LiberatED Podcast

Robert Kimble is the founder of Dream Academy in Dubuque, Iowa. A project of the Dubuque Dream Center, an afterschool program that Kimble cofounded in 2013, Dream Academy is opening this August as a faith-based, K-7 private school with plans to grow through high school by 2029. More than 50 students have already enrolled, and all are attending tuition-free thanks to Iowa's new universal school choice program. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Corey DeAngelis discusses the rise of school choice and the impact of teacher unions on education. He explores the influence of COVID-19 on parent empowerment, navigating hyper-partisanship for school choice advocacy, empowering parents through education entrepreneurship, and promoting parental choice in education.

Hannah Mackey and Lauren Umlauf are former teachers who cofounded The Dandelion Project, an unschooling community in Philadelphia that offers daytime programming for homeschoolers as well as after school programs and summer camps that emphasize self-directed education. They also do homeschooling evaluations for homeschoolers throughout Pennsylvania through an unschooling lens.  45 Years of Microschools in Philadelphia: Inside the Growing Movement of Child-Centered Schooling Alternatives (The 74) *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Amy Novak is a former teacher who in 2021 launched Acton Academy Red Rock in southern Nevada. Acton Academy Red Rock is part of the fast-growing Acton Academy network of learner-driven microschools that was founded in 2009 and now includes more than 300 schools serving thousands of learners.  Amy's program is intentionally inclusive of neurodiverse learners and those with special learning needs including children with autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, and related diagnoses. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Christen Parker-Yarnal is the cofounder of the Miami Sudbury School in Miami, Florida, a fully self-directed, democratic K-12 private school modeled after the flagship Sudbury Valley School that was founded in Massachusetts in 1968. Christen was a conventional school teacher for several years in St. Louis, then moved back to Miami where she grew up, unschooled her 3 children, and launched Miami Sudbury School in 2018.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Anna Graves, founder of The Field Academy, discusses combating chronic absenteeism by picking up students in a van for immersive learning experiences. The school focuses on personalized education, hands-on learning, and community partnerships to engage students and boost attendance rates.

Libertas Institute education policy analyst, and former public school teacher turned homeschooling dad, Jon England joins me on the podcast today to talk about removing regulatory barriers for education entrepreneurs. Jon describes new zoning legislation in Utah passed earlier this year to make it easier for microschool founders to launch their programs. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Dominique Paloma Bible was born in Brazil and raised in Brooklyn, eventually dropping out of high school. That experience led Dominique to discover the importance of personal agency and self-determination, as well as the possibility of alternative learning models outside of traditional schooling. Dominique earned a GED and enrolled at Goddard College. After collecting undergraduate and graduate degrees, Dominique launched Off Da Beaten Path Learning in 2020. It provides personalized guidance, encouragement, and mentorship for young people who are looking to take control of their education in creative, authentic ways, often outside of the traditional K-12 system.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Bountiful Microschool is a home-based microschool in Bountiful, Utah created by edtech entrepreneur, David Blake, cofounder and CEO of Degreed, and his wife Mikel, cofounder of Tech-Moms. The couple wanted to bring the innovation and personalization they were seeing in the larger tech sector to the K-12 classroom to benefit their own children and others in their community. "Utah's Emerging Education Ecosystem Is Diverse and Accessible" (Forbes.com) *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

The podcast's very first guest, Jill Perez, joins us today to celeberate our 200th episode! She gives us an update on her journey as the founder of Tranquil Teachings Learning Center, a pandemic pod turned microschool, in New Jersey. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.