ROANOKE, Va. – These kids are students at a Roanoke school you’ve probably never heard of. It’s the Academy, a privately funded experiment to educate kids in a way that breaks the cycle of poverty.
“About 10% of our population is dependent upon government welfare programs to make a living. That was a very stunning statistic for me and my wife and we want to do something about it,” said John McLeod founder and chief executive officer of McLeod Enterprises, and the McLeod Family Foundation.
McLeod is a successful businessman, who said he wanted to give back in a meaningful way. So, he repurposed one of his real estate holdings to create a school. As of April 2024, there are 63 students. Students who come from families where there is little hope of escaping the pull of poverty and life in the welfare system.
“Over six years, this is our sixth year of our graduating our first class this year, the fifth grade, and we’ve had about 1/3 success in getting parents out of poverty families out of poverty and that six years, but this year or more, like two thirds, we’re much better at it now,” McLeod said. “We’re having a lot more success with it. And we’re real proud of that.”
A part of the success is small class sizes and personal interactions with the teachers.
But the real key is what you don’t see, during the school day itself. Parents of these kids receive training too. They must have a real desire to get off of welfare, out of public housing, and learn how to function in a job that pays well enough to be self-sufficient. Not easy.
“We have children who John, they’re in the fourth generation. And think about that that’s, you know, Grandma, grandpa and aunts and uncles. That’s a tough environment to want to get out of. And also the other thing we’ve learned is if you want to leave that environment, you can somewhat ostracized by your families. You’re better than me. What are you doing? You’re leaving, you’re going to a different neighborhood. That’s a lot of pressure. And we didn’t understand that when we started,” McLeod said.
McLeod said people on welfare receive about $35,000 worth of living expenses a year. So to get parents off of welfare, they need to be able to find jobs that pay better.
If you make $15.00 an hour, that’s $31,200 a year. Less than welfare.
When you get to $16.83, that’s the magic $35,000 a year. The same as welfare.
$20.00 an hour is $41,600. More, but is it enough to make it worth the effort?
$25.00 an hour gets you to $52,000 and now, you can live a different lifestyle. Break the cycle.
“It’s evolved and from a safety net to a cobweb. It’s very easy to get in and very difficult to get out,” McLeod said of the welfare system.
“Our goal is to make sure that we are taking care of our parents and taking care of our children and making sure this is the best part of our children’s day,” said Lori Bailey, principal of the school.
Students at the Academy, 95 percent of which come from single-mother households, eat better than average school lunches. And that’s a small part of what Bailey calls the “best part of the children’s day.”
In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, they get life training. Lots of field trips and visits from workers who talk about different jobs.
“So it’s little things that we do in life skills we teach them you know, gratitude, how to give gratitude how to show it, you know, write a thank you note, you know the art and writing thank you notes instead of you know, anybody can write an email, but to take the time to learn how to write a thank you note,” Bailey said.
While students often thrive here, it can be more challenging for a parent, usually a mother.
When a parent doesn’t do the things that they need to do to get off welfare they will be asked to leave the program.
“Well, unfortunately, we have limited funding here. So if we have a parent that doesn’t want to become self-sufficient, that’s clear our process. They get lots of counseling and lots of touches. We have to ask them to waive and unfortunately, we have to ask their child to leave as well,” McLeod explained.
That’s right. If you don’t make the grade at school and at home, you’re out. McLeod doesn’t want another cobweb.
The McLeod Family Foundation pays for most of this. The rest comes from donors.
“It costs about $15,000 per child. And so with that, about $10.000 of that is going towards the school and $5,000 of that is going towards family outcomes. That’s roughly the same amount that local school systems pay,” McLeod said.
As the first class of fifth graders graduates this spring, transferring to public middle schools, McLeod estimates two out of three families will have transitioned off of welfare. Several have purchased homes and have good-paying jobs.
It’s only been six years, but the Academy appears to be a worthwhile experiment.
“And that’s what our real mission is, if we’re successful in getting families out of poverty, we know the kids in school now are going to have a much better life. But more importantly, their kids are almost certainly going to be middle class or upper middle class when they grow up. And we’ve changed the direction of that family and a lot of family members. And that’s our mission. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish,” McLeod said.