CLEVELAND: A new School of One, run by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, focuses on creating a space for students who identify as LGBTQ +.
During the pandemic, classes are held online, but once hybrid learning is available, school leaders hope to have some students at Detroit’s LGBT Community Center. CMSD says it is the first of its kind in the country.
“It kind of hits me. I honestly didn’t think it would be that easy,” said DaJon Battle, a district program administrator. Battle, who identifies himself as Queer, said representation in schools is important.
It is not the first single school in the district. The program has eight other sites. The School of One is based online and students work at their own pace.
Battle said the only obstacle to starting school was the pandemic.
“There was no setback,” Battle said. “Not from the board. Not from Mr. Eric Gordon. Not from a principal. I literally went to my principal one day and said, ‘I’d like to open a single school in the LGBT center.’ And he said, ‘ Okay”.
Funding for these School of One programs comes from the district’s general fund.
Battle is leading the position in the district to add more inclusive learning opportunities for students.
“They didn’t feel like their story was being heard,” Battle said of LGBTQ student experiences. “And so I felt it was really important to open a school that would only allow our students to be normal.”
So far, Battle said the student response has been good.
“Just like they really felt like I was being seen,” he said. “My voice is being heard and I’m not. Now I’m comfortable in who I am.”
Roman Sardo-Longo is a new student at the School of One. It started in late 2020.
“Growing up, I’ve always really enjoyed math. I’ve always excelled at math,” he said. Sardo-Longo now teaches online through the School of One program. “And that’s why I liked it because it made me feel smart. And I get the feeling that if everyone else felt smart in math, they’d like it too.”
The online structure of School of One differs from the traditional school structure that has translated into virtual schooling. Students in the School of One program through the LGBT center can attend a morning or afternoon session of online learning.
Although he only participated in the program a few weeks ago, he said the transition was perfect.
“It’s really easy to get caught up in all the things people say to you or the weird looks they offer you at school,” he said. “But here it’s like no one, like everyone knows what’s going on. Everyone knows everyone’s been there.”
Battle said the School of One program accepts students through continued enrollment and that students do not have to identify themselves as LGBTQ + to apply, but “just respect culture and the environment.”
“You know, when you’re surrounded by people who are also LGBT, it seems normal to you,” Sardo-Longo said.
Despite the pandemic, Battle is already looking to the future. The collaboration between CMSD and the LGBT community center means that students could take classes for the center district if they want, and then move on to the center’s schedule when classes are done for the day.
Soon, Battle hopes to implement LGBTQ history in the courses.
“I’m very excited because I feel like a lot of young LGBT people don’t know our history so well,” Sardo-Longo said. “I mean I won’t say I know him very well.”
And for Sardo-Longo, the opportunity for an inclusive school environment happening in Cleveland makes One’s School an even better option.
“It’s very comforting that, like Cleveland, it can be a place where we can feel safe and feel great.”