Stories

Being a parent is difficult. It’s difficult when you’re a two-parent family with lots of support. And it’s even more difficult when you’re a single parent. 

"Work hard. Be good. Think."

For KIPP Charlotte, this is more than a motto. It's a simple yet powerful directive to focus on academics and character in equal measure. It's a reminder that education is a matter of the mind and the heart. 

1980’s Charlotte = a building town. Construction workers moved here and built their lives in Charlotte, but no preschool was laying the foundation for Spanish-speaking children to enter Kindergarten. The need for Spanish-speaking families to access early childhood education was nonexistent before 1999 when SHARE Charlotte partner, Charlotte Bilingual Preschool (CltBP), opened their doors.

All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten.

Author Robert Fulghum said that.

“Hold hands. Stick together. Flush.”

Crucial advice for five-year-olds.

(And the rest of us, too.) 

But before the wonders of kindergarten comes the magic of preschool.

And a reminder that, even now, the best “time” in the world is still naptime and snacktime.

Preschool helps children develop vital social skills that stay with them well into their childhood.

Early child care and education are crucial to the emotional, social and even physical development of young children and have a direct effect on their overall development as an adult. According to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, while our brains continue to develop and change well into adulthood, the first eight years build a foundation for future learning, health and life success. 

Did you know that food insecurity is a major problem in the city of Charlotte? 

How big of a problem? 

Think 150,000+ individuals in Mecklenburg County big. Additionally, around 80% of those individuals don’t have consistent access to transportation. That means, even if it’s a good week financially, accessing places like grocery stores, farmers markets, or even food banks, is still a challenge. Surprised? I was. In a city where popular grocery store chains seem to pop up like weeds, reading the stats was a shock. 

Walking to the grocery store in Detroit in the 1970s, 6-year-old Angela Gray loved math and counting money.

“I remember going to the store with my mom and they had a sign that read, ‘Sale Yogurt - 4 for a $1’. I told my mom, ‘That’s not a sale because the yogurt is usually 22 cents each,’  Gray reminisced. 

Who will feed me this weekend?

It's a question no child should have to ask. But for kids who rely on free and reduced meals at school for daily nutrition, it's a question they could face every Friday afternoon. Sixty-five hours of weekend with an empty belly is a long time, especially for a child trying to grow and learn.

There’s an old saying that each of our stories pivot on a single moment. 

That short pause between what is, and what could be.  

In a breath we can decide between what we wish to be true…

And what we can make happen. 

“Pathway.”

That’s what Camino means in Spanish.