LiberatED Podcast

Jenna Wertheimer leads Grace Preparatory Academy, a University Model® hybrid homeschool just outside of Boston. Students in kindergarten through 8th grade attend drop-off classes with hired teachers two days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and then continue to work on their curriculum at home with their parents or in self-organized cooperatives.

Grace Prep was launched in 2012 by two homeschooling moms who wanted more consistent structure and social interactions for their homeschooled children within a faith-based learning environment. Their initial class had seven students. Today, Grace Prep serves more than 70 K-8 students with 11 staff members.

***

Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Elements Academy is a private preK-12 microschool and family wellness community located in Braintree, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Its founder is Heather DiNino, a former teacher and special education department chair in the Massachusetts public schools for more than a decade who realized that learning could and should be different. At Elements Academy, she has built a stunning alternative to conventional schooling where young people thrive.

***

Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Kenisha Skaggs founded SOAR Academy in Georgia in 2011 as a non-traditional private school that focuses on an individualized approach to learning. Approximately 85% of SOAR Academy's students are neurodiverse or have special learning needs. Since its founding, SOAR Academy has reached more than 500 students and continues to have a long waitlist.

***

Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Stacey Hammerlind and Jessica Rothbart are the cofounders of Micah Studios, a low-cost, secular microschool for children ages 6-18 in Newport, New Hampshire with a specific focus on low-income students who are now eligible for various school choice programs. Jessica is a homeschooling mother of six children and Stacey is a mother of four adult children and grandmother to two with a shared passion for education and expanding learning options for local families.

Register here for the Encouraging Education Entrepreneurship & Innovation in N.H. Conference (September 30, 2023)

***

Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Eric Eisenbrey is the founder of the Eyes and Brains STEM Center, a microschool in the small town of Elkins, West Virginia that opened last year with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and math.

Eric was a public school teacher for 10 years before creating his exciting year-round, K-12 microschool, which he launched with the help of Microschool Builders.

*** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Dal "Doc" Richardson launched BreakOut School in Utah County, Utah in 2019 as an outdoor-based microschool focusing on kids with ADHD and neurodiversity. After a 20-year career as a pharmacist, he saw the need to create new and different learning options for young people in his community.

*** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Laura George is a mom of 11 now-grown children who homeschooled for 20 years before launching Compass Prep Academy in 2005 in Cherokee County, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. Compass Prep is a faith-based hybrid homeschool programs that is open to everyone. Hybrid homeschool programs began to emerge back in the mid-1990s and have gained tremendous traction over the past decade—and especially over the past 3 years.

***

Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Our Resilient Community ALC is a Georgia-based microschool for LGBTQ+ youth. It is part of the Agile Learning Centers (ALC) network of self-directed education schools and homeschool learning centers across the US and around the world. Thea Canby and Nicole Gustafson cofounded Our Resilient Community in January 2022, but both of them had been working at an ALC prior to launch, and each have more than 10 years of experience as educators.

***

Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Olivia Hasey and Emily Sieger are the cofounders of Raindrop Academy, a drop-off K-6 microschool for homeschoolers in the rural town of Rogue River, Oregon, located about four hours south of Portland. Raindrop Academy meets in a bright and cheerful agricultural grange and incoporates elements of Waldorf, Montessori, and self-directed, democractic educational philosophies.

*** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Chioma Onyewuchi is the founder of Heart & Heritage Center, an alternative experiential, outdoor program for homeschoolers in Houston, Texas that focuses on childhood creativity, curiosity, and a deep connection to African heritage and culture. Chioma was born and raised in Aba, Nigeria, and came to the U.S. for college, where she graduated summa cum laude from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She currently homeschools her two children, ages 10 and 8.

***

Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.