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Most students around Charlotte returned to school a few weeks ago, but for a small group of minority students, their learning started Monday in a nontraditional environment. The opening at a religious site is part of an effort to support children who face challenges learning in a traditional setting.
A kid cut a red ribbon with the Creative Learning Institute program founder, LaJeaune Cutino, at Sanctuary Church Charlotte, located about 15 minutes from the SouthPark area. The ribbon cutting marked the opening of the Creative Learning Institute.
The microschool will serve 10 homeschooled children, all of whom are African American. Cutino says she opened the program to fill a void.
“Sometimes, some children can’t move as fast," Cutino said. "They need a little more one-on-one interaction than what public school can sometimes offer them.”
According to the North Carolina Department of Administration, between the 2023 to 2024 school year, there were over 95,000 homeschools enrolling more than 157,000 students. Last year, there were over 100,000 homeschools.
Mother of four, Lynette Jones, attended the opening ceremony in a wheelchair. Jones' 10-year-old son will be attending the Charlotte program. Jones says her kids were introduced to the wrong things when attending school in Florida.
“Drugs, kids with anger issues, anxiety, with our children not being able to cope during the school day, get the things they need,” Jones said.
Percy Reeves is the pastor of Sanctuary Charlotte Church. He says they opened their space to the children and teachers because it's part of their responsibility.
“We're in this community, we should support and be concerned about the needs in this community. So when this need was brought to us and they cast a vision with us, we were just happy to happy to it fulfill our vision, it fills our mission as well, to support our community,” Reeves said.
The school will serve kindergarten to 12th-grade kids and is open to all ethnic backgrounds. Students will attend class there for two days per week, on Monday and Friday. The program hopes to eventually enroll 50 students.
