As published in Toledo Business Journal - April 1, 2020

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Sleek Academy: Teaching that there’s more to life than just tests

Sleek Academy used an SBA 504 loan to purchase and renovate facility

A scared third grader, some parental input, and a dream have come together in Erica Sleeks newest venture, Sleek Academy— a place where students can learn in a hands-on, self-directed environment based on STEAM curriculum.

“The Sleek Academy is a private charter school, K-12th grade. It’s STEAM—We have a STEAM curriculum—science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics.” Sleek said as she described the way her school caters to the students who attend the academy. “And when we teach, we do hands-on and project-based learning here.”

Hands-on learning, as Sleek described, is where kids actually learn how to use the concepts they are exploring with STEAM curriculum. For example, this year’s project is building a table and bench for a local church. The school has the students working together as a team to turn pallets into usable furniture.

“Part of the Sleek Academy’s mission is to give back to the community. So basically, during that project they had to investigate, talk to people, and go look at the places that they are going to donate to, but also have to write a little speech of who they are and why they are donating it. And of course, the process of making the benches and doing all of that is math— you hit all the different standards when you are actually doing the project. That’s what these kids are doing— they learn by doing hands-on projects,” Sleek explained.

So Sleek went to the Small Business Administration (SBA) by way of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority (TLCPA) to seek funding to buy the property across the street from her existing business on Ordway Avenue in Bowling Green to start the process of opening a new school. But the process wasn’t easy and she ran into some challenges along the way.

Originally the goal was to open the school building in the fall of 2019, but funding challenges delayed the opening. However, it wasn’t Sleek that had an issue, it was the government. The longest government shut-down in history put a two-month delay into the process, but Sleek is thankful she had the help of Laurie Cantrell, financing programs manager at TLCPA, to help her walk through the process of securing a SBA 504 loan even in the midst of a government shut-down.

“She said she would call them and she sure did. She did not let my paperwork get stuck in a stack of papers. I mean she knew how important this was to get a bigger space so we can increase our numbers and she was working through it the whole time,” said Sleek. “Every step of the way, Laurie knew what she was doing and she prepared me.

Sleek also credited Joe Bajas, vice president, commercial lending group, Cooperative Business Services (CBS), for stepping up and helping her secure the bank portion of the financing. She felt that working with the credit union consortium was one of her best choices.

“Joe knew what his bank wanted and he stayed with me every step of the way. When we hit the government shut-down and Laurie needing to do a stamp action because we were shut down for so long, they needed updated paperwork. So we had to redo all the paperwork. Joe was like, ‘Erica we’ve got this. Don’t worry. I will email this to you, just sign it date it, update it— we will get this done.’ Then he met me at closing. It was amazing. It’s great that they both know exactly what to do. They know the banks’ policies and the SBA,” said Sleek. “I would highly recommend Joe and Laurie. I definitely recommend the SBA. It’s a lower interest and they really help small businesses. They really want to help small businesses. With all the banks that have these regulations, CBS is one of the best. They are a consortium of credit unions that really want to help their customers. Start with SBA and find out what banks they recommend. It saved me a lot of time to just go to Laurie and ask what she recommended.”

Sleek described herself as a visual learner, and that was part of the dream that brought this school into being, she noted. Sleek could feel the frustration both teachers and students were experiencing as public schools are being judged more stringently based on test scores— especially the third-grade reading.

Sleek started her journey toward opening the academy when she opened All About the Kids preschool and learning center in the mid-2000s. Some of her students’ parents were getting frustrated with the direction education was going. They really appreciated the hands-on learning Sleek offered not only to her preschool students, but also during the before/after school setting and in the summer with the school-aged students she served. But Sleek herself admitted it was a little third-grade girl named Gabby who was the final push to get the ball rolling on the academy.

“Families need more choices— they need more diverse choices. Gabby loved school and you would have thought that someone died by the look on her face and her anxiety and everything,” Sleek explained as she told the story of Gabby’s fear of not passing the third-grade assessment and her fear of having to attend summer school. “No one should be that scared of school. People should love to learn, they should love to read and write and do all that.”

She went on to explain how she wanted to create a space where students could learn in a way that was practical, but still met the State guidelines. She believes teachers and students both are frustrated by the current focus on assessment testing. She described herself as someone who can tell you just about anything, but don’t ask her to take a test. She felt she could relate to Gabby’s pain.

“You can teach to standards— Ohio standards— any way you like. And the public schools were being forced— these teachers that are creative and amazing— to teach to the test because that is how they are being graded,” Sleek said.

She went on to praise Bowling Green City Schools, but she said her frustration comes in when the only basis for assessment is this testing. She pointed out two of the city schools had ended up on the EdChoice list of schools eligible for students to move from. She had a dream to see more offerings for parents and students— offerings where students are free to learn without fear.

Sleek has big goals for the academy. The current 12,000 square foot building has 13 classrooms, two large cafeterias, and a small kitchen. She also owns four lots behind her building where the students are building an eco-friendly park and where she plans to add a full-sized high school gym in the next five years. The next project on the agenda, though, is to renovate the building next door to All About the Kids.

“I am going to use that for the performing arts, karate, and other things, because the A in STEAM is the arts. That’s not just painting, it’s also dance and ballet and karate and kickboxing and theater and everything,” Sleek said.

The academy has eight students this year, but Sleek anticipates growth in the upcoming school year. The delay in finishing the building made enrollment difficult this year. She was encouraged by the response to the open house, though, and has a list of students who have shown interest in starting in the fall.

“Without the building, without the school, without the financing, we would have never been able to open the school. I mean we would have been able to open the school but it would always have stayed at 8-10 kids,” Sleek added. “How are you going to learn unless you do it yourself? That’s why I opened it.”