Movement Mortgage invests $100M into nationwide charter school network
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – Movement Mortgage will invest $100 million in its growing charter school network, fueling the leading mortgage lender's audacious vision of building 100 Title 1 charter schools across the United States in the next 10 years. The funding comes in the form of a dividend to its nonprofit, Movement Foundation, and follows a monumental contribution in 2020 of $200 million.
Three Movement Schools – two elementary schools and one middle school – have been established in Charlotte with a total enrollment of more than 1,000 students. Additional campuses serving Pre-K through 5th grade are being developed near South Boulevard in Southwest Charlotte, scheduled to open fall 2022, and near Beatties Ford Road in Northwest Charlotte, scheduled to open fall 2024.
The first phase of the "100 Schools in 10 Years" commitment will be focused on expansion in the Southeast, which recent upward mobility research shows a need for high-quality charter schools, said Kerri-Ann T. Thomas, chief executive officer of Movement Schools. The organization is working with the Charter School Growth Fund to identify markets for the new schools, with preliminary targets including Atlanta, Houston and Dallas. "The goal is to have a significant presence in the selected communities in order to have meaningful impact," Thomas said.
"Our vision is to create a national network of Title 1 charter schools that transforms the educational opportunities for underserved children across America," said Casey Crawford, Movement Mortgage co-founder and chief executive officer. "Movement Schools will partner with federal and state governments to bring 100 new schools to some of the most underserved communities in our nation. We believe that education is a critical conduit to break cycles of generational poverty. We also believe that our schools need to equip our children with financial literacy and values-based leadership skills to help them thrive as American citizens."
Movement Foundation also partners with communities where its charter schools are located by investing in affordable housing and shared resources such as pre-K centers, health clinics and community spaces, said Tim Hurley, Movement Foundation executive director. Movement School at Freedom is a prime example of this model, with investments into the Mezzanine at Freedom affordable apartment community, a wellness center operated by Novant Health and the Ophelia Garmon-Brown Community Center.
"We want to build schools that help students, families and communities thrive," Hurley said. "There's an overwhelming sense of joy that comes from creating a space where children are succeeding, and families and neighbors can come together to do good."
The operational model of Movement Foundation and Movement School is unique from other foundations. The foundation owns the real estate and pays for school renovations and infrastructure. The school then leases the facilities from the foundation at a reduced cost and uses its state, per-pupil funding to cover operating costs.
Movement Mortgage, which has committed over $360 million to the Movement Foundation since its inception, issued home financing to 110,000 families in 2021 while funding approximately $30 billion in total mortgage value.
For more information on Movement School, visit movementschool.com, and for information on Movement Foundation, visit movementfoundation.org.
About Movement School
Movement School is a network of public, tuition-free charter schools founded in 2016 to be a part of building education and opportunity to underserved communities. Backed by the Movement Foundation, it opened its first elementary school in 2017 in west Charlotte and a second in 2020 in east Charlotte. They opened their first middle school in 2021 and currently have a fourth location in Charlotte that will open in fall 2022. Movement School's mission is to love and value students and their families by providing high-quality education with an emphasis on character building. For more information, visit movementschool.com.
About Movement Foundation
Movement Foundation is the largest shareholder of Movement Mortgage. It uses dividends received from the mortgage company to acquire, renovate and seed public charter schools. It also invests in affordable housing and related projects to support community stability through homeownership. It has constructed the Movement Center nonprofit co-working space and Ophelia Garmon-Brown Community Center in west Charlotte. The foundation also sends Movement teammates on Vision Trips to developing countries where it constructs Hope Centers to provide health, counseling and faith-based services to underserved communities. To date, more than $360 million of mortgage profits have been received by Movement Foundation to invest in communities. Learn more at movementfoundation.org.
