When it was time for Gloria Lyons to send her kids to school she knew they deserved to go the best school possible.
“Without having an education you really can’t get too much of nothing done in adult life so I wanted to choose the best school that was going to help my kids in the long run,” she said.
But her neighborhood district school was one of the worst performing schools in the city, so Gloria new she had to explore other options.
“I don’t think I would have let my son even start school if he had to go to the school in my area,” she said. “Their success rate was like nothing.”
Thankfully, Gloria discovered KIPP Academy, a public charter school open to any St. Louis City student.
“The teachers were just there,” Gloria said. “They helped him learn the school. They helped him learn a lot of different things.”
She like the school so much that her daughter is attending KIPP now as well, and her son, now in second grade is on clear path to success.
“He actually just got his report card and he has straight A’s,” said Gloria. “They are thinking about testing him to see if he can move a grade.”
Gloria said she wished every parent had the same choices she has had.
“You know your kid better than anybody else,” she said. “So you know if your kid is going to be successful in a certain environment. I would like for everybody to be able to choose.”