LiberatED Podcast

Pastor Joshua Robertson is the Senior Pastor of The Rock Church of Harrisburg, PA and CEO and founder of Black Pastors United for Education. Through his role, he has spearheaded a variety of community initiatives aimed at education and youth empowerment, including establishing church-based learning centers for local young people who are enrolled in one of Pennsylvania's virtual charter schools. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Josh Pickel grew up in Canton, Illinois and returned home to teach at the public schools he had once attended. As time went on, he felt increasingly unsettled about the coercive classroom dynamics characteristic of conventional schooling. Josh began researching alternative education models and came across Liberated Learners, a network of self-directed learning centers for teenagers modeled after North Star, a learning center in western Massachusetts that was started in 1996 by Ken Danford, who was also a disillusioned public school teacher. Last summer, Josh quit his teaching job to open Canton Learning Collaborative, a self-directed microschool for homeschoolers. It grew from 5 learners last fall to 15 young people over the course of its first year. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today's episode covers three interesting and intersecting topics: unschooling, careers in the trades, and barriers to youth apprenticeships and employment. My guests are Wendy Zanders and her 16-year-old son, Keyshon, a certified welder with dreams of someday running his own business. Related article: Loosening Youth Employment Regulations Empowers Teens *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

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.

Karinna Fairbanks has experienced a wide variety of learning environments during her childhood and adolescence, including public schooling, virtual schooling, homeschooling, microschooling, and unschooling. Now, at age 15, she is entering college this fall as a sophomore, having accumulated numerous credits as a self-directed teen. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Phoebe Love and Jennifer Lin and staff members at the Saint Louis Sudbury School, a self-directed, democratic, Sudbury-model school located in Saint Louis, Missouri. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Nicole Doyle is a longtime homeschooling mom and home education advocate who cofounded the Georgia Black Home Educators Network in 2022. She is also the president of DeKalb Christian Home Educators, a homeschool co-op that's been serving the metro Atlanta area since 1989. The Network hosted its first annual Flourish Black Family Homeschool Conference in January 2023 with nearly 350 attendees, and is expecting its January 2024 conference to be even bigger! *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Noah Mayers has been working in education for over 20 years. He was a teaching artist for 8 years in both public and charter schools, then worked as a woodshop teacher at a private school for a year for before launching Brooklyn Apple Academy in New York City in 2010. Located in the Park Slope neighborhood, Brooklyn Apple is a self-directed learning center for homeschoolers and unschoolers. It currently serves about 50 learners who attend part-time throughout the week. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Dr. LeDonna Griffin is the founder of Leaders to Legends Academy in Omaha, Nebraska. She works directly with families who are seeking alternatives to conventional schooling to educate their children. LeDonna worked in the Nebraska public schools as both a teacher and principal for 30 years. In 2019, she launched Leaders to Legend as a homeschool co-op, and in 2020, interest in her model soared. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Troy Salazar is the founder of Liberty Self-Directed Learning Center in West Des Moines, Iowa. Troy worked in public schools for 22 years, first as a second grade teacher in a rural community in Iowa and later in the Des Moines public schools where he spent most of his teaching career. He launched Liberty SDLC in Fall 2022 after becoming frustrated by the conventional schooling model. Liberty is part of the Liberated Learners global network of self-directed learning centers. "I remember saying to colleagues and friends, why are there so many unhappy kids? It just blew my mind," said Troy in our interview. "There were several times in the last few years where I said I can't do this anymore. Then, in my last year, I called my wife and said the idea of our grandkids being in this classroom scares me. I wasn't exaggerating or being dramatic, and it was nothing that the kids were doing. It was the response that the kids were having to this system. They were so checked out." Read the recent Forbes.com article featuring Troy and Liberty SDLC: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerrymcdonald/2023/07/21/its-the-year-of-universal-school-choice-but-barriers-remain/ Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Listen to Kerry's keynote presentation on education entrepreneurship and innovation at the 2023 Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) conference, recorded live on June 23, 2023 at Long Island University. Read the case study of education entrepreneurship across the US. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Karema Akilah is a former teacher in the Maryland public schools who began homeschooling her children 20 years ago, of which the past 12 have been devoted to unschooling, or self-directed education. Through her personal unschooling journey, she began wondering about the possibilities of Web 3.0, blockchain technology, and artificial intelligence to capture the magic of the unschooling educational experience. She launched The Genius School and the Genii DAO app to blend the theory and practice of unschooling with decentralization technologies to help build the future of learning. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Linsey Knerl is a mom of 6 in Nebraska who has been a working and homeschooling mom for over 15 years. In 2021, her book, Homeschool Hacks: How to Give Your Kid a Great Education Without Losing Your Job (or Your Mind), was published by Simon & Schuster and served as a timely resource for the many parents who were drawn to homeschooling as a result of the education disruption caused by the pandemic response. It remains highly relevant today. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Nestled at the end of a residential cul-de-sac in Hopewell, Virginia is Dream Tech Academy, a microschool founded by former public school teacher, Danette Buckley. Dream Tech Academy launched in 2019 with four children, including three of Danette's own, as a homeschooling and tutoring program. It is now a recognized K-12 private school with about 30 children and four hired educators and is located in an inviting single family home just outside of Richmond that Danette purchased exclusively for her school. Read Kerry's Forbes article featuring Danette and her microschool. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Matt Dreier and Kristen Braia are the cofounders of a new Acton Academy affiliate microschool, Pace Academy, in North Chesterfield, Virginia, about 10 miles outside of Richmond. Matt retired from a 20-year career in the US Marine Corps and began pursuing his interest in education. He earned a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and then teamed up with his niece, Kristen, a mom and successful entrepreneur, to launch their microschool. When Pace Academy opens this fall, it will join approximately 300 other microschools in the fast-growing Acton Academy network, and will be one of six Acton affiliate microschools in Virginia. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Kimberly Stringer is the founder of Kreative Kids Academy in Wichita, Kansas, a child-led, outdoor-based licensed preschool that during the pandemic response and school shutdowns expanded to include a school-age program that continues to grow and flourish. I had the chance to meet Kim and visit Kreative Kids and was so taken by its beauty, warmth, joyfulness, and emphasis on the value of abundant outdoor time for children. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Cecile Enright is the founder of River's Edge Academy Charter School (REACH), which she launched in 2011 with 70 students in a leased church space in rural Rogue River, Oregon. Today, the school serves over 200 students in two locations. REACH is a K-12 hybrid charter school, enabling students to be on campus for part of the week and to learn from home or in the community for the remainder of the week, often taking enrichment classes in areas such as art, music, and 4-H with local community partners. As a charter school, REACH students attend tuition-free. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

When schools shut down in 2020, Detroit mom Danna Guzman joined countless parents across the US who created "pandemic pods" to enable their children to continue learning together during school shutdowns. Mounting enthusiasm for her learning pod led Danna to expand it into an established microschool for homeschoolers that continues to grow and flourish today. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Maysaa Bazna haș been involved in education and alternative education for many years. She earned her doctorate in curriculum and teaching at Columbia University, and was a professor in Columbia's Teachers College and the City University of New York (CUNY). She has taught in the areas of learning disabilities, disability studies, and inclusive education. Maysaa is currently the Director of Professional Practice and Community Partnerships at the School of Education, Queens College, CUNY. In 2010, looking to create the kind of hands-on, self-directed educational experience she wanted for her child, she launched Pono, an outdoor, democratic education co-learning community in New York City. She continues to serve in an advisory role for Pono while also expanding her passion for outdoor education by partnering with the New York City public schools. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today's guest is Ariel Maguire, an accountant and mom of 4 who lives in a rural area of the Big Island of Hawaii. In early 2022, she and a group of local moms got together to create Kulike Learning Garden, a Waldorf-inspired microschool structured as a Private Membership Association, or PMA, to help with the care and education of their children in an area with severe child care shortages. They hired an experienced teacher and were successfully operating the program for about a year until state regulators shut them down, and fined Ariel $5,000, for running an "unlicensed" school. Local Hawaii news coverage of Ariel's story. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

"A lot of families started realizing things weren't working in the conventional system," said Syreeta Farria, a homeschooling mother of two children in Detroit who, along with another homeschooling mother, Victoria Washington, runs a weekly homeschooling program for local families. Farria has seen the growth in homeschooling over the past three years, particularly among families of color. "There are a lot of stereotypes about what homeschoolers look like. And quite often, most people do not see moms like myself and Victoria. They do not see that there are Black and brown families in urban areas that are moving away from traditional learning and deciding to do homeschooling or non-traditional methods when it comes to educating their children." *** Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Cara Frantz is a certified professional midwife who never planned to launch a microschool until the school closures and education disruption of 2020 led her to create Envision Homeschool Collective for her children, their friends, and members of the community. Envision Homeschool Collective consists of two microschools, one for high schoolers on her property and the other for middle schoolers just a mile down the road, with three hired educators. Prompted by local demand, Cara intends to expand her microschools over the coming months. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Ben Kestner and Lisa Pavlock are experienced educators who taught in both public and private schools in the US and internationally before leaving conventional education in 2013 in search of something different. They moved to Montana with their young daughter and founded a Sudbury-inspired, democratic school on a Native American reservation. In 2021, they moved to Ibiza in Spain to help lead The Learning Project in Ibiza, a new Sudbury-model, democratic school focused on non-coercive, self-directed learning. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Coi Morrison worked for several years as a public school teacher in both the Chicago Public Schools and the Memphis Public Schools. She became frustrated by the standard education system and left education, earned an MBA, and worked in banking for a while before returning to teaching. It was searching for a school for her own four children that led her to create The Lab School of Memphis in 2021. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Becky Abrams is a longtime homeschooling mom in the Rogue Valley of southern Oregon who started a small, parent-run homeschool co-op in 2015. That co-op led to the creation of Arrows Christian Academy, a drop-off, K-8, hybrid school with nearly 200 kids and 25 staff members in two locations. As she delegates more of Arrow's day-to-day operations, Becky is now helping other education entrepreneurs to create similar learning models across the country through her website, nonprofitedsolutions.com. *** Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

By the time Covid hit and schools shut down, Bernita Bradley had been working on education issues in Detroit for a decade, including as an AmeriCorps volunteer. In 2020, she launched Engaged Detroit, a citywide co-op for about a dozen families who wanted to homeschool their children during the pandemic. Today, Engaged Detroit serves as a resource center for more than 100 Detroit homeschooling families. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

What began as a microschool in 1967 for Clonlara School founder Pat Montgomery's two children and six others has grown into an internationally-renowned, K-12 private school serving 2,000 off-campus students around the world through its online program, as well as a small group of on-campus students at its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters. It quickly became clear that parents outside of Ann Arbor were attracted to this learning model, particularly as the modern homeschooling movement gained traction beginning in the 1970s. Some Michigan families were investigated or charged with truancy for homeschooling their children, so Montgomery mounted a lawsuit against the Michigan State Board of Education. Thirty years ago this month, on May 25, 1993, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in Clonlara's favor. That case, and two related ones that were decided on the same day, secured homeschooling rights in the state. Today, I am so honored to be joined by Pat Montgomery and her daughter, Chandra Montgomery Nicol, who was Clonlara's first student, served as its longtime Executive Director, and is now Clonlara's board chair. Read more about Montgomery and the May 1993 legal decisions in my latest Forbes article. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Dr. Cory Steiner is the superintendent of the Northern Cass School District in rural Hunter, North Dakota. Northern Cass was a 2022 finalist for the prestigious Yass Prize for education innovation, particularly for its unique strategy of reaching rural students in a more personalized, learner-centered way. Northern Cass Personalized Learning Institute June conference information and registration link. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today marks the 100th episode of the LiberatED podcast, which I launched back in February 2022 as a once-a-week podcast, and boosted to a twice-weekly show last fall because there are just so many stories to tell of the entrepreneurial parents and educators who are transforming US K-12 education from the bottom up. In recognition of this milestone, I thought I would share a few reflections. Thank you so much for listening, sharing, and supporting this podcast! I am so grateful. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Karen Weary was a licensed teacher in Colorado who taught for many years in both public and private Montessori schools before moving to the rural Rogue Valley area of southern Oregon. There, she taught in an established, private Montessori school. The education disruption of 2020 prompted her to explore other education options, and in the fall of 2021 she opened Mountain Montessori, a child-centered K-3 microschool in a small, renovated classroom above her garage. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Nasiyah Isra-Ul, the founder of Canary Academy, an online learning platform for homeschoolers that provides curriculum curation and instruction, learning tools, coaching, and community engagement for homeschooling families across the US. Nasiyah launched Canary Academy as a 15-year-old homeschooler trying to make her own family's homeschooling experience easier and more efficient. She officially launched her organization as a non-profit in 2021, with a specific focus on expanding access to homeschooling resources to low-income families. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

A former teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, Vijay Shah founded The Humanist Academy in 2016 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. An Acton Academy affiliate, this learner-driven microschool now has over 85 students. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Dr. Gina Riley is an educational psychologist, clinical professor, and program leader of the Adolescent Special Education Program at City University of New York (CUNY)–Hunter College. She has over 15 years experience working with teens diagnosed with learning disabilities and emotional/behavioral disorders. She is also widely published in the fields of special education, psychology, school psychology, and mental health counseling. My listeners may know Gina most for her internationally-renowned work in the fields of homeschooling, unschooling, and self-directed learning. She has authored numerous academic journal articles on unschooling and self-directed education, as well as co-authored many others with Boston College professor Peter Gray (episode #12). Gina is the author of the 2021 book, The Homeschooling Starter Guide: How to Create and Adapt the Best Education Action Plan for Your Needs. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Felicia Wright is a US Army veteran and former teacher in the Nevada public schools who decided to pull her daughter out of kindergarten for homeschooling and eventually launched a microschool called The Learning Outpost in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Learning Outpost now serves 22 kids, including two of Felicia's children, and employs two teachers, in addition to Felicia. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

In the South Bronx, the teachers at the Wildflower New York Charter School are creating a nurturing space for children's intellectual and emotional development. Located in the Morrisania neighborhood, the charter school is a collection of three separate Montessori microschools that priorize child-led learning, including for the more than 30% of their students with identified special needs. The Wildflower New York Charter School is part of the national Wildflower Montessori's network of microschools that is focused on activating and supporting teacher-entrepreneurs to serve their local neighborhoods within an intentionally small, mixed-age, personalized setting. Our guests today are Aura Cely and Mario Benabe two of the teacher-entrepreneurs who helped to open the Wildflower New York Charter School in the fall of 2020. New York Post article on innovative NYC charter schools Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Mercedes Grant had a tough childhood and became a public school teacher to help students like her. After teaching in four states, she finally decided that she had to leave the system to create new, learner-focused education options. She is now the founder of Path of Life Learning, a new microschool in Virginia that just opened for fall registration and is already near capacity at over 20 learners. In the future, Mercedes hopes more at-risk youth gain access to schooling alternatives that recognize and appreciate their individual gifts. Learn more about KaiPod Catalyst. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Amber Okolo-Ebube is a mom of 5 and longtime homeschooling parent in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas who runs Leading Little Arrows, a weekly homeschooling enrichment program focused on nature, art, and STEM subjects. She launched last spring and her program has become so popular that she recently leased a building across the street from the University of Texas at Arlington campus. With 33 students ages 3-17, and several adult facilitators, she is already near capacity, and will be expanding to run a microschool this fall. Approximately three-quarters of Okolo-Ebube's students are neurodiverse, with several, including one of her own children, on the autism spectrum. Leading Little Arrows provides the individualized learning environment and freedom of movement that enable both neurodiverse and neurotypical children to thrive. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Kenneth Danford is one of the true pioneers in alternative education. In 1996, Ken launched North Star, a self-directed learning center for teen homeschoolers in western Massachusetts which was one of the first such spaces to exist. Prior to launching North Star, Ken was a middle school social studies teacher in public schools and wanted to create a new, non-coercive learning option for young people. Fast forward to 2013, Ken and his colleague Joel Hammon created Liberated Learners, a global network of self-directed learning centers modeled after North Star that continues to help aspiring education entrepreneurs launch self-directed learning centers in their own communities. In 2019, Ken published the book Learning is Natural, School is Optional.: The North Star approach to offering teens a head start on life, which I highly recommend. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Alycia Wright taught middle school in the Virginia public schools for over a decade before becoming a homeschooling mom to her four children. She is the founder of Cultural Roots Homeschool Cooperative, a non-profit with the mission of creating a liberated educational space for children of color in Richmond, Virginia that currently serves over 125 learners. I recently had the chance to meet Alycia in person when I was visiting the Richmond area and am so glad to share her story here. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Barefoot University is truly one of the most exciting organizations you'll hear about this year. It is a rapidly expanding network of outdoor education programs that brings families together for weekly nature meetups and theme-based learning activities. Barefoot University was founded in 2019 by our guests today, Madeleine Braden and Amber Brown, who were looking for more ways to connect their kids with nature and bring other like-minded families along. It started with just a handful of families in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas, and has now grown to serve more than 3,000 students nationwide. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Chrystal and Joshua Bernard are pastors of their local church as well as the cofounders of Braveheart Christian Academy, a microschool in Arlington, Texas and part of the vibrant cluster of microschools and innovative learning models in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area. Chrystal is a former high school mathematics teacher in the Texas public schools. She left to run her own CPA firm, which she still manages on the side while overseeing Braveheart Academy that she and Joshua launched in the fall 2021. Education Entrepreneurs in Texas Are Expanding Options for Families (Forbes.com) Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.