‘Work at your own pace’ with charter school option

HERBERT L. WHITE | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Jessica Estrada, a sophomore at Stewart Creek High School, said she found the flexible schedules and independent learning of the public charter school a better academic fit than traditional high school..

When Jessica Estrada needed an alternative to traditional high school, she found it in a charter school.

Estrada, who just completed her first year at Stewart Creek High School, opted for a personalized experience where she’s learning independently at her own rate. A classmate suggested Stewart Creek, a public charter school in west Charlotte where the day is divided into four-hour academic blocks and the curriculum allows students to earn credits up to twice as fast as traditional high school. In addition, Stewart Creek’s flexible enrollment and graduation schedules allows students to start and finish at any point in the academic year with an accredited diploma.

“I struggled with keeping up with their work, and I didn't really understand it as much,” Estrada recalled of her time at North Mecklenburg High. “I tried looking for another school and then my friend transferred here, and I asked her how it was, and she said she liked it. She really liked how she could [work] on her own and if she needed help, she can ask for help and you can work at your own pace.”

That’s Stewart Creek’s hook – help students who struggle in a traditional setting or don’t have the time to dedicate to a full day get what they need to prepare for work or college. Students are often referred by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; others, like Estrada, opt in on their own.

“We function as a dropout prevention, credit recovery high school,” executive principal Jonathan Kay said. “We provide additional opportunities and alternative pathways for kids to graduate high school. We normally recruit students or find students who have had difficulties getting through high school – be it medical concerns or having to help be parents and caregivers in the home. Or they’re just looking for alternative paths through high school instead of going through the traditional, comprehensive high school.”

There are 211 charter schools in North Carolina – 33 in Mecklenburg County – according to data from the Department of Public Instruction, which make up 10% of the state’s student enrollment, or allotted average daily membership. More than 145,000 students attended charter schools, DPI Chief Financial Officer Alexis Schauss said in a March presentation to lawmakers.

Charter schools, which North Carolina lawmakers authorized in 1996, have more flexibility than traditional public schools in order to “provide parents and students with expanded choices… available within the public school.”

Demand for charter schools has increased in recent years with approximately 85% reporting a waitlist totaling more than 77,000 students in 2022, according to self-reported DPI data.
Stewart Creek’s flexibility helped Estrada get on track academically without conforming a traditional setting or scheduling.

“I feel like it's much easier for me to comprehend and what I’m learning and actually get a grip of what they’re teaching me,” she said. “I feel like that’s what has really helped me and that’s one of the reasons why I transferred here because it my friend said it was easy for her to have a grip on what she was learning.”

Principal Tamara Wynn points to Estrada as an example of a student taking advantage of a supportive environment and passing that experience on to her fellow students.

“She’s just amazing,” Wynn said. “Just all together. She's friendly. She's helpful. She encourages people. I’ve had students who haven’t come to school and [I can ask] Jessica, ‘call them; tell them Ms. Wynn’s looking for them’ and she does. She has just come in and embraced the fact that whatever happened before she got here happened before she arrived. Right now, it’s a new opportunity and possibilities are endless for her. And she understands that.”

HERBERT L. WHITE | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Stewart Creek High School executive principal Jonathan Kay.

And thriving.

“My favorite subject would most likely be science, even though I don’t understand it as much,” Estrada said. “I feel like it’s interesting to know what's out in space and how each planet is born, or like how each planet has their own type of moons and how each one takes a different time to rotate [around] the sun.”

Estrada’s career ambition is to become a contractor and go into the family business. She’ll spend the summer learning on the job to prepare for the future – as well as pursuing an academic path.

“I want to have my own business as a contractor,” Estrada said. “My dad has a contracting business and I want to go to college to get my … business degree so that when I’m older and I have more experience I can take over my dad's business.”

Stewart Creek partners with local agencies and community organizations like Central Piedmont Community College, Care Ring, Loaves and Fishes and Alexander Youth Network to provide services and support for students and their families. After graduation, the school tracks alumni as they start postsecondary and work careers. The goal is to help their former students get off to a good start by leveraging resources that help them succeed once they leave campus.

“Our support doesn’t just stop when they graduate,” assistant principal Sabrina Johnson said. “It extends past when they graduate. …Once you’re a Stewart Creek Tiger, you’re always a Stewart Creek Tiger.”

Said Kay: “It’s part of what we call post-secondary planning. Our board recognized that not all our kids are on their way to a four-year college and so they’ve established scholarships for kids who are on their way to college but even for students who are on their way to the workforce.

“So, if you’re graduating and you have a certification … and you’re on your way right to work, you have an opportunity to apply for a scholarship that is only offered to our students by our board. That scholarship will go to help you buy uniforms and tools that you need for your job. We really recognize that there are different pathways for all of our students that we need to provide support to all of them.”

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