Douglas MacArthur Girls’ Leadership Academy is a Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) school in the Kamm’s neighborhood with a 5-star rated preschool program. Lead preschool teacher Sara Burdette said that in her classroom love is a priority. “All the girls hear how much they are loved. When children know they are loved, they want to do their best,” she said.

Douglas MacArthur is a single-gender school for girls with a focus on leadership development. Ms. Burdette believes this unique environment allows the school to create a different kind of learning and meet the needs of young girls. The school culture encourages students to work together, build each other up, and be who they are while instilling the values of being a leader so that it becomes natural for the girls to exhibit leadership skills. This includes highlighting a different leadership skill every month and awards ceremonies that recognize the girls for exhibiting those skills.

In her classroom, Sara prioritizes learning through fun play, while giving her students responsibilities to grow as leaders. She has a centers-based classroom with eight learning centers and a centers wheel so that the girls have a chance to experience every center and find new interests. The classroom also has class jobs that change every morning.

As a part of CMSD, Douglas MacArthur students get the benefits of being in a PreK-8 school, including participating in weekly specials like physical education, music, and art, and going on field trips to Shaker Lakes Nature Center and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Preschoolers also get to take advantage of having older girls as role models, especially through reading buddies, a program that brings 2^nd and 5^th graders to the preschool classroom to read. Ms. Burdette says she loves being in a PreK-8 school because she gets to see her former students grow up and succeed and many of her students end up being reading buddies.

Sara says that she wants parents to know that children at Douglas MacArthur are in a safe environment where they are loved and cared for and their emotions and learning are both a top priority. “We want the children to be fully ready for kindergarten and beyond,” she says.

Ms. Burdette, the school’s principal Victoria King, and two parents were featured in our recent Annual Report videos. Check out parent LaToya Carter’s video here!

Douglas MacArthur Girls’ Leadership Academy is a 5-star rated preschool located in Kamm’s. It serves children ages 3 to 5 in preschool as well as school-age children through 8^th grade, and is open Monday through Friday, 8:15 a.m.-3:05 p.m.