Legacy | A Publication of Lena Pope Legacy | Summer 2013 | Page 4

Chapel Hill Academy
By Vicki Sendejo

Early Learning Center
By Susanne Luebke

Principal, Chapel Hill Academy

Director, Lena Pope Early Learning Center

Chapel Hill Academy embarked on a seemingly foreign

I can’t believe it’s been a year since we opened the doors

concept this year. For the first time, the school would be

of the Lena Pope Early Learning Center! What started as

graduating 55 students to attend other schools. Many

a vision for making quality early learning accessible to

students in this group had been charter members of the

all children, has turned into something more. I am most

school when it first opened its doors in 2009. Teachers

struck by two things. First, that prevention and early

and staff had spent the past five years empowering

intervention really does work! I see it each time I go into

these students with an education, and preparing them

a classroom and see the child who came in lacking in so

for a successful academic career at any middle school

many skills keeping up with every other child in the class.

or junior high. It was a bittersweet year, being that

Or, when I have a parent who was initially hesitant to

it was full of excitement seeing our students mature

have a conversation ask to sit down and problem solve a

physically and scholastically, but no one was quite

family dilemma over coffee.

prepared for the reality of this special group of students
picking up and moving on to 6th grade — elsewhere.

My second realization is that the safe and supportive
environment we strive to create hasn’t been only our

They will be missed by all, but many have siblings and

doing. It has been a magical exchange between the