ANGELA GRANT, ESPERANZA GLOBAL ACADEMY

When principal hiring opened in fall 2022 for Esperanza Global Academy, Angela Grant didn’t think twice about applying. As principal at nearby Winterfield Elementary School, she knew the community and the needs of the students who would attend the new relief school. She got the job and then had six months to hire and prepare for Esperanza’s opening in August 2023.

“Getting to open a school is the biggest deal ever – I had no idea,” said Grant, the 2024-25 Principal of the Year finalist for Elementary School Performance Area A. “It is so exciting to do it all from scratch – picking all the people, just coming in and out of the building and seeing stuff come to life is amazing. I recommend it for everybody, and I don't recommend it for everybody because it’s extremely stressful!”

But it was a labor of love for Grant, a native of Camden, N.J., who, until high school, attended inner-city, Title I schools where her fellow students were predominantly African American and Puerto Rican. She found a calling at Esperanza, a Title I school geared for immigrant students who are predominantly from Latin and Central America. Now in its second year, Esperanza serves pre-K through fifth grade students, 80% of whom are from other countries.

“I had always grown up in the inner city and around people who spoke Spanish,” Grant said. “I’ve had a unique journey, and I’ve always had a heart for Title I and for kids that look like me. We’re a very nontraditional school, and we’re proud of that.”

An educator for 23 years, Grant didn’t initially intend to work in schools. With a B.S. in African American Studies and an M.A. in Museum Education, she ran the education department at the African American Museum in Philadelphia until she relocated to Charlotte. She taught in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for a year before joining the Levine Museum of the New South. There, she collaborated with the CMS social studies department, discovered her love of teaching and rejoined CMS as a social studies teacher. She has been a principal for 15 years, first at Shamrock Gardens Elementary School and at Winterfield, where she was the 2014-15 Northeast Learning Community Principal of the Year.

When opening Esperanza, Grant said it was important to bring in teachers she knew who were already aligned with her vision and could quickly get the new school on track. One of those teachers was Meredith Benthall, who followed Grant from Winterfield.

“I followed her because she really is an amazing person and principal,” Benthall said. “She cares about [teachers], and it’s obvious in everything that she does. She is very intentional about who she hires so we have people who know what they’re doing and care about kids, and the school runs in a way that people understand. With her, it’s very obvious what she wants, and she definitely has my back – everybody’s back – unless you’re wrong, and then she’ll tell you!”

Engagement for students, families and staff is a priority for Grant, who said she learned Spanish five years ago because, “It was important that I was able to speak with my families.” The school uses the Ron Clark Academy House System, where students and staff are sorted into five houses, learn to work together and earn points along the way. The house system not only fosters a strong sense of community, but it has helped to improve attendance, said Grant, who just wants everyone to feel welcome.

“Esperanza is special because it’s a place of hope,” she said. “We are the first CMS school in Charlotte with a Hispanic name, and that was extremely important to me because this is such an amazing, vibrant community. We're making new Americans, and so we are helping kids learn and do things that people may not even believe is possible for them. We bring hope to our community. We bring hope to our kids and their families. This is just a place of joy, hope and light.”