Despite having retired in 1994, Beauty Baldwin has not stopped working. The Gwinnett educator, now 72, has been busy establishing a performing arts school that will get kids in kindergarten through eighth grade excited, motivated and inspired by the arts.
It took more than a year to plan and execute, but last week, the North Metro Academy of Performing Arts opened its doors in Norcross, and Baldwin was at there to welcome 420 new students.
“This is something I’ve been thinking about for a couple of years, and finally last year, I decided to do it,” said Baldwin, who chairs the charter school’s board. “We have kids dropping out of school, usually when they turn 16. We have to start earlier with those kids to make sure they’re focused and engaged, so when they get to that age, they’re involved and want to go to the next level. That has to start in kindergarten, not when they’re almost ready to drop out.”
The veteran educator has seen the lack of involvement and engagement among teens first-hand. She began her teaching career in 1962 and spent several years at Central Gwinnett High before becoming the principal of a Buford middle school. In 1984, she was named the first African-American woman to head a Georgia school district when she took over the Buford system - a job she held until her official retirement in 1994. But retiring didn’t keep her from jumping into other educational opportunities.
“My church had started a Christian school in Norcross, but with so many other charter schools opening, we ended up losing a lot of kids, and the church decided it didn’t need to support it,” said Baldwin, who lives in Dacula. “I had already started looking at the charter process, so when the church closed the school in the spring, it gave us a place to lease.”
A different kind of charter school, one focused on the arts at the earliest ages, fit with Baldwin’s crusade against school dropouts.
“It’s a new concept to have performing arts integrated with academics beginning in kindergarten,” she said. “Dance, movement, music, all of that and academics will get kids excited about learning. And studies have shown that kids who are involved in the performing arts do well in their academics.”
The idea captivated parents, who rushed to fill the available slots. “It was first-come, first-serve, and we got kids coming from all over the county,” said Baldwin.
Now that the school is opened, Baldwin, as the board chair, still plans to stay closely involved.
“Unlike most boards, we are very much involved in making sure things go right,” said Baldwin, who also stays busy with the county Board of Elections, the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary and her sorority, to name just a few. “Anyway, I’m not one to just stay at home.”
Every other Wednesday, H.M. Cauley brings you positive stories from our community. To suggest a story idea, call 770-744-3042 or e-mail hm_cauley@yahoo.com.
About the Author
