Future public charter school offers Rutherford County families a unique social emotional learning experience

Murfreesboro parents Amber and Scott Mitchell are currently looking for a school that will not only meet their special needs daughter’s academic requirements, but also one that meets her social emotional development needs.They believe the social emotional learning that’s woven into the fabric of Springs Public Schools’ Empower Academy’s self-driven curriculum may be the perfect fit. Their daughter is currently thriving in a self-paced Montessori model at kindergarten and Empower Academy would offer the option of continuing that in a Montessori-aligned approach.“What really drew us to Montessori to begin with was the individual teaching and catering the education to the individual rather than teaching one way to the group,” said Scott Mitchell.“We’re looking for an option that would align somewhat with philosophies that they have there along with what we practice at home. And so we feel that Springs might be a good fit for our family,” said Amber Mitchell.The Mitchells were among 30 parents attending Empower Academy’s information session Monday afternoon. This session is the third one they’ve attended for the public charter school that will open in Smyrna in the 2024/2025 school year.The family first learned about Springs from a friend.They were looking for a school in Rutherford County that aligned with the philosophy at their daughter’s current preschool. Its Montessori model has been the only one that’s worked for their daughter.The Mitchells have had questions about how the future school intends to address students with behavioral issues and special needs and the answers they’ve received from staff have further reaffirmed that Empower Academy may be right for their daughter.“She still had the challenges, but they (Montessori kindergarten) were able to work through them far more effectively and there was no judging or shaming, it was very much collaborative and working with us, and that’s why we asked so many questions we did today,” said Scott Mitchell. “Because when these challenges come up, we want to be a partner in helping her, but we don’t want her being shamed and guilted.”Scott and Amber Mitchell said that while their daughter is meeting and exceeding her peers academically, it’s important for her to be able to communicate and function with other people as she grows and learns and not be shamed for being different.“I went to a private Christian school and whole the academic education I got was fabulous, really excellent, if you are caught talking even just to say, ‘here’s your paper’ and they get upset with you talking out of turn, you get a black slip in your pocket as a mark of shame,” said Amber Mitchell. “I still have a challenge speaking up, I still have a challenge with authority, like ‘oh my gosh, I’m going to get in so much trouble’ and I don’t want that same experience for my child who is great academically but might need some help learning how to be with other people.”When it opens next year, Springs Empower Academy will serve students in grades K-5 and will be affiliated with Springs Public Schools, Inc. in California. The school is one of three public charter schools approved to open in Rutherford County in 2024.Springs’ curriculum and Montessori-aligned learning model will have a focus on personalized resources and content, being student-driven, mastery learning, and the social emotional learning of the students.Each classroom will contain different means to engage the different ways children will learn from its set up to the content that’s taught.“Montessori principles and personalization is something I’ve been passionate about since I’ve started with Springs and being a principal in Springs. So having children learn to work independently, to understand their own learning styles, and how to apply that in the classroom and have a voice and choice in there, it’s huge for them to be engaged and want to come to school. We want our students to be happy about coming to school, to be excited, to be excited about learning, and when you have that passion built in, it’s intrinsic, then you’re going to be successful,” said founding principal Shane Wickwire.Like the Mitchell family, Wickwire wanted something different for his children as well when he first became a public charter school parent.Wickwire was looking for alternatives for his youngest child and decided to try a public charter school where the parent of one of his wife’s former students worked. His wife later took a job working for a public charter school and the family eventually moved several of their other children who were struggling in traditional school to charter schools.Wickwire himself followed 16 years ago when he first began working as an administrator at Springs Public Schools and later as a founding principal for a school in Corona, California.“I love what I do. I’m passionate about it, I’m not about checking boxes,” said Wickwire. “It’s not scripted, it’s not just ‘here’s the curriculum,’ everyone’s doing the same thing in all the different schools. All children learn a little bit differently.”For his initial goals, Wickwire wants the families that choose Empower Academy to be happy with their choice, to be part of the school community, and to embrace it. He also wants to see new staff get trained in the model and see it build momentum.“It’s not necessarily for everybody. The school of choice, I say that it’s open to everybody, but sometimes you find out ‘hmm, this isn’t exactly what I wanted’ and you should have opportunities to choose. That’s what makes charters great. It’s not just well I live here so my child has to go here, there’s no other choice. It’s great and it’s the American way, right, to have opportunities and choice and competition,” said Wickwire.