Here’s how students are learning at Cedar Rapids’ first charter school

CEDAR RAPIDS — The first charter school to open in Cedar Rapids, called Empowering Excellence, is removing barriers for students by enabling them to learn at their own pace and on their own time.

Miletha Culler, 16, turned to Empowering Excellence because she felt disconnected from traditional learning. At her previous school — Washington High — she said she was skipping class, getting bad grades, was distracted by friends and didn’t feel supported by her teachers.

Within one month at Empowering Excellence, Culler said she’s completed classes in health and U.S. government and was waiting to be assigned her next classes.

The staff are encouraging her to think about what she wants to do after graduation. Soon, she will be offered opportunities to explore career paths through job shadows and internships with the more than 25 local businesses partnering with the school.

Empowering Excellence is the first of three charters expected to all be open by fall 2025 in Cedar Rapids. The school already has doubled in size in its first month of operation — going from about 75 to 150 high school students.

The school was created by local educator Sarah Swayze, who until this academic year operated a nonprofit called Empowering Youths of Iowa that provided one-on-one mentoring to students in the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

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Charter schools are tuition-free schools that are publicly funded, but independently run under an approved charter with the state. In Iowa, charter schools receive per-pupil aid from the state, just like public schools.

The National Education Association opposes charter schools because they are privately managed and not held accountable by locally elected school boards and, the association says, divert funding away from traditional public schools. Neither charter schools or traditional public schools can claim to be more successful at raising student achievement, the group says.

Swayze, however, said she doesn’t see herself in competition with public schools. Instead, she feels she’s meeting a need for students who otherwise might not graduate.

“What’s going wrong in our educational system that so many kids are feeling like their needs are not being met?” Swayze asked. “It’s no one school. It’s all across the nation. I’m looking at these parents. They are thirsty for something different. Kids have lost a lot of passion for learning. Their lifestyles just don’t fit the traditional system.”

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Most of the students enrolled at Empowering Excellence live within the Cedar Rapids Community School District attendance area. Some come from College Community, Linn-Mar, Marion Independent and some rural school districts in Eastern Iowa.

The school already is planning to move to a larger location next year, Swayze said, at 317 Seventh Ave. SE in downtown Cedar Rapids, the home of several nonprofits at the Human Services campus.

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An alternative path to high school graduation

Principal Charles Mausser said the students at Empowering Excellence have a range of experiences. Some have fallen too far behind in traditional public school to catch up. Others have children or are expecting parents, or are experiencing homelessness.

The school, now located in the Collins Community Credit Union building at 1800 First Ave. NE in Cedar Rapids, offers classes through the online learning platform Edmentum. Laptops are provided to students through Empowering Excellence.

Mausser said each student begins with two classes and physical education. “Most everyone who starts there will be successful,” he said. “We don’t want to get to a point of feelings of failure, because it can be hard to pick yourself up after that.”

Students are required to earn 36 credits to graduate, which includes credits they carry with them from their previous school. Students are not required to attend Empowering Excellence in-person, but space is available for them if they want or need it.

Some students come in for a quiet place to study. Others seek for extra assistance from administrators. “This space is for them to use however they choose,” Mausser said.

Mausser said since he doesn’t see every student face-to-face, he tries to check in on their progress online. If they reach out for help, he is ready to give them a compliment like, “It’s really awesome you completed this class,” he said.

The school is working to create a program where each student is assigned a mentor. Administrators currently are interviewing potential mentors. This could be a full-time job or mentors could take on one or two students apiece because they “love working with kids,” Mausser said. “It’s up to the applicant.”

The idea is for students to meet with mentors twice a week. That could be in-person meetings or touching base via text, whichever is the most effective communication tool.

Mausser said being a mentor can be hard. He knows there will be people who come to him feeling like they’re not making a difference.

“You don’t know what is the next moment that will show them how much we care about them. You have to keep interacting, because they hear you. You’re totally making a difference,” Mausser said.

Annie Bradford, Empowering Excellence’s director of education, said many students enroll in the school “feeling defeated.” But she’s seeing them already gaining confidence academically and talking about their ambitions to graduate.

Aaliyah Floyd, 19, is one of those students who couldn’t see a path toward graduation. She enrolled in Empowering Excellence with six credits and is taking ninth grade-level classes, but she expects to graduate in May 2025.

Floyd said she’s spending 15 hours some days on school. “I can’t wait to be done,” said Floyd, who wants to go to college to pursue a career as a crime scene investigator.

Amy Conyers, Empowering Excellence’s director of student support, was a school social worker for 20 years. Many of those years were at Johnson STEAM Academy in Cedar Rapids. Conyers said she wasn’t seeing many of her former students make it to their high school graduation.

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Falling behind in school can start as early as elementary school. If students are late to school a few times a week — because they’re responsible for taking care of younger siblings, for example — and miss out on reading time, it can disadvantage them.

What she loves about Empowering Excellence is that students “can access their learning at a time that works for them.”

“Every morning, I get up and see whose made progress and who hasn’t, and I touch base with the kids who might need it,” Conyers said.

In addition to helping students academically, Conyers helps them prepare for life. Earlier this school year, she helped a student open her own bank account.

Many students communicate with her via text message — making it a 24/7 job.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com