18. A Creative Solution with Cyndi Rookstool, Director of Centerbranch Academy

Welcome back to the We Have Hope podcast! We are so excited to share today’s episode with you. We sat down with Cyndi Rookstool, director of Centerbranch Academy to chat about the schooling option they are offering. Cyndi is originally from Orlando, Florida where she taught for 6 years. Her family moved to West Virginia around ten years ago, and she noticed there weren’t as many school options for her children. They found a school they loved, and Cyndi taught there for a couple years while her three older children attended there. Eventually, they switched to homeschooling for six years, and then her oldest two went to public high school. After that, they decided to avoid public school for their younger two children.In 2020, Cyndi and her husband began to brainstorm how they could come alongside parents and help them learn to teach their kids to read. After a conversation with their pastor, he really caught the vision of what their idea could look like on a bigger scale. Cyndi began to have conversations with friends in other states whose children attended various schooling options, and eventually came across a school model in Texas that intrigued her. She and her husband flew out to Texas and observed the school. Not knowing if anyone in her area would be interested in this model or not, they decided to give it a try.They came back to West Virginia and with the help of their home church, they started Centerbranch Academy. Centerbranch Academy is a Homeschool Partnership that offers tutoring for grades Kindergarten through Eighth Grade Tuesday through Thursday, 9AM to 2PM. They cover all of the core subjects, plus art, PE, & Recess. In just their second year, Centerbranch Academy has over 70 students enrolled and some grades have a wait list!We believe this is just the beginning of unique schooling options to come to our state, and we are excited to share more about it with you!Episode Highlights:Background on CyndiHow Centerbranch Academy was startedOverview of Centerbranch AcademyMore on Centerbranch Academy: Centerbranch Academy WebsiteEmail: [email protected] More on Love Your School/Links Mentioned in Episode:Visit Our Show Notes Page [email protected]@loveyourschoolwv.org www.loveyourschool.orgVisit our Facebook HERE!