McCartney Hart grew up thinking she was stupid.

Art, music and dance helped her find her way.

In 2010 she founded Building Blocks Academy, a performing arts preschool at 10 North Street in Hamilton.

This year she started a similar programme in her home town of Scottsdale, Arizona.

“I found an anonymous angel investor who loved the concept and believed it would work well in Arizona,” she said.

“There are no other programmes like this in America right now. This particular area is really booming with children and their parents are young professionals who don’t want a typical preschool for their children. They want something out-of-the-box.

“The hope is to actually get six of these schools up around the States in places like California and New York.”

It’s likely her elementary schoolteachers in Boston would be surprised to learn of the path she’s taken.

“Growing up I had a lot of learning challenges,” she said. “For a while I became really discouraged and disconnected and had some self-esteem issues.

“On top of that there was behavioural stuff for me because I felt like I wasn’t smart and didn’t learn how everyone else learnt.

“I was told by teachers when I was younger that I was basically stupid, so that was very difficult.

“They originally tried to diagnose me with dyslexia and then after a couple of years of being in different learning support programmes they told my mom that it was my learning and reading comprehensive issues that just needed to be strengthened.”

She started feeling better about herself in the third grade. A drama teacher sought her out for a role in Oliver Twist, a production put on by older students.

She was overjoyed, but couldn’t read the script. She made her way through with help from her mother — she would read the lines and Mrs Hart would memorise them. “I was the youngest to be cast in the performance, but it was awesome because I got my first shot at being on the stage,” the 34-year-old said.

“After that, my mom and dad got me different tutors and into various programmes so I could overcome some of the learning challenges, but I still have them today.

“It’s like anything where you have one side or part of the body that doesn’t work well — the other side compensates. The brain can be the same. Although I might never be a rocket scientist, I’m the leader of a performing arts school. Through my learning challenges I learnt to work hard and not sit around and complain about it. If you want to make something successful you have to go after it with your blood, sweet and tears.”

Her breakthrough as an educator came after she was hired as a nanny. American gospel recording artist Israel Houghton and his wife Meleasa asked her to organise an educational schedule for their three children.

“At the time the children were two, three and ten and I helped them get caught up to where they needed to be academically,” she said. “I taught their youngest child the alphabet. That experience really fuelled my interest in taking that further.

“I have an arts background, but understand the importance of subjects like maths and science as well. I thought, let’s fuse these two concepts together and see if we can’t come up with something that’s a win-win for all children.”

She put that to work once she moved to Bermuda in 2006. Her father, McPhall Kerbey, spent many summer holidays on the island growing up; she’d also visit frequently as a child.

“It’s a sacred place for my entire family and between love and awesome opportunities I stayed,” she said.

“My husband and children are Bermudian, my school is there and that’s where my heart is. I plan to continue visiting the island at least two or three times a year. I’ll be there for the kids’ graduation and recital in June.”

One thing that stood out when she first moved here was the lack of summer camps for children who were passionate about the arts. She started L (3) Lessons, Love and Laughter Camp to fill that void.

“We decided to fill that gap and had 85 to 100 children during the summer and on school breaks,” she said. “They came to our programmes and learnt about art and dance and thinking outside the box, to encourage self-esteem and self-confidence.

“Parents kept telling me they didn’t want their children to leave the camp. They wanted me to open up an elementary programme, so that’s what I did. I wanted to create a space that would prepare children for kindergarten, whether they were academic learners or amazing dancers or singers. I didn’t want what happened to me — where teachers labelled you or failed to recognise different areas you might be gifted in — to happen to other children.

“When parents tell me their child is made to feel stupid that’s heartbreaking to me because I don’t want to repeat what I went through.”

Building Blocks’ staff, Chandra Maybury, Tineke Stevens and Makeda DeShields, provide 60 students in Bermuda with an alternative to standardised teaching methods.