This article originally appeared in WFAE reporter Ann Doss Helms’ weekly education newsletter. To get the latest school news in your inbox first, sign up for our email newsletters here.
I’m not sure when Arthur Griffin started urging me to look into Renaissance West STEAM Academy, but it feels like it’s been on my to-do list forever.
I met Griffin in 2002, when I was the new education reporter for The Charlotte Observer and he was chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board. We’ve both watched countless efforts to create equitable opportunities for Black students emerge and fizzle — a huge frustration for Griffin, who grew up in segregated Charlotte schools and spent decades trying to improve conditions.
Griffin said Renaissance West reminded him of Project LIFT, a massive public-private partnership to turn around schools in west Charlotte. It got $50 million in investment and attention from across the country when it debuted in 2012, but ended in 2018 with the schools and many of the low-income Black students they served still struggling. “Here’s another Project LIFT thing, with the greatest intentions and hopes and we’ve just sort of been dragging our feet,” he said of Renaissance West.
On paper, Renaissance West, a pre-K-8 public school, was definitely a failure. The vast majority of students weren’t passing state exams. The school has gotten an “F” on North Carolina’s school report cards every year since it opened in 2017. But there’s always more to a story than those letter grades show. And I knew I couldn’t tell the story of Renaissance West without looking at the broader effort to reshape the community it’s part of — and the Atlanta project that inspired it.
I started doing interviews and making visits in November, working it in around other education coverage. My editor, Greg Collard, brought in the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative to finance the Atlanta trip and share the story with a wider audience. Griffin, meanwhile, joined the Renaissance West Community Initiative board in hopes of making a difference, but resigned after being elected as a Mecklenburg County commissioner in November.
WFAE started airing my three-part series this week, titled “Renaissance West: A slow rebirth.” Fair warning: I didn’t find any villains to expose, and there’s no miracle ending to make you stand up and cheer. Instead, it’s a look at the tremendous persistence that’s required to counteract deeply entrenched problems. And with the 2023 test scores and school performance grades coming out next week, there’s hope that Renaissance West’s string of “F’s” is about to be broken.
On Thursday we’ll do a Charlotte Talks segment with some of the key players, a chance to go a bit deeper. I hope you’ll follow along and let me know your thoughts and questions.
At Esperanza Global Academy, a new start and bienvenidos a todos
Monday was a day for new beginnings, as the majority of North Carolina students returned to classes. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools held its back-to-school briefing last week at Esperanza Global Academy, where workers were hustling to get the building and grounds ready for opening day.
It’s a new neighborhood school in east Charlotte. “Esperanza” is Spanish for “hope,” and “global academy” refers to the location in the heart of Charlotte’s international community. More than half the students will come from homes where English isn’t the first language, and the school will be well staffed with Spanish speakers.
The school mascot is actually two mascots: A jaguar and a butterfly. “The jaguar symbolizes confidence, power, courage, and patience. Our jaguar always travels with his friend, Mari the butterfly. A butterfly is a symbol of hope and immigration because they travel far and wide to find new homes that are safe,” explains Principal…
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