CLEVELAND – A new School of One, run by the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, is focused on creating a space for students who identify as LGBTQ +.
During the pandemic, classes are online, but once hybrid learning is available, school leaders hope to have some students at the Detroit LGBT Community Center. CMSD says it is the first of its kind in the country.
“It blows my mind. 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.
This is not one of the district’s first schools. The program has eight other sites. One’s school is based online, and students work at their own pace.
Battle said the only obstacle to starting school was the pandemic.
“There was no push,” Battle said. “Not from the board. Not from Mr. Eric Gordon. Not from a director. I literally went to my principal one day and said, “I’d like to open a School for one at the LGBT Center.” And he said, “Okay.”
Funding for these School of One programs comes from the district’s general fund.
Battle leads the district leadership to add more inclusive learning opportunities for students.
“They didn’t feel their story was heard,” Battle said of LGBTQ students’ experiences. “And so I felt it was very important to open a school that would only allow our students to be normal.”
So far, Battle said the students’ response has been good.
“It’s like she really feels like I can be seen,” she said. “My voice is heard and I am not. Now I am comfortable in what I am.”
Roman Sardo-Longo is a new student at the School of One. It started at the end of 2020.
“Growing up, I always liked math. I always excelled in math,” he said. Sardo-Longo now takes online courses through the School One program. “And that’s how I liked it because it made me feel smart. And I feel that if everyone else felt smart in math, they’d like it too.”
The online structure of the School of One differs from the traditional school structure which has been translated into virtual schooling. Students in the School One program through the LGBT center can go to either a morning session or an afternoon session of online learning.
Even though he only attended the program for a few weeks, he said the transition was perfect.
“It’s very easy to just get caught up in all the bad things people tell you or the weird looks they give you at school,” he said. “But it’s like nobody here – like everyone knows what you’re going through. Everyone knows everyone was there.”
Battle said the School of One program accepts students through continuous enrollment, and students do not have to identify as LGBTQ + to apply, but “just respect the culture and the environment.”
“You know, when you’re surrounded by people who are also LGBT, it feels normal,” Sardo-Longo said.
Despite the pandemic, Battle is already looking to the future. The partnership between CMSD and the LGBT Community Center means that students could take classes through the downtown district if they want, and then move on to the center’s schedule when classes are completed for that day.
Soon, Battle hopes to implement the ongoing LGBTQ history.
“I’m very excited because I feel like a lot of young LGBT people don’t really know our history so well,” Sardo-Longo said. “I mean, I won’t pretend to know her very well.”
And for Sardo-Longo, the opportunity for an inclusive school environment happening in Cleveland makes One’s School an even better choice.
“It’s very comforting that, for example, Cleveland can be a place where we can feel safe and feel very beautiful.”