Crossnore to establish a second 'resilience-focused' public charter school in Winston-Salem

Inside a colorful classroom in Williams Academy in Avery County, Kindergarten Teacher Charlene Gragg welcomes her students back to class after lunch.

There are only a handful of kids, which is pretty typical around here. Today, though, she’s got her eye on one little girl who just arrived at the school more than halfway through the year. 

“She came into a whole group of boys," Gragg says. "I have never had just boys, so she and Ms. Gragg, we're a team, aren't we?”

Gragg knows she’s probably going through a big adjustment. So her goal today, like every day, is to create a loving environment. 

Once everyone is in their seats, Gragg asks each student to share one fun part of their day. When one student says they scored a point playing basketball, Gragg leads the kids in applause. 

"That's a big one," Gragg says, clapping. "Way to go."

Gragg says at Williams Academy, building relationships and making students feel safe are top priorities. 

“I think once the children feel that they're secure and that someone cares about them, they just flourish," Gragg says. "It's a process, though, because they come from different situations, different backgrounds.”

Williams Academy was one of the first charter schools in North Carolina. It was established in 1999 by Crossnore Communities for Children to serve students living in their campus-based foster homes. 

And according to Brett Loftis, Crossnore’s CEO, it’s one of the oldest “trauma-informed schools” in the state. 

“So 25 years ago, nobody talked about trauma. But we were building interventions in a school building specifically for kids that we knew had experienced trauma," Loftis says. "If nothing else, we knew, they'd been removed from their parents, even if we didn't know everything that happened. Just that trauma’s significant.” 

This year, roughly a third of the school’s students live in foster care homes on Crossnore’s Avery County campus. Many of the others are also in foster care elsewhere, or have been adopted, or are living with a relative or family friend. These children may have moved around a lot, and missed a good amount of school.  

Loftis says that’s why making students feel safe and loved when they come to class is so important. Some of them might not always feel that way.

“A lot of our kids feel like they're failures or they're not smart, and that is not acceptable here," Loftis says. "Every child is capable, every child can succeed. And that's that real resilience frame we have on everything.” 

Williams Academy uses what’s called the Sanctuary Model of Care. It’s like a blueprint, guiding teachers and administrators to understand what’s happening in the brains of students who have experienced trauma. 

Loftis says this framework helps educators see “misbehavior” in a new way. 

“If a child is having some behaviors that are related to their trauma, those are not attention-seeking behaviors. They're attachment-seeking behaviors," Loftis says. "They want to attach to the adults in the building, and so we're building safety so they can attach. And when they do that, they calm down and they learn.” 

But that social-emotional focus hasn’t meant a compromise in academics. 

Over the last ten years, Williams Academy has consistently met or exceeded academic growth, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. 

Williams Academy Principal Cyndi Austin says part of the school's motto is "failure is not an option."

"You can't quit. We all fall. We all have our failures, but failure to end it and quit and walk away is not an option," Austin says. "Your dream may change, but you don't give up on yourself."

Crossnore has been using this school as a model to train others across the country in how to build a trauma-resilient system. And this year, that model will be applied a little closer to home, with the opening of Anderson Academy, a new public charter school in Winston-Salem. 

The school sits up on a hill on Winston-Salem's Crossnore Campus. It’s under construction, but in a few months, Anderson Academy will be open to 100 students.

Children who have experienced foster care, or are economically disadvantaged will be prioritized for admission, though anyone can apply.  

Anderson Academy Principal Rashawn Meekins, who’s worked in education for more than a decade, says her school will be laser-focused on helping students build resilience. 

“So next time you get down, you'll have those coping skills, that support, that know-how to overcome that to get to your goal," Meekins says. 

She says any child, regardless of their background, can benefit from that. 

“We're going to build you up and make sure that you have a confidence and the skills to be successful in whatever you face," Meekins says. 

The school will open in August, and serve students in Kindergarten through fourth grade with 20 kids per grade level, and roughly 10 in each classroom. Fifth grade will open up the following year, and by 2027, Anderson will serve middle schoolers too.  

The school’s mascot is the Aviator — fitting for students who are expected to soar. 

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.