Mollie Kessler leaves rare legacy of education for Youngstown students

YOUNGSTOWN

Mollie Kessler, who died April 30 at 88, leaves a legacy of education in both the school she started and the hundreds of students who have learned there.

“What Mollie has done through the ACLD School is create a culture,” said Lydia Brown-Payton, the school’s director. “The kids come first.”

She believed in teaching children where they are — a novel concept at the time.

“Everything was very individualized,” said Erica Brown-Fire, the school’s administrator.

Kessler tried to find materials and methods to help each child learn, she said.

Kessler opened the All Children Learn Differently Learning Center in 1973. The Mollie Kessler School began in 1993 as a private school. It became a public charter school in 2002. The school became the ACLD School this year, losing the Kessler name, when it changed from a public charter to a private school.

Read more about her legacy in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.