includes the following for each student.
Free tuition
Free uniforms
Free bicycle and helmet
Free transportation within two miles
Free breakfast, lunch and snacks
Food pantry for families
GEDs and job placement services for parents
Guaranteed tuition to the University of Akron for every student who graduates
The school, which will initially be open to 240 third and fourth graders, hopes to expand year by year, going to second and fifth grades next year until it is grades 1-8 by 2022, according to reports. In all, LeBron and his foundation leaders hope that more than 1,200 children will pass through the program and into college by 2029.
“I know these kids basically more than they know themselves,” James said, according to The Los Angeles Times. “I walked the same streets. I rode the same bikes on the streets that they ride on. I went through the same emotions. The good, the bad, the adversity. Everything these kids are going through, the drugs, the violence, the guns, everything they’re going through as kids, I know.”