On the road to success: This Wilmington charter school has big plans for its future

The Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington was born out of the mission to give all students, regardless of their race or socio-economic status, access to the highest-quality education.

GLOW founders wanted to give students living at or below poverty the same chance to succeed as those from wealthier backgrounds, and in the years since the school’s founding, GLOW has continued to revise and improve its model.

“The point of the whole experiment, and I use that word intentionally, is to offer opportunity where it didn’t otherwise exists, and offer a pathway to college and to other opportunities to folks that at the time did not otherwise have a clear pathway to college and other opportunities in this community,” said Todd Godbey, CEO of Beacon Education.

Now, seven years after its founding, GLOW Academy graduated its first class of students, and its leaders have set even more ambitious goals for the institution.

GLOW grows: Leadership academy shows off its new home

Here’s what you need to know about GLOW:

What is GLOW, and how is it unique?

• GLOW was founded in 2016, admitting its first class of sixth-graders that year. The school has added a class each year since then, culminating in its first graduating class last month.
• GLOW is an all-girls public charter school for students between the sixth and 12^th grades. The school is the only single-gender public charter in North Carolina currently.
• Admission to the school is based on a lottery system, though the process is weighted to give preference to students who qualify for free or reduced lunches.
• GLOW’s model is based on a similar institution in East Harlem, New York, and is one of 21 schools to be part of a national network called the Young Women’s Leadership Network.
• Thanks in part to one of its founders, Judy Girard, GLOW has brought celebrity chefs such as Rachael Ray and Emeril Lagasse to Wilmington, helping expose students to an education they likely wouldn’t receive anywhere else.

Why was graduation such a triumph?

• In May, the first class of students graduated from GLOW. Roughly 72% of the graduating class are first generation college students, according to the school.
• GLOW’s graduation rate of 93% “was well above the level of the state and county, and the going to college rate was astronomically above the peers of our students who graduated,” Godbey said.
• May’s graduation was “triumphant,” according to Godbey, because GLOW’s mission statement states, “She will graduate, go to college, (and) succeed in life.” Helping their students fulfill two thirds of that mission was an emotional accomplishment for the staff, Godbey said, especially because there was some concern early on over whether GLOW would succeed as an institution.

What’s next for Beacon Education?

• Starting this fall, Beacon Education will open a new early childhood education center called Spark Academy to teach students from as young as 6 weeks to pre-K. The goal of the expansion is to start helping students at a younger age, so they aren’t a year to a year and half behind when they enter kindergarten.
• Spark Academy will use a mixed-income model for its enrollment, meaning 50% of its students will pay to attend, and the other 50% will receive scholarships. Overall, the first early childhood education center will host 170-175 students, but Beacon Education plans to open another “four or five” across the region in the future.
• Longer term, Beacon Education has plans to open a co-ed kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school, an all-boys middle and high school with programming similar to GLOW and make enhancements to the GLOW campus itself.

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