LeBron James: I Promise School Students Are Doing 'Better Than We All Expected'

Nearly one year after LeBron James officially opened the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, the early results from the inaugural class are very promising.

Per Erica L. Green of the New York Times, 90 percent of the 240 third- and fourth-grade students "met or exceeded individual growth goals in reading and math, outpacing their peers across the district."

James addressed the academic growth from the school in a phone interview with Green. 

"These kids are doing an unbelievable job, better than we all expected," he said. "When we first started, people knew I was opening a school for kids. Now people are going to really understand the lack of education they had before they came to our school. People are going to finally understand what goes on behind our doors."

The school was funded by James' Family Foundation and officially opened on July 30, 2018. Its mission is to provide an open and stable learning environment for at-risk kids. 

Even though I Promise School is currently limited to students in third and fourth grade, it will expand to add two grades from one through eight every year for the next three years.