When Hattie Mitchell was a freshman at Cal State Los Angeles, she volunteered at Skid Row and saw girls crawling on the sidewalks.

According to her husband Brett Michelle, that was the moment she decided to become a teacher.

She also had the following ideas: Instead of schools focusing on traditional educational priorities such as raising test scores, enrolling more students, and producing more graduates, they should focus on the basic human qualities of their children. What if you could address your needs first?

So lawyer Brett Mitchell worked with her to make her dream a reality.

Crete Academy 6103 Crenshaw Boulevard in South Central Los Angeles provides precarious housing for students in the community and resources for students and their families.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be financial,” says Brett Mitchell. Their philosophy is: If you have a dollar, give me a dollar. If you have any wisdom, please share it with us. “

He recently spoke to UT Community News about the school.

What made you create Crete Academy and set it up in South Central LA?

“I grew up in View Park, a suburb of South Central,” but attended Wonderland Avenue Elementary School in the Hollywood Hills.

“It was a great school. It was about an hour and a half.It was still dark when I woke up…and I was always thinking, ‘Why can I go to school here?'”

fast forward March 2016 Hattie quit her job as a lawyer and asked me to help her start the Crete Academy.

The company partner said, “Brett, we can get another lawyer next week…but your wife seems to have a great idea. Not many.So…you will have our full blessings.If that doesn’t work and you need a job, call me.We love you. [to have] you are here

Regarding the location, “I wanted to make it the place where I needed the most work.”

What are the Cretan Academy’s goals?

Our goal is to serve neighborhood students with needs that the school can meet.

The school offers assistance with housing insecurity, food insecurity, transportation, medical, dental, hearing and vision screening, and provides free glasses to students who need them. It offers year-round student counseling, offers family-friendly resources such as parenting classes and job training, and helps access government programs.

“Students who get the best grades and have the most impressive resumes do it because they come from families with parents. We live in a safe community where we can get a , and that’s not the case for many of our families.”

How can resources be provided?

“We can’t do this alone…that’s why we partner with the Alumni Program.”

UCLA and Cal State LA offer interns, and USC’s dental school offers people performing dental checkups.

“So we definitely rely on our local colleges and universities, especially the ones we went to. We have great community partners, such as the Dodgers.

“We really rely on community support.”

How many students commute to Crete and how many face home anxiety?

“We accept everyone. Any family that wants to be part of a Cretan family can join.”

“So we have about 350 students now. [up from 127 when it first opened]And, as you know, 50 to 60 students belong to the family precarious class. But it’s a true representation of South LA. “

Do you have plans to expand your academy into a K-12 school?

“Our focus is on reaching our youngest students and providing support as early as possible to get them on track and avoid some things that can happen later. Generally speaking, we will always serve elementary school ages, we have plans to expand to middle school, but not high school.”

“Frederick Douglass said that it is much easier to raise a child than to heal an injured person.”

Why is it important to talk about college from an early age?

“Unfortunately, many of our families have never been to a college campus. It’s a foreign concept.”

Building expectations early is important. Many of the students coming from South Central LA are likely first generation students. The Crete Academy conducts tours for college students, showing students what life at university looks like, explaining to them what they need and starting their preparation early.

What was the biggest obstacle in starting Crete Academy?

“It’s all up to you. We started school without state funding at first. So we got creative. We sold our house, so at least we can weather that storm.” Dr. Mitchell and I will definitely raise funds and we will develop our partnership. It’s about making sure we have all the resources we need and make them suitable for our students.”