100 new charter schools to open nationwide, founded by Charlotte’s Movement Mortgage
Charlotte-based Movement Mortgage is investing $100 million into its charter school network and expanding the concept across the country, the company announced Friday.
The investment is a part of the mortgage lender’s plan to build 100 new schools through its foundation over the next ten years, beginning in cities like Atlanta, Houston and Dallas.
“In the schools that we currently have, we started to see how our students were shining, and how our families partnered with us to help shift the narrative (for underserved communities in Charlotte),” said Kerri-Ann T. Thomas, CEO of Movement Schools.
“We feel like if we have the ability to broaden our impact, then it’s actually our job to do so.”
Movement Mortgage was founded by former Carolina Panthers tight end Casey Crawford in 2008. The company’s foundation is its largest shareholder and uses dividends to build its network of public charter schools, the first of which opened on Freedom Drive in 2017.
Movement Foundation owns the real estate and leases them at a reduced cost to Movement Schools, which use public funds to cover operations. Since the schools are public, they’ll need state approval to open.
The schools have been working to change the economic mobility narrative in Charlotte, Thomas said, citing the 2014 study that ranked the city worst in the nation for equality of opportunity.
“Our students, our families – that (statistic) will not be the master of their fate,” she said.
Movement schools are intentionally located in underserved communities, Thomas said. They’re tuition-free Title 1 schools, a designation for those that serve a high percentage of students from low-income families.
Movement currently has three schools in Charlotte – two elementary and one middle school – that enroll more than 1,000 students.
It’s already planning two more in the city, one near South Boulevard and another near Beatties Ford Road. Those locations will offer pre-K through the fifth grade, and will open in 2022 and 2024, respectively. The State Board of Education will vote in January on allowing Movement to open the South Boulevard school.
The first phase of the expansion will focus on the Southeast, with Atlanta as the next stop, Thomas said.
Crawford said in a news release that Movement will focus on bringing the new schools to “some of the most underserved communities in our nation.”
“We believe that education is a critical conduit to break cycles of generational poverty,” he said.
In Charlotte, Movement School has already been able to make an impact for students, families and communities, Thomas said, addressing academic achievement gaps and partnering on local initiatives for healthcare and affordable housing.
Now, it’s time to take that success on the road, she said.
“If you have something that’s working really well, you want to expand your impact,” Thomas said. “That should be an underlying part of the mission: How can we ensure that this is not a bottle kept secret? If we’re truly going after equity, then expansion is at play.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
