Nathan Fellman was a public middle school teacher and administrator in New Hampshire for nearly 20 years before leaving his job to launch a middle school microschool program in fall 2022. Nate and two of his colleagues from the public school system opened The Harkness House in Nashua, New Hampshire that emphasizes personalized learning for 6th thru 9th graders. Harkness House also offers hybrid homeschool programs for local young people ages 10 to 18 who want to access Harkness House classes.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Sharon Masinelli is the founder and head of school at St. John the Baptist Hybrid School in Kennesaw, Georgia, outside of Atlanta. Students attend the drop-off program two to three days a week, learning from an assortment of 30 educators, while homeschooling on the remaining days. Sharon launched her hybrid school in 2019 with 47 students. Today, her program has 120 students in kindergarten through 12 grade.  In the summer of 2021, Sharon's program was threatened to be shut down by the county fire marshal. After the Institute for Justice sent a letter citing Georgia's new Learning Pod Protection Act, the fire marshal backed down and Sharon's program was able to operate.  All of this leads us to grapple with the question of regulation, particularly for unconventional learning models like hybrid schools. Do we really need regulation, even if it seems to help founders? What are the benefits and drawbacks of such policies? *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Jack Johnson Pannell is the Head of School and Founder of Trinity Arch Preparatory School for Boys in Phoenix, Arizona, a microschool that launched this fall to serve boys ages 7 to 14. Prior to launching this new school, Jack was the founder of an all-boys public charter school in Baltimore, Maryland called Baltimore Collegiate.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.  

Happy Thanksgiving! A special note of gratitude to all the entrepreneurs out there. You are the true engines of human progress. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Jeff Sandefer, co-founder of Acton Academy, discusses the origins of Acton Academy and Acton School of Business, the power of personalized learning and focusing on learner's choices, exploring the next great adventure and finding a calling, launching your own Acton Academy, and learning more about Acton Academy through various resources.

More than a decade ago, Dani Foltz-Smith sent her two girls to a new school that had recently opened in Austin, Texas. It was the flagship Acton Academy, launched in 2009 by Jeff and Laura Sandefer to prioritize learner-driven education and enable each child to pursue his or her own “hero’s journey.” Dani’s family adored their Acton experience so much that when they needed to move back to Los Angeles, Dani became the 3rd ever Acton Academy campus, after Austin and Guatemala, opening Acton Academy Venice Beach in 2013.  Today, there are more than 300 Acton Academy microschools serving thousands of learners.  Read more about Dani's school and the greater ecosystem of decentralized education options in the Los Angeles area: In Los Angeles, A Tiny School Lets Young People Direct Their Own Education (The 74) *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Refine KC is a full-time, faith-based microschool in the Kansas City, Missouri area that launched in August 2022 with 15 K-12 students. Today, it is at capacity with 40 students, 6 teachers, and a waiting list. Three of Refine KC’s founders are with us on today's podcast to talk about why their school is so popular. "Church-Based Microschools Are 'Sprouting Everywhere'" (The Lion) *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Mercedes Grant and Isis Spann, founders of microschools in VA and SC, share their startup stories and advice as education entrepreneurs. They discuss scaling Kipot, benefits of joining a community, freedom of running a microschool, recognition in South Carolina, starting up and scaling challenges, and how to connect with microschools.

As education across the US transforms from a centralized, top-down system to a diverse, decentralized marketplace responsive to the needs and preferences of learners and families, it can create some challenges for the entrepreneurial parents and teachers who are creating these new, bottom-up education solutions. Joining me on the podcast today is Mike Donnelly, an experienced attorney and vice president at the Yes Every Kid Foundation who is working to support today's education entrepreneurs and champion their innovative learning models. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

I recently spent time in the greater Kansas City area visiting microschools and learning pods, and talking to founders, and was struck by what I found. All seven of the learning environments I visited were founded within the past three years and all of the founders are former public school teachers who quit and created these alternative programs. They also all expressed greater levels of personal and professional fulfillment.  One of those founders is our guest today, Tara Cassidy. Tara was a public school teacher for 17 years, but grew increasingly frustrated with the institutional bureaucracy and was also not happy with her children’s experiences in the local public schools.  In August 2022, she launched Crossroad Trails Education Center, a low-cost microschool with eight students in a commercial storefront location that previously housed a daycare center. By November, she had 20 students. To accommodate local demand for her program, Cassidy opened up walls and expanded into an adjacent space. She is now at capacity with over 30 mixed-age learners in kindergarten through high school, despite no marketing or outreach.  Forbes: Former Public School Teachers Find Happiness in Entrepreneurship *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.