ORLANDO, Fla. – Nadia Bellande, whose son currently attends Orange Center Elementary, says she’s seen firsthand how the school supports students.
“I’ve been in a situation where I moved him to different schools. They didn’t have any patience for my kid. Here it’s been like a breath of fresh air because there are teachers here who are truly taking the time to understand your child,” she said.
She plans to enroll her younger son once he’s old enough.
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Another parent, Saleema Simmons, pulled her son out of the school in 2018, feeling he wasn’t supported. But after enrolling her daughter this year, she says she’s seen dramatic improvements.
“My daughter has been there this year since the beginning of the school year. I can see a totally different change. It’s a totally different school,” Simmons said.
Parents point to new staff and the involvement of Lift Orlando as major contributors to that change. Now they’ll have the chance to vote on whether to convert Orange Center Elementary into a charter school.
Lift Orlando President Eddy Moratin emphasized that the school would remain rooted in its community.
“It’s still in every way a tuition-free public school, which operates with the school zone in mind like a public school would,” he said.
Unlike a typical charter or Schools of Hope, this model would allow OCPS and Lift Orlando to operate as partners, keeping the school public while expanding support services for students — from academics to social services.
Principal Erin Albert says the partnership would bring a new governance structure while keeping OCPS resources in place.
“NSI will be the entity that runs the school. That will be the governance. Working through Lift Orlando and the board NSI creates, they will work with OCPS. A partnership like this means it will be the OCPS building, and I’ll have access to OCPS resources and assets,” Albert explained.
Lift Orlando said the conversion could allow the school to grow by roughly 300 students and expand into a K–8.
Bellande supports the move, saying, “They’re putting our kids first, making sure they have a spot here. Then they’re opening the doors for others who get to come in. I am ecstatic for it. I love it. I cannot wait for it to happen.”
Simmons said she’s hopeful, too.
“Knowing that I will be able to see this and be at the start of it — it helps everyone,” she said.
Lift Orlando, a community-focused nonprofit, has invested more than $100 million in housing, after school programs and other projects in the West Lakes community over the past decade. The organization says planning for this proposal began two years ago.
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