Meet April Jackson | Microschool Founder & Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with April Jackson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi April, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am originally from Fairfield, Alabama, a small town just outside of Birmingham, AL. Until the early 2000’s, it was a thriving city from my perspective because it was self-sufficient. We had one the best HBCUs, Miles College, practically in the center of our community. We had our own thriving school system that was winning state championships in girl’s basketball. We had a grocery store, hospital, mall, post office, banks, small businesses, and a thriving industry, United States Steel, where my father worked. Growing up, I never had to leave my town for anything I needed. Everybody knew everybody, and we were almost all Black including our mayor and city council. It was Black excellence.

As a child, I lost my mother when I was only three years old, so my father raised myself and three siblings as a single father. He taught us to have pride in our family and appearance. I can’t say that he emphasized going to college, as I think the priority was being a good human being, active citizen and hardworking, but he instilled in us a work ethic surrounding academics. When you came home form school, you couldn’t go outside and play or watch television until your homework was done. This value system still inspires me today.

Although my father did his absolute best, the absence of my mother could have stifled me had it not been for my teachers. I had a wonderful community of Black female educators who took to me and nurtured me. In particular, my third grade teacher, Ms. Massey poured into me in such a way that inspired me to become a teacher.

Without the foundation of a strong Black community, committed father, and loving teachers, I don’t think I would be the successful microschool founder I am today.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am the founder of PASS Network Foundation, home of PASS Pod, a South Atlanta microschool providing youths ages 8-13 with a culturally relevant learning experience in a small group setting that offers individualized learning.

Our mission is to improve post-secondary success and sustainability for youths in vulnerable and marginalized communities by empowering them with the academic, enrichment, and mental health and wellness tools to become self-motivated agents of impactful change in their home, local, and global communities. We believe that by providing accessible education and resources, we can inspire meaningful change and create a more sustainable and brighter future for all.

Choosing this path has definitely come with quite a few challenges.

I was a public school educator and knew nothing about owning or running a business. The learning curve was huge, and I made a lot of mistakes. However, I joined accelerator programs like those offered by the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, was accepted into a fellowship with Village Micro Fund, and tapped into the free business coaching by Score Atlanta to help build my business acumen.

Another major challenge is the lack of state funding for microschools. In other states, they have Education Savings Accounts (ESA) that parents can use for non-traditional school options. Unfortunately, Georgia legislators have not passed this legislation, so parents have to pay out of pocket. Oftentimes, this means that the families that need this the most don’t have access. I often have to discount the cost to make it more accessible, but that leaves me having to work a second job to be able to afford to do this work. But, I have developed a sustainability plan that will free me to run my school full-time without having to also work a second job in the next few years.

While Black families overwhelmingly recognize that public schools are not serving their children, many feel that their only alternatives are failing charter schools and overpriced private schools, so bringing brand awareness to microschools is a another obstacle that we are tackling by working collaboratively through an organization I co-founded, Black Microschools ATL, and showing up on social media and at community events. The word is starting to spread that microschools in abundance exist in Atlanta.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When friends and family visit Atlanta, we have to go to Main Street in College Park, and enjoy all the great Black-owned restaurants. It’s a vibe. For entertainment, Uptown Comedy Corner always has a great line-up, and Kat’s Cafe is featuring dope live music. I am a wine lover, so we head off Howell Mill for a few wine tastings and tapas. I also love trivia and brain games, so we do an escape room, Beat the Bomb, and a few trivia nights at local pubs. Most importantly, we have to go to the westside and do a street arts tour and visit all the Black history museums and historic sites.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Thank you to my mother and father, Julia and Dwight Jackson; third grade teacher, Ms. Massey; hometown, Fairfield, AL; and microschool mentor, Nichita Simmons-Bush of Each One, Teach One Collective in South Fulton.

Website: https://www.passnetwork.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passnetworkorg/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-jackson-1998b7122/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/passnetworkorg