Mrs. Cook, Westwood Elementary Head of School interview to Ms. Webb Freedom Preparatory Academy CEO & Founder

1. SDH version (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing)
October 27th, 2020
Mrs. Cook, Westwood Elementary Head of School interview to Ms. Webb Freedom Preparatory
Academy CEO & Founder
COOK: Good afternoon Freedom Prep students, families, and staff. I am Courtney Cook, the principal of
Freedom Prep Academy Westwood Campus. I am here today alongside our CEO and founder Ms. Roblin
Webb and shortly we will take a deep dive into our current virtual learning processes, but before we
jump into that, Ms. Roblin Webb has a very serious announcement regarding our re-entry plans.
WEBB: Good afternoon Freedom Prep Community, so glad to speak to everyone and to talk with Ms.
Cook this afternoon. I wanted to talk a little bit about re-entry, specifically because Shelby County
Schools announced just recently last week that students would be re-entering campuses in January. So,
at Freedom Prep, we’ve been planning for students to re-enter and we have an initial phase in re-entry
plan starting with 60 special populations students who will have the option to return and get in person
support on November 30th. In addition to that, at the beginning of January, K-2 families will have the
option to return to campus as well and to return to campus on January 6th. We will pull parents through
Dean’s List on their option December 5th -17th. So parents of K-2 students, you have about 2 weeks to
decide whether you want your K-2 students to return back to campus for in person school on January
6th. We are also working on a plan about when older students will return and we will update you within
the next 2 weeks in our Eagles message on the plan for older students to return.
COOK: Thank you. So just a quick plug​, ​parents go ahead watch your emails, watch all communication
from teachers. We really need you to go ahead and get connected to Dean’s List so that you do not miss
any other important announcements. Alright so let's jump right in Ms. Webb.
WEBB: One last thing Ms. Cook that I forgot. I'm sorry, parents of special population students, we will
start contacting you now to determine whether you want your child to return.

2. COOK: OK, alright so take us back to late February early March. When we were getting the first signs
that COVID had made it to Memphis and Shelby County and the decisions were made to close schools.
What were your thoughts and concerns as a school leader?
WEBB: Yeah you know February/March feels like two years ago now. I'm sure it does to you as well as it
does to me and it was a crazy time. I remember the announcement was made through Shelby County
Schools, that schools were closed and that was maybe a few days before kids were going off to spring
break. Initially, when schools were going to close we also didn't ​realize how serious the coronavirus was
and so everyone was anticipating returning back to school after spring break was over at the most
maybe a month or two later. When we started to see what was happening in New York City and areas in
the northeast and how serious the virus was, we also started to realize how serious it was going to be
across the entire country and started to recognize and realize that we probably would not be returning
to school. ​We had to really scramble to figure out how to shift our schools which were 99.9% in person
support very little technology to a fully virtual campus. We had to figure out how to take attendance
virtually, how to get zoom links pretty quickly and what virtual technology platforms we would use. I
know that in the Spring we did an OK job, we didn't do a great job, we did an OK job I think Ms. Cook
kind of getting things ready. We got a few devices, all devices that we had that we had already
purchased that we were using on campus to some families, but we also had to make the difficult
decision to ask some families to use their own devices because there was no way to one order that
many devices in such a short period of time nor two afford to be able to get to buy those many devices
in a short period of time. And so in the Spring by the time after spring break ended then maybe I would
say a week or two later we realized that we were in this for the long haul and so our plan was to get as
many devices as we could to parents, push push push on virtual learning and start to plan to think about
re entering school in the Fall.
COOK: Yeah there are a lot of things happening during that time I remember almost like it was yesterday
when we received the news that this would be ongoing. It was just a shocker for all of us so that brings
me to my next question. I know you know you had to think about so many things there were so many
people who had to be involved in these conversations with parents students but what were some of the
factors that enabled you to get FPA remote learning program set up so quickly during that time?
WEBB: Yeah you know and I always say this, our freedom community has such strong talent teams. I
mean of course you Ms. Cook and in addition to the other principals of the schools, but our senior
leadership team is really strong and so we were able to meet and literally we met, when we got out of
school probably February/March, we were meeting at least twice a week sometimes three times a week.
How we're going to get devices out, how we're going to ensure that our staff is safe with getting devices
out, how else are we going to support our families through our social work team through a community
outreach team, is there any additional kind of financial support. And so really to be honest it was our
hardworking people that figured out. Mr Nelson and his team takes on the virtual learning platform. Ms.
Thornton, Ops and Ms. Baltimore who's our CFO takes on how do we get devices to families and all of
our Deans of operations at all of our schools figured out, we do drive through pickup of our devices how
do we bag the devices how do we get that together. To be honest it all came together but just because

3. we had a really hard working quick thinking staff. I would also say and really give a shout out to we have
really amazing funders and supporters and so on top of getting devices we recognize that our families
and our community are Black and Brown community that was suffering the most with this virus. Not
only in terms of health because more Black and Brown people tend to get sicker from the virus, more
Black and Brown people tend to die from the virus in the in this country, but also more Black and Brown
people tend to suffer financially and so we are the ones who are on the front lines we’re getting sick we
are also the ones that potentially have lost our jobs in terms of service industries. And so through the
generosity of some of our funders we were able to give kind of mini micro grants to some of our families
of about $300 a piece of ones that were really struggling financially through this crisis. So, again it really
is when I say Freedom Prep community it truly is a community that comes together to figure out how we
support our kids and our families at all times.
COOK: And so fast forward to now Ms. Webb, what would you say has been some of our major
challenges when it comes to Freedom Prep’s remote learning program?
WEBB: Yes, yes, yes. So some, you want the whole list, or you want some challenges?
COOK: Some just some.
WEBB: OK so I would say, and I know parents are going to be nodding when I say this, getting out
devices this summer was tough. I would say that that was definitely a challenge. Part of it was, and so I'll
say this, a lot of people will ask and say well we all knew pretty early that we weren't coming back in the
fall so why didn't we purchase devices then. ​The answer to that question is we didn't have the funds to
purchase the devices and so the federal government gave specific funds, the CARES money to schools,
but that money did not come until towards the end of the summer which is why you saw a ton of school
districts across the country and including Freedom Prep struggling to purchase devices on time. So by
the time we had the funds to be able to purchase all of the iPads and the Chromebooks for all of our
families a lot of the distributors and stores were out of stock or it would take time to get some of those
devices from China. And so part of the challenges we had in running out of devices was because of the
timing so I would say that was definitely a challenge. We pushed past that challenge and tried to get
there but because we had some families with three and four kids that attended Freedom Prep it was
tough and we understand that was a struggle for families, so that was absolutely a challenge. ​I would
also say, and it continues to be a challenge I'm sure and we talked about this Ms. Cook, we have a ton of
staff members with families of their own and so you know trying to figure that out. Like when I say
community, again I repeat, we care about our community and so we care about not only our students
and families that we serve but also our staff members deeply and we want to make sure that they are
safe and that they have the tools they need to be able to provide what what were you supposed to
provide to our families. Childcare definitely was an issue for a lot of our staff members with kids with
young kids of their own who had to figure out how to not only do virtual learning for their own kids but
also teach the kids of our Freedom Prep community. I say all the time our teachers our staff members
are miracle workers. When I go virtually in the classrooms I am just just amazed and so proud of what I
see and what I see our teachers doing and even watching teachers with babies of their own on their lap

4. teaching some our freedom prep babies, it just makes me so proud with the resilience of our community
and what we're able to do in moments of crisis.
COOK: Of course, I definitely agree, definitely. So I know that we have a lot of our returning families
joining us this afternoon but for some of our more newer families I wanted to ask a quick question about
changes that we had to make for this year, and how did you decide which changes to make or what to
tweak for this new year?
WEBB: Your talking in terms of the schedule?
COOK: Yeah
WEBB: So our in person classes are often usually somewhere between 25 and 30 kids. We knew that 25
to 30 kids on a zoom screen was not going to work. We also had heard from other school districts in
other schools that spending 7 to 8 hours in front of the screen was not going to work not only for the
kids but also for parents as well. And so part of our going to a schedule where kids have around 4 hours
of synchronous learning and then the additional time asynchronous so kids spend about four hours in
front of the screen with their teacher and then the rest of the day they spend outside doing
independent work. Part of that decision was one, we wanted to make sure the class sizes were small
enough so that we could reach every single child. So we narrowed, we put our class sizes down to no
more than 15 kids. Two, we also wanted to make sure that kids got enough screen time but not too
much screen time. We continued to hear complaints from other schools and other school districts across
the country that kids are fatigued, their fatigued being in front of the screen there fatigued from sitting.
I know I am, I get exhausted sitting in front of a screen that I even do conference calls sometimes
because I get tired of sitting in front of a screen, and so we wanted to try to prevent that with our kids.
We also had to think about how we accommodate our parents' work schedules. So how do we ensure if
there is a parent or a family where both parents work at night, how do we accommodate that to make
sure that their kid has many classes in the morning or vice versa maybe there's a parent that works
throughout the day and they need classes in the afternoon and evening to be able to support their
students. And so those were some of the things that we were thinking about for our families. In
addition, we were thinking about that for our staff members too. So some staff members have
schedules where they are able to really really push being in front of that screen in the morning and they
need time in the afternoon one, either to deal with their own families or their own or other
responsibilities. Those were just the decisions we were making and we were also at the same time just
looking at the numbers, at the positivity rates in the city of Memphis, trying to figure out when we could
get back to in person schooling. Our number one decision maker was safety, our priority was safety for
our families, safety for our kids and safety for our staff. In no way would we bring back our kids and
families and have a significant risk of them getting sick from the coronavirus, but we also recognize that
the best instruction is in person instruction particularly for our youngest babies. And we recognize we
want our older kids to have, particular seniors, our seniors last year who missed out pretty much on
their spring semester and our seniors this year who are missing out on that senior experience, we

5. recognize that as well, which is why we are talking about and figuring out reentry plans coming back in
the Spring.
COOK: Right, thank you for that; thank you. So how do you think so far? How would you describe our
virtual learning at Freedom Prep? Have you gotten any feedback from teachers, students or families
lately?
WEBB: Yeah, absolutely. So I would say virtual learning kicked off really well. I actually think the
attendance was up, and I tell people all the time it's just because you can roll out of bed and go to
school, like you don't have to go through a lot of different steps. I actually started a virtual personal
training during the pandemic and is the best thing ever 'cause I literally can roll out of bed and put on
my sneakers and get a workout there first otherwise, and so attendance was definitely up I would say. I
do know however that one of our challenges and one of the some of the feedback we've gotten from
families is that the work, the independent work, the kids are getting is not as strong as it could be. And
so we definitely need to work on that asynchronous work, the work the kids are getting outside of that. I
would say that synchronous, when kids are in front of the computer screen on their zoom classes, I have
seen really amazing things. The fact that we were able to teach kindergarteners how to go into their
breakout rooms was just phenomenal to me. That we took a week of orientation, just like we do in
person and teaching our kids how to go into breakout rooms. Attendance has tapered down some and
attendance has tapered particularly among the youngest kids which I understand because across the
country every school district is reporting kindergarten enrollment and attendance being down. We
understand that it is tough for a 5-year old and they need constant adult supervision, an adult I mean we
have to work like you know our parents and we understand families have to work. So I would say that
virtual learning in front of a zoom screen in front of the teachers who are doing an amazing job has gone
really well. Independent learning not so much, attendance is going pretty well, but I'm also excited to
think about when families or what families choose to return, what that will look like as well too.
COOK: Yeah, I think about our youngest learners all the time and it's a catch 22 right, because we are in
some way preparing them for their future, right, when it comes to education. Yeah, but on the other
hand is like but is it enough, how much more do we need to do important to our remote learning so it's
always nice to hear what students, families and staff have to say as we move to make sure we're
supporting them the best way we can. So if we think about our mission and making sure we get prepare
all students for college and in life, Ms. Webb, in what ways does remote learning kinda align with it? In
your opinion.
WEBB: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think the only, to be honest, the only way remote learning aligns
with it is that it continues the learning even during a pandemic. To be honest, like I have seen some
elementary school classrooms look pretty similar to in person classrooms as much as you can do behind
the screen, and so I know that our teachers and our school leaders are always focused on ensuring that
we can push towards our mission preparing our students to excel in college and in life. I would say that
of course there are some things that are missing. As much as a 5 year old can show you their
handwriting on the screen, it is not the same as you being there in person and kind of helping them hold

6. that pencil and figure out how they're writing their letters. And so as much as we've been able to teach
them and how to shift I think that it does not take the place of in person learning. I would say though
that virtual learning there is an element to analytical thinking and problem solving that you need to go
to college and to excel in college and in life. And I think if anything this pandemic and us having to switch
to virtual learning our parents having to shift to virtual learning has really started to develop and push
on those problem solving and analytical skills that otherwise we wouldn’t have had to figure out. We
had to be really creative about a lot of things, and our families had to be creative about how do I get my
child in front of the screen every single day and go to work, and so that alone I think it's just a testament
to say the least to our community and our resiliency kind of in this moment despite all of the challenges
that we've had.
COOK: Yeah, and you mentioned the community a lot Ms. Webb and it's one of our core values, right.
Yeah, we pride ourselves on making sure that we have a strong sense of community but during these
times, the pandemic virtual learning, not a lot of face-to-face interaction, how do you think we can
maintain our strong sense of community during these times?
WEBB: Yeah, you know it's difficult to say the least, but I have again, I just commend the Freedom Prep
team, Freedom Prep staff members and leadership and being able to do that. Your school, planning the
Trunk or Treat and as a drive in, we do this every single year but you're doing a drive through trunk or
treat. They did the Hispanic Heritage festival and it was a drive in Hispanic heritage festival and our
social workers I know drove around and delivered care baskets to some of our families that were in high
need. I think that is showing this, is a huge sense of community there. You personally I've heard also
drove around signs to all of our teachers you know a lot of our school leaders volunteered and we made
signs for our teachers that said “an amazing FPA teacher lives here” and so we drove around to put yard
signs in their yards. And so we are trying our best without being able to touch each other, and I know
Ms. Cook you love hugs and so I'm sure you are losing it right here...and it’s hard for me. I went to
Westwood to help. I drove around Chromebooks, Chromebooks to some of our families because I
missed the sense of community as well too and so we still try to do now with masks on, tons of hand
sanitizer, with social distance and taking temperatures. We still try to serve our community and have
some touch points in different ways despite not being able to really be there together with each other.
COOK: Yea, we're definitely making it work.
WEBB: Yeah we're trying yeah
COOK: And every day I'm like Oh my God what can I do today 'cause you know how I am I'm like I need
to hold somebody 's hand and walk them into class, I need a hug, I need to see parents.
WEBB: And I would also say I commend our parents for just their patience to say the least. Like I sold
commend our parents for their patience for, there's a phrase it's been going around ever since the
pandemic started, giving grace. Our parents absolutely have given us grace. We're not having, I mean
they have said I don't have my kids Chromebook, I am upset but I get it and we appreciate that by all

7. means and we have been trying to give our staff members grace as well too and I always encourage
everyone to just give yourself grace. I have been kind of that crazy type A worker and type person but I
also know I have to sleep more now like you just have to, give yourself grace. There is constant stress in
our community in addition to the pandemic, in addition to the racism that is happening that is
widespread amongst our community. There is so much stress that's going on right now that I am so
appreciative of the amount of grace our staff, our teachers and our families have been giving us at this
moment.
COOK: Very appreciative. Alright, Ms. Webb, so what's next for FPA? As the 2021 year progresses, what
are you looking forward to?
WEBB: Oh my God, what am I looking forward to. I am looking forward to COVID-19 going away, let's
just say that. I'm so looking forward to it going away. I am looking forward to us really coming up with
the tightest plan possible to get our kids back in the school building. I know there will be a ton of
questions. There will be questions about masks, we are absolutely wearing masks; staff ,students,
teachers at all times wearing masks. We're doing plexiglass screens, we’re doing hand sanitizer,
temperature checks, social distancing, as much as possible, but I am so looking forward to a time when
we can get back to a somewhat sense of normalcy in our classrooms. I'm looking forward to teaching our
babies how to read in person, yes, instead of through a computer screen. I am looking for the
administration, the national administration turning over so that we have an administration that believes
in science and that we get clear information about what's going on with our families. And I'm looking for
our next class that graduates where 100% will be accepted to 4-year colleges and universities. I mean it's
so much you know, it's so much to be as in despite everything that's going on, there is so much to be
thankful for and there's so much to be looking forward to as we enter the new school year. I would also
add one last thing is that our building at Brownlee, 817 Brownlee building, will be completely renovated
and beautiful by the time our families return. So are our Whitehaven Middle School and our High School
will have a pretty much brand new building to enter into once the Spring, once we go into 2021. So I'm
really excited for everyone to see that new building, so that I would say that itself has been a silver lining
because our contractors have been able to complete construction this entire time without any
interruption. So if there was a silver lining Freedom Prep during this pandemic, it is that our building will
be ready for parents to enter and parents will be excited. We have a brand new parking lot, so the traffic
will not be nearly as crazy during arrival and dismissal.
COOK: Yeah, that's amazing, that's amazing. So you've been super transparent during this time and we
discussed a number of things that relate to remote learning, our schedules, feedback, right, and so if you
could leave our audience with one main thing, what would it be? What would you want FPA families to
walk away with from our conversation?
WEBB: Yeah, I would want our families to know that we are doing everything that we can to ensure that
we not only push forward our mission to prepare kids to excel in college and in life, but to also ensure
that our families are safe and ready to go at all times. Number one safety is our priority, and we will
never do anything that will seriously put our kids in our families at risk. We understand what's going on

8. in our community, we are constantly watching, we're talking to the Health Department as well too. So
not only are we gonna still push towards our mission because time doesn't stop for our kids, colleges
don't stop for our kids, and so we've got to make sure that they're ready for college but we also want to
make sure that not only our kids safe but so are the families, the parents, the grandparents, the auntie's,
cousins, everyone in that family is safe as well too.
COOK: Thank you for that, and so that concludes our check-in Ms. Webb. So I hope that you guys are
able to walk away feeling much more reassured that we are in this with you guys for the long haul and
we will not ask you to do anything that will compromise your health, safety or education of your
children. And so please be on the lookout for more communication from us, Ms. Webb and I will stay in
the note​ ​and will keep you guys abreast if anything shifts any changes. Thank you so much for your time
and we'll see you next time.
WEBB: Thank you, alright thank Ms. Cook.
COOK: No problem.