Lakewood Charter High School Focused On LGBTQ Students Will Open This Fall

Ideastream Public Media | By Kabir Bhatia

Published June 4, 2018 at 10:52 AM EDT

Albert Einstein Academies of Ohio Superintendent Bruce Thomas says the idea for the new school in Lakewood came after seeing the increasing need for resources among LGBTQ students at their existing campuses in Westlake and Strongsville.

A charter school focused on LGBTQ students will be opening in Lakewood this fall.

Officials at Albert Einstein Academies of Ohio say they design their schools around the needs of the students who enroll. Recently, they’ve noticed an increase in the need for resources among LGBTQ students at their existing campuses in Westlake and Strongsville. Superintendent Bruce Thomas says the new high school will offer wrap-around services for students in Lakewood.

“We have counselors hired. We have support groups organized. We’ve connected with the LGBTQ center of Cleveland and PFLAG and all the agencies around us that want to get involved. We’re collaborating with Cleveland State (University) to have professors come in and work with us.”

Thomas says those professors will help guide both curriculum as well as social and emotional development.

He adds that they’ve signed a five-year lease for the first floor of the former University of Akron campus in Lakewood. If the LGBTQ school is successful, Thomas says they have first option on the upper floors of the building to add a middle school.