LiberatED Podcast

Dale Ahlquist is the cofounder of Chesterton Academy in Hopkins, Minnesota. What started in 2008 as a microschool with 10 students, including some of his own children, has grown into a flagship location with over 150 high schoolers, as well as a global network of over 70 Classical Catholic Chesterton Schools educating more than 2,000 students.

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Amanda Lucas, founder of Lucas Literacy Lab, a middle school microschool in Middlesex County, New Jersey opening this fall. She taught in charter and private schools across New York City for nearly a decade before becoming an education entrepreneur and joining the KaiPod Catalyst microschool startup accelerator program.

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Elmarie Hyman is the founder of Learn Beyond the Book, a California-based secular homeschool resource center for students in pre-K through high school. Young people can attend Learn Beyond the Book's in-person classes in three locations in the greater Los Angeles area, or take advantage of additional live virtual classes. Students who attend are either homeschoolers who pay out-of-pocket or public charter school students who attend tuition-free, or nearly so, through one of California's homeschool charter schools.

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Benita Gordon was a longtime public school teacher who is now the founder of Miami MicroLearn Hub, a microschool focusing on rising 6th to rising 12th graders in South Florida opening this August. Benita also founded the educational consulting company, Global Education Concierge.

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John Mackey is an author, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Whole Foods Market. In 2022, he stepped down from his 44 years as CEO of the natural and organic grocer. He is now launching a new startup, Love.Life.

Mackey is the author of several books including the just-released The Whole Story: Adventures in Love, Life, and Capitalism.

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In Stillwater, Minnesota, Amy Marotz launched Awakening Spirit microschool to serve the distinct needs of gifted and neurodiverse learners. After earning an education degree and teaching at a Minneapolis charter school early in her career, Amy began homeschooling her own children and saw a need for a dedicated program to address neurodiversity within a holistic, nurturing environment. She now runs the program from her home and is helping other aspiring founders to create their own innovative schools and spaces.

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

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Jessica Slayback and Victoria Forsman launched the REALM, Redesigning Education And Living Meaningfully, in 2010 as a microschool with one student and since then they have served 3,000 students with both full-time and part-time learning options. Located in Santa Monica, California, REALM currently enrolls 134 students ages 4 to 14 each semester, with a new high school program opening soon.

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Denice Dixon is a former public school special education teacher and founder of TREAD Academy, a K-12 microschool serving neurodivergent and neurotypical in Atlanta.

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Chip Reichanadter is an experienced Montessori educator and cofounder of Pinyon Montessori, a PreK-6 microschool in Salt Lake City that opened in November 2023 and is the first Wildflower Montessori school in Utah. Founded in 2014, Wildflower is a national network of dozens of teacher-owned Montessori microschools fostering child-centered learning.

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Former public school teacher Coby Aldana is the founder of Refresh Learning Center, a Christian microschool for kindergarteners through high schoolers near Phoenix, Arizona. It opened in August 2023 and focuses on small classes and personalized learning.

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