Welcome to KIMCAN Academy! My name is Roxana Walker-Canton and I am the Founder, Director and Master Tutor for KIMCAN Academy located in Hamden, CT. I am an educator and a documentary filmmaker. I earned my undergraduate degree in French and Spanish at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, before earning a dual MA/MFA in Black Studies and Creative Writing from The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH and an MFA in Film & Media Arts from Temple University in Philadelphia. I taught film production and film studies courses for over 15 years in public and private universities. I have been engaged in the field of education all of my life whether as a student, teaching assistant, writing lab instructor, university professor, mentor, academic advisor, conference presenter, or colleague. Years ago, while still in graduate school, my husband, Dr. David Canton, presently a professor of history at Connecticut College, and I engaged in numerous discussions about opening a private school. It is only natural at this point in my life, that I proceed with a variant of that initial discussion.
KIMCAN Academy grew out of my desire as an educator and parent to offer opportunities for students to achieve academic success through one-on-one tutoring, small group tutoring, homework help and academic enrichment. I have three children who are now 21, 19 and 14. My oldest "child", Imani, recently enrolled in a Ph.D. program, Kefentse, is a junior in college and Montsho is a sophomore in high school. My children attended public, private and magnet schools, and one child was homeschooled for a short period of time. Regardless of the type of school they attended, one thing was constant - Mommy School. Mommy School was a homeschool of sorts that was in session after my children came home from their day at "regular" school and in summer months. Mommy School filled in academic gaps that I felt were left out from the classroom, provided more work in areas where more work was needed, provided new work in subjects not offered and encouraged reading outside of class assignments. Of course, my children were not always happy, but to this day my children talk about the way that after I explained a mathematical concept, I would give them more problems until they demonstrated that they truly understood independent of my help. We laugh about Mommy School now, but because of the joy that I had working one-on-one with my children, I named the Academy in honor of them (Kefentse Imani Montsho CANton). As a working parent, my career as a university professor allowed me to tailor my schedule so that I had time to help my children with academics outside of school. My children have been fortunate, as well, because I am able to teach students in a wide variety of courses including writing, foreign language and -for parents- the dreadful math. Many parents struggle with having the time and the knowledge base to help their children achieve to their potential outside of the classroom. This is where KIMCAN Academy can help.
The mission of KIMCAN Academy is to provide tailored instruction and resources to help students achieve academic success as the gateway to lifelong learning and community engagement. Our logo is an Adinkra symbol from West Africa named Dame Dame which means intelligence and ingenuity. The Academy is open to all students whether attending public, private, magnate, charter or home schools. KIMCAN seeks to unlock the genius in each student who experiences any of our programs. We provide private tutoring, homework help and enrichment courses that will bring curiosity and the excitement of learning to students enrolled in the Academy. In addition to more traditional courses such as our Math Mania, Grammar Counts! and Pre-Algebra Foundation, KIMCAN Academy also offers enrichment courses such as Fiction Writing Workshop, African American Poetry & Penmanship, Geography Through African American History and African American Cinema! We also offer SAT Prep and College and Scholarship Application Preparation Workshops. KIMCAN Academy is waiting for your student to enroll. And we have something for parents and guardians as well! KIMCAN Academy's Student Parent Advocacy (SPA) Program is an innovative program that seeks to help parents support their students' academic achievement and to help parents navigate the school system. All parents want what is best for their children, but there are times when parents need support. The SPA program helps parents advocate for their students in numerous ways such as, attending meetings with teachers and administrators, attending field trips or PTA meetings when parents are unable to attend, helping to obtain resources, helping to understand educational policies and more. Parental involvement is key to student achievement. The SPA Program extends a helping hand. The Academy is waiting for your family to join the KIMCAN community!