LiberatED Podcast

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.

There is a vibrant and growing hub of education entrepreneurship and alternative learning models in New York City, and our guests today are a part of that. Jacob Greebel and Melissa Sornik, both licensed social workers and experienced therapists, founded Acton Academy Seacliff in 2020 in Seacliff, New York on Long Island, but decided to move their Acton Academy into the heart of Manhattan. In their private practice, they see mounting school-related youth anxiety and believe that alternative education models, and the Acton model in particular, can be a beneficial antidote. Jacob and Melissa are planning to open the doors on Synergy: An Acton Academy in New York City this fall. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Dr. Natalie Summerville taught for over 20 years in the Virginia public schools before first launching The Grand Magnolia School, a microschool in Richmond, Virginia that her grandchildren and others attend. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today's guest is Yesi Sol, a former New York City public school teacher and founder of The Joyful Learning Academy. Joyful Learning is a learning center for homeschoolers in the DUMBO (down underneath the Manhattan Bridge overpass) area of Brooklyn, New York that also provides after-school enrichment and tutoring services to local learners. I had the chance recently to meet Yesi and visit her beautiful learning center and am excited for her to share more about her journey toward alternative education and education entrepreneurship. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Jerry Mintz has been a leading voice in the alternative school movement for over 30 years. In addition to his 17 years as a public and independent alternative school principal and teacher, he has also helped to found more than one hundred public and private alternative schools and organizations. In 1989, he launched the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) and since then has served as its director. He is the author of the 2017 book, School's Over: How to Have Freedom and Democracy in Education . Register here for the 2023 AERO Conference! Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Wade Moore runs Urban Preparatory Academy in Wichita, Kansas, a private K-8 school where most of the students attend tuition-free through the state's low-income tax-credit scholarship program. Pastor Moore has been a longtime advocate for expanding education choice programs to enable more children to have access to the best educational fit for them. "It's life and death to students," he says. Urban Prep was a 2022 finalist for the prestigious Yass Prize, winning a $500,000 grant to expand Urban Prep to a second location in the Wichita area and serve more students. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

In the small town of Abbyville, Kansas, located an hour outside of Wichita with a population of 83 people, lies Re*Wild Family Academy, a microschool run by our guest today, Devan Dellenbach. Devan was a certified elementary school teacher in Kansas public schools for five years before leaving the classroom to be a stay-at-home mom to her two children. Stay-at-home parenthood evolved into homeschooling for Devan and now into microschooling, as she attracts other families to the personalized, nurturing, and tranquil learning space she has created in her home. I had the chance to see Devan's microschool up close when I visited her rural Kansas community earlier this month. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

One of the high-quality virtual learning platforms that I am especially enthusiastic about is Great Hearts, which is expanding this year into a national online private academy with a Classical education focus. A network of public charter and tuition-based private schools and microschools, with both brick-and-mortar and virtual offerings, Great Hearts is the largest provider of liberal arts classical education in the country, serving more than 26,000 students at 33 schools across the US. Our guest today is Kurtis Indorf, Chief Innovation Officer for Great Hearts America, and the Founder and President of Great Hearts Nova. Apply here for the 2023 Ed-Prize Awards for education entrepreneurship and innovation! Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

When Emily Williams told her parents that she was leaving her job as a certified public school teacher to launch a microschool, they thought she was crazy. Both longtime public school educators themselves, they couldn't understand why Emily, who taught in Mississippi public schools for more than a decade, would want to give up a good district salary, insurance, and retirement benefits to become an education entrepreneur. Emily, however, felt drawn to create an educational environment that would emphasize individualized learning, personal autonomy and mutual respect. She launched Micah's Mission, a low-cost, faith-based microschool located in Vicksburg, Mississippi that serves about 50, K-12 students, including several students with significant disabilities and special needs. Read more about Emily in my Forbes article: "Former Public School Teachers Are Earning More As Education Entrepreneurs" Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Self-directed education is a tough concept for many people to grasp. It challenges the ways in which many of us were educated, and the ways many of our children continue to be educated, by flipping the entire idea of education as a top-down model of coercive schooling to a bottom-up model of individual agency and self-determination. My 2019 book, Unschooled: Raising Curious Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom, details the history and philosophy of non-coercive, self-directed education tied to one's individual interests, goals, and life pursuits. One place that has become a beacon for parents and educators interested in the philosophy and practice of self-directed education is the Sudbury Valley School, that I write extensively about in Unschooled. Sudbury Valley was founded in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1968 and continues to flourish today more than 50 years later. It has also inspired the creation of dozens of democratic, Sudbury-model schools around the world, as well as various unschooling programs. If you remember back to episode 39 in October, I interviewed Sudbury Valley School cofounder, Mimsy Sadofsky, and explained why my husband and I decided to send our children there instead of continuing with homeschooling. But today I thought it would be interesting and insightful to hear from another parent, Nick Warren, who pulled his two children out of public school in 2021 and enrolled them at Sudbury Valley. Like us, Nick and his wife drive a long distance each way every day so that their kids can attend Sudbury Valley, but it's totally worth it. We talk more about why that is in today's show. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

For Becky Elder, education entrepreneurship is nothing new. In 1963, her parents founded a private school in Wichita, Kansas. Becky then homeschooled her own children even before the practice was legally recognized. In 1993, she helped to launch Northfield School of the Liberal Arts as a small, classically-oriented school for approximately 50 middle and high school students in Wichita. Dalena Wallace is a next-generation education entrepreneur, following in Becky's footsteps. She is a homeschool mom of 6 children ages 8-15 who lives in a small rural community about an hour outside of Wichita. Dalena has been running a popular homeschool co-op for several years and received a microgrant from the VELA Education Fund which helped to connect her to other local education entrepreneurs in the greater Wichita area, including Becky. Dalena and Becky, along with some of the other Wichita education entrepreneurs I have had on the podcast, created the group WISE - Wichita Innovative Schools and Educators— to support the growth and success of more microschools, low-cost private schools, learning pods, homeschool collaboratives, and other innovative K-12 education models. Check out my case study of education entrepreneurship in Wichita! Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Sean Harrell is the president of Integration Charter Schools (ICS) on Staten Island in New York City. ICS is a collection of four charter schools focused on fully integrating students with special needs (about 40%)and general education students. Sean has worked as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, and school district administrator for more than a decade. He founded and serves as executive director of the Progressive Educators Group, and is also an edtech entrepreneur who launched the teacher recruitment app, EdSwipe!, in early 2022. I had the chance to meet Sean and visit ICS during my recent trip to the Big Apple to uncover innovative learning models there. Check out my latest New York Post article featuring Sean, ICS, and other innovative learning models in NYC. Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Despite his MBA and a B.S. degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as a prestigious career as a naval officer and flight test engineer, James Lomax was prohibited from opening a secular private school in the state of Nevada due to occupational licensing regulations. Read more in my latest Forbes article: "Why Can't A Retired U.S. Navy Officer And Engineer Open A Private School In Nevada?" Sign up for my free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Our guest today is Dr. Lisa Scott, founder of The Art of Words Community School, a small private school in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, NY. Lisa earned her PhD in Education from Claremont Graduate School and taught classes in the history and philosophy of education at both CUNY-Queens and Hunter College before leaving to launch her microschool in September 2020. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today's guest is Michael Strong, a longtime education entrepreneur and innovator and now founder of The Socratic Experience, an online school that emphasizes personalized and purpose-driven education, which I highly recommend. Michael is the author of the 2009 book, Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World's Problems, which includes a Foreword by John Mackey, the cofounder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market, with whom Michael has collaborated on initiatives related to conscious capitalism and entrepreneurship. Michael is also the author of The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice, and we'll hear more about what that looks like in his new online school focused on Socratic principles. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Turan Rush grew up in West Virginia on Charleston's West Side and was a star football player at Capitol High School, going to on to play at the collegiate level at Eastern Michigan University. He decided to come back to Charleston after graduating in 2021 to make a positive impact on the youth in his neighborhood. He teamed up with Jeff Biddle, a pastor and mentor to Turan, to open a thriving, sports-focused, youth after school program in Charleston. The duo now has their sights set on opening a low-cost private school in the same location as their after school program to provide greater learning opportunities to Charleston's young people. "Breaking the School-to-Prison Pipeline, One Microschool At A Time" (Forbes.com) Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

In the summer of 2019, after 15 years of teaching in the Portland, Oregon public school district, Greg Brown resigned to pursue Activate full-time. During COVID, Activate evolved into a full-time microschool with a dyslexia focus, and it continues to expand today to serve more learners in the Portland area. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today marks one year since the launch of this podcast! It has grown so much, with inspiring stories of microschool founders and other education entrepreneurs who are building bottom-up learning models to challenge longstanding, top-down systems. I am thrilled to celebrate today's podcast anniversary with Sarah Tavernetti and Yamila De Leon, cofounders of Bloom Academy, a self-directed microschool in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Nick Lachen is a former high school physics teacher with a Master's degree in teaching who, along with his wife, decided back in 2020 to launch a self-directed Sudbury-model school in the Des Moines, Iowa area. The state told them they couldn't. Iowa has some of the most restrictive private school regulations in the US, constraining the entire private education sector there long before introducing school choice policies. Hear Nick's story, including what's next for his family, in today's episode. Iowa Enacts Universal School Choice, But Regulations Will Limit the Supply of Options for Families (Forbes.com) Planning Kit for Sudbury Schools Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Tamara Becker has been an educator for over 25 years, working in both district and virtual schools as a teacher, administrator, special education director, assistant superintendent, and most recently, as the superintendent of Primavera, Arizona's largest online school. In August 2021, she launched her first tuition-free Adamo microschool with 12 students in kindergarten through seventh grade in Fountain Hills, Arizona. In August 2022, Tamara opened her second Adamo microschool in Queen Creek, with plans for additional microschool locations in the coming months. Watch the podcast--and today's tour--on YouTube. Read Kerry's Forbes article about Adamo. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Mara Linaberger worked for 25 years as a public school educator, teacher trainer, and administrator. She has a doctorate in Instructional Technology and has become a leader in the microschooling movement, launching her organization, Microschool Builders, in 2018 that helps to support microschool founders around the world. Mara's book, The Micro-School Builder's Handbook, is a wonderful resource for current and prospective founders. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Melissa Mohr worked for 17 years as a teacher and an administrator in a traditional private school in West Virginia, but last year she and some of her colleagues decided to venture out on their own to create a microschool. Her City on a Hill microschool opened in Bridgeport, West Virginia in September 2022 with about 50 kids and continues to attract families who want an alternative to a conventional public or private school. City on a Hill blends the freedom, flexibility, and personalization of homeschooling with the structure and support of a classroom experience. West Virginia's new microschool legislation helped to carve a pathway for founders like Melissa. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Amar Kumar, founder of KaiPod Learning, recently introduced a new program called KaiPod Catalyst which helps entrepreneurial parents and educators to launch a microschool in their local community. One of the entrepreneurial parents who has teamed up with KaiPod is Ben Ashfield, who was on the podcast in September talking about his New Jersey microschool, The Village Electric. In this episode, Ben updates us on his microschool while Amar shares more about KaiPod Catalyst and how it can help aspiring education entrepreneurs to launch a microschool this year! Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

JeVonne Tanner worked as a public high school biology teacher but she and her husband Paul grew increasingly frustrated by the constraints of a conventional classroom, including for their own children. They began to look for something different and discovered Acton Academy, a network of independently-owned and operated microschools that was launched in 2010 and now have more than 280 affiiliated microschools worldwide. At the urging of their children, JeVonne and Paul launched CHOICE Acton Academy in Utah in 2020. Education Entrepreneurs Face Regulatory Challenges Everywhere. Utah Is Trying To Help. (Forbes.com) Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

After many years of stay-at-home motherhood and homeschooling her 6 children in Florida, Candace Lehenbauer wanted to do something different. She decided to create Tapestry Academy, a home-based microschool in Boca Raton. Candace also runs MicroschoolFlorida.com, a resource directory of microschools in South Florida. Case study of South Florida education entrepreneurship, produced for the VELA Education Fund Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Today's guest is Susan Safra, founder and director of Flex Learning Academy, a microschool in South Florida and one of the many innovative education options that are sprouting in that area. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Before joining Empower Mississippi and spearheading Embark, a microschool accelerator, Elyse Marcellino helped to launch a classical charter school in Georgia, worked as a classroom teacher for several years, and earned a graduate degree in education from Harvard University. Today, she is helping to activate microschools in her home state of Mississippi, while creating a blueprint for others to follow. "MISSISSIPPI MICROSCHOOLS ARE EXPANDING EDUCATION OPTIONS FOR FAMILIES" Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Cassidy Younghans taught in conventional schools for 5 years before shifting her focus toward self-directed education. She interned at several prominent self-directed learning settings across the U.S. before becoming a cofounder of a full-time, self-directed learning center in Dallas. She learned a lot from that initial entrepreneurial experience, and in 2021 founded Wild Roots, a grassroots self-directed learning community in Dallas. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Jenny Clark is an Arizona mother of 5 who has been working vigorously over the past several years to expand education options for families, as well as help parents across the country gain a better understanding of the various options available to them. She is the creator of LoveYourSchool.org which is a fantastic platform that highlights various education options and also provides practical learning resources and tools for families. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Candace Fish planned to open a microschool with just a few students, but when the former public school teacher launched her low-cost private school, Freedom Preparatory, this August, she had over 130 students signed up. Parents in Wichita, Kansas, as elsewhere, are looking for more education options, and a collaborative entrepreneurial community is creating them. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

In August, Michael Parsons opened Vandalia Community School as a microschool in Charleston, West Virginia serving about 10 students with two teachers. Infused with Montessori principles and focused on ample outside time, Vandalia serves a diverse group of learners. With the implementation of West Virginia's new Hope Scholarship Program, a near-universal education savings account for K-12 students, Vandalia and models like it are now more accessible to many more families. Read more in my latest Forbes article: In West Virginia, Microschools Come With Hope Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends and extra podcast content at fee.org/liberated.

Gayle Nagle and Maura Duignan founded the Sligo Sudbury School in Sligo, Ireland in 2018. The Sligo Sudbury School is one of dozens of Sudbury-style schools around the world that are modeled after the original Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Massachusetts that was founded in 1968. Sudbury schools value freedom and autonomy, non-coercive learning, personal responsibility, and democratic self-governance. In episode 39, I interviewed Sudbury Valley School cofounder Mimsy Sadofsky, and I wrote extensively about Sudbury Valley and the Sudbury model of self-directed education in my Unschooled book. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends and extra podcast content at fee.org/liberated.

Homeschooling parents Toni and Uli Frallicciardi run Surf Skate Science in South Florida, offering weekly classes for approximately 250 homeschoolers and microschoolers in the greater Fort Lauderdale area each semester. They blend their passion for surfing and skating with their interest and background in science and engineering to create hands-on lessons for local students, as well as for young people across the U.S. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Pam McEwen is a longtime educator and former certified teacher in the public schools in Wichita, Kansas who decided to launch a tutoring center in 2019. Amidst the education disruption of 2020, parents urged Pam to turn her tutoring center into a full-time, in-person microschool. So, she resigned from the school district to run the Izora Elaine Dean Education Center full-time. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Matt Bowman began his career as a public school teacher and quickly recognized the ways in which educational technology could act as both an accelerator for education entrepreneurs and as an access point for families who want a more customized, personalized, self-directed approach to education. He launched My Tech High in 2008 and now works directly with public school districts across the country, serving 20,000 students in 10 states. Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.