Slowly, more and more public schools are incorporating LGBT clubs and organizations into their halls. But even so, charter schools seem to lead the way when it comes to accepting LGBTs—whether they are students or the parents of students.
The bottom line, however, is that schools want to provide the best education possible to area children, and Orange County Public Schools’ newest Charter School—The Central Florida Leadership Academy—is no exception.
“What sets our school apart is the focus on character development,” says Tiffany Ward, principal of the new school. “The public school doesn’t necessarily have the time to focus on character development and we’re going to have a little bit longer day so that part of our day, everyday, is going to be spent on character development. So students are going to get their core curriculum but they are also going to learn about working with each other and focusing on bringing out their personal best.”
The Central Florida Leadership Academy is chartered for grades 6-12 and offers free tuition, basic college preparatory academics along with its character development. Most importantly, the academy allows students the freedom to learn at their pace while taking the time to tap into and develop the student’s full character.
While charter schools are public schools, they traditionally operate independently and are created and organized by teachers, parents and other community leaders. These schools are also open to general enrollment.
Because many students come from various backgrounds including minority communities and the LGBT community, it’s important for academic institutions to foster the differences in an effort to keep bullying at bay.
“Students from any walk of life will feel comfortable in the setting because … they will not be in an environment where they are going to be bullied or teased on picked on,” Ward says.
Charter schools like CFLA give students an opportunity to discuss things that are important to them in their world, Ward says. The students will function in groups and will be held accountable for their roles and responsibilities in those groups.
The Central Florida Leadership Academy is modeled after the Hyde Schools, which is a group of schools originally started in Bath, Maine. Just like the Hyde Schools, the Central Florida Leadership Academy shows much promise. Hyde Schools place at least 95% of its graduates in four-year academic institutions and 100% of their graduating seniors in inner city areas have been accepted to four-year colleges.
“He (Joseph Gauld, founder of Hyde Schools) was frustrated by the fact that he thought that the education system as he was operating it in the other schools was failing at both ends of the spectrum,” says Dr. Jody Litchford, president of the governing board of the CFLA.
Litchford says that motivating the top students to be their best and its lower students to improve should be a system’s top priority. The diversity of the students at the CFLA offers more of a real world education than schools divided by socioeconomic status and a particular area of town.
“We have students from every kind of background, nationality, ethnicity, level of income, races, sexes and religion,” Litchford says. “We will have a great diverse population to build a community that is not only strong because of its diversity but strong because of its willingness to treat each other as human beings.”
CFLA opens its doors at 427 N. Primrose Dr. on Aug. 23.
