LiberatED Podcast

Despite frustrating regulatory barriers, Danielle McLean and her cofounders launched Keystone Education Center in Vero Beach, Florida this fall. The microschool currently serves 17 neurodiverse students ages 9 to 13—including Danielle's autistic twin boys. The team plans to add a high school in the coming years. Two of Danielle's cofounders left their jobs as local public school special education teachers to build and work at this school. All of Keystone's students attend with tuition support from Florida's school choice programs.

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At Skola Microschool near Minneapolis, students and teachers spend much of their day outside, leading to happier, healthier experiences for all. Founded in 2022 by Kristin Fink, Skola has reached capacity with 25 K-8 students. Rather than expand, Kristin and her lead teacher, Ginger Montezon, are supporting other entrepreneurial teachers throughout Minnesota who want to launch similar programs in their communities. 

The Rise of Education Entrepreneurs in Minnesota (Forbes.com)

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Jill Haskins is a homeschooling mom in Fort Wayne, Indiana and former microschool teacher who now works closely with the National Microschooling Center as an ecosystem builder within Indiana and across the U.S.

Jill currently works with 80 microschools across Indiana—30 of which launched this fall. She expects to see more than 150 microschools in the state in 2025. 

Jill estimates that 85% of the students currently in a microschool in Indiana are attending tuition-free or nearly so using one of Indiana's school choice programs.

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Marisa Palmer is the cofounder, along with her husband Brandon, of Acton Academy Madison West in Madison, Wisconsin. A former investment banker and hedge fund analyst in New York City, Marisa launched her microschool in January 2023 with four students as part of the global Acton Academy network of learner-driven schools. Today, she has 15 students enrolled in her school, including her 8-year-old son, and expects to grow significantly over the next three years.

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Ashley Franz is a homeschooling mother of 5 who founded Cross Creek Academy as a PreK-12th Charlotte Mason-inspired hybrid homeschool program in rural central Arkansas. It currently serves about 100 learners with daily programming. Taylor Guy is a parent of three students at Cross Creek and a staff member.

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Today's guest is Tanisha DaCosta, founder of Kingdom Kids Empowerment Academy, a K-12 microschool with a project-based, Montessori-inspired approach that operates on the campus of Barber-Scotia College, an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) in North Carolina. 

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Mary Jo Fairhead is a former public school teacher and principal who in 2021 founded Onward Learning, an affordable, child-centered PK-8 school in rural Martin, South Dakota. As her enrollment climbs, she plans to open additional schools throughout South Dakota. 

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Vince and Tiffany Torres are the cofounders, along with two other couples, of Santa Fe Christian, a low-cost private school in New Mexico that they launched in 2022. It began with 20 students and has tripled in size over the past two years.

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Sabrina Reynolds is the founder of Mastery Learning Academy, a first through twelfth grade microschool in Taylorsville, Utah outside of Salt Lake City that focuses on core academic content within a classical-inspired, project-based learning environment. 

Sabrina has a Master’s degree in secondary education and taught in both public and private schools for almost 20 years before launching Mastery Learning Academy in 2019. Her school was almost shut down last spring for a zoning issue, but a new microschool bill passed by the Utah legislature saved it.

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Candice Hilton left her job as a public school teacher last year and just opened her K-8 microschool, Hilton Horizons Academy, in Kingsport, Tennessee. Tuition for the three-day program is $4,900 a year. All 12 of Hilton’s students are legally homeschooled, with the vast majority of them new to homeschooling this academic year after being in public school. 

Check out Kerry's new article at The 74 on "New Microschools for a New School Year," featuring Hilton Horizons Academy.

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