Founded in 2015, Global Citizen Leadership Schools (GCLS) is an American virtual hybrid academy based in Southern California. The academy promotes global leadership through our teaching, tutoring, and test prep.
Stated on their website, “GCLS offers a full-time school solution for homeschool families and a robust tutoring system for schooling families.”
Founder and CEO, Ghanaughn Brown, started homeschooling her four children in 2010. Being a woman of faith, she did not want the public education system to expose her children to anything she did not approve of.
Brown is a resident of Long Beach. She graduated from UCLA and attended Harvard University. In 2000, she worked with Hope Worldwide promoting education in South Africa, and she also worked as an elementary school teacher and Special Education Resource Specialist in Compton.
“Juggling four children under four was hard for me. In addition, my daughter had asthma, and my son exceled faster than his preschool classmates. It was hard to find a school that met my children’s needs, so I decided to meet my children’s needs myself by homeschooling them,” said Brown.
Brown’s husband, Raymond “Ray” Brown is a Nigerian real-estate developer. In 2015, he expanded his real estate company to Nigeria, keeping his Los Angeles office and opening a second office in Lagos.
The Brown’s became an international family of six, which made homeschooling even more convenient.
Once in Nigeria, Brown decided to launch her own homeschooling company. She thought her American degrees would be a benefit to recruiting children in Africa.
“When I first started GCLS in Nigeria, the hardest thing was educating parents on the benefits of homeschooling, both socially and academically. Nigerians are all about private schools. I had to show them that my son was doing 7th grade work in 4th grade, and that my daughter at 12 years old launched her own business called Rea’s Slime Bar,” said Brown.
GCLS clients find that homeschooling is an easier way to get kids prepared for real life by focusing more on their talents and interests.
This year, COVID-19 helped GCLS grow exponentially.
“Prior to this year, I don’t believe online education got the respect it deserves. Now, I think everyone can see virtual education is the future. We are in a technological global world now,” said Brown.
Reagan Brown, Ghanaughn’s fourteen-year-old daughter, said, “I feel like the future is online education. Not just for us kids, but also for adults. My mom said even Harvard is having online classes right now. If they continue, then I will apply when I’m older, if I don’t have to move to Boston.”
All four of Ghanaughn’s kids enjoy GCLS because they get to engage with students from different countries.
“Presently, we have students from Ghana, Nigeria, and the U.S. Next year we plan to expand to Europe and Asia. Learning virtually with other cultures makes learning more fun, almost like studying abroad from your living room in Long Beach,” said Brown.
GCLS offers grades K-8 Day School Academy, After School Academy, and Summer School Academy, as well as electives, SAT/ACT test prep and tutors. For more information go to www.gclschools.org.