Sankofa Shule was a public school academy in Lansing, Michigan started in the 1995-96 school term with pre-kindergarten through the fourth grade. An additional grade level was added each year.  The target population was Black males, but any student may have applied. Sankofa is an Akan word that means to return to the past to go forward. Shule is a Kiswahili word meaning school. The focus of Sankofa Shule was an African - centered curriculum, with multi-sensory,multi-modal, multi-dimensional and multi-cultural strategies for an experiential school-based model of empowerment. Sankofa offered multi-aged, non-graded classes that placed the learners at the center of their educational development. The five stages of growth were the formulation years (pre-K), foundation years (K-2), framing years (3-5), finishing years (6-8), and flourishing years (9-12). Sankofa created professional opportunities of growth through program, material and research development, in-service, workshops, seminars, and travel based on educational goals. 

The Mission of Sankofa Shule was to center, educate, and nurture all students to achieve their maximum potential, while developing future leaders. The Philosophy of Sankofa was that the only boundaries in their lives should be their dreams. The academic focus was an African Centered liberal arts and science curriculum with strong emphasis on individualized reading, reasoning and critical thinking from kindergarten through the 8th grade. “ Learning by doing” was the primary teaching strategy because people remember 90% of what they say and only 10% of what they read. The discipline approach is taught from African centered principles of the Nguzu Saba and MAAT. There were three rules of the school. The three rules of the school were Respect Self, Respect Others, and Respect the Environment.