We were lucky to catch up with April Lilly recently and have shared our conversation below.

April , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

My school fills the need for those who learn in a different way. with hand-chosen curriculum for each student as well as one on one time, each day kids learn in the way they learn best. there fore they learn more.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Lela Academy began in November of 2019 when a local private school went bankrupt. I had approximately 15 parents who came to me and ask if I would home school their children. Within 3 days I opened LELA Academy in my home. I started with 15 children and have since graduated 12 of those kids. Children all learn in different ways. LELA Academy is a private school devoted to providing students with the necessary tools needed to succeed in a small classroom setting. LELA Academy currently serves students in grades 5 through 12. Many families find the traditional school model to be a poor fit academically, socially, or emotionally for their child. At LELA, we believe that EVERY student has the potential to succeed in all aspects of school. An individualized curriculum is developed to meet each student’s unique educational needs. With an 8:1 student to teacher ratio, our teachers focus on mastery of content and are able to provide students with personalized instruction. An atmosphere of acceptance and inclusion is an essential component to the success of our small class model.s.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

LELA Academy began on November 14, 2019. A local private I was working for as a resource coordinator closed due to bankruptcy. Several parents came to me concerned for their children’s education, wondering if I would homeschool their children. Since it was mid-year there were not many options for these kids. LELA Academy began 3 days later in my home! With 15 children we started school! By January we found space in Frisco and moved in. Thirteen of those children have since graduated and the other two are still here. All this being said with only 2 students you can imagine how hard it was to keep the school going. I sold my home and used the funds to keep the school going during Covid, since there was no marketing that could be done at that time. The ending to the story (at this point) is that LELA has gained 4 new students since January, that is 1 student per month!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Lela started with nothing! I did collect very minimal tuition from parents in the beginning (this was because they had already paid tuition to the school that went bankrupt). I ended up refinancing my home to get funds to get and keep the school going.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelelaacademy.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lelaschool