LiberatED Podcast

Rida Rizvi is a cofounder of Al Hadi Learning Organization, a Muslim microschool in the Washington, DC area that sprouted in 2017 as an off-shoot of a mommy-and-me class. It currently operates as a learner-centered preschool and early-elementary microschool. Rida is now creating a new organization called Azeez Academy for upper-elementary students. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Todd Hepworth is the co-founder of Orchard STEM School, a K-8 microschool located in a working orchard in his rural community of Santaquin, Utah that is scheduled to open this August. Todd worked as a public school teacher for more than a decade, as well as an administrator at a Waldorf-inspired charter school, before becoming an education entrepreneur. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Alexis and JT Rubatzky are the founders of Triumph: An Acton Academy in Cleveland, Tennessee, just outside of Chattanooga. Triumph is a home-based microschool for homeschoolers that opened in August 2023 and is part of the Acton Academy network of hundreds of learner-driven microschools.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Rachel Good is the founder of Discovery Learners’ Academy (DLA), a microschool that opened in Chattanooga, Tennessee in fall 2022. Rachel worked for more than 8 years as a public school teacher in Washington and Tennessee before launching DLA as a state-recognized PreK-12 private school with a personalized educational approach. It opened with 21 learners and today has 50—about 15 of whom attend part-time as homeschoolers. About half of the school’s students are neurodiverse, a population that Good caters to as a former special education teacher.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Iman Alleyne is the founder of Kind Academy and creator of Launch Your Kind, an accelerator program for those interested in opening their own microschools! *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Kaity Broadbent is the Chief Empowerment Advocate at Prenda, the national network that has helped to launch hundreds of microschools serving thousands of learners since 2018. A homeschooling mom, Kaity is a thoughtful and insightful voice on the topic of personalized learning and alternative education models. Prior to Prenda, Kaity was a Speech-Language Pathologist in public schools, literacy coach, and curriculum designer. She's a certified peaceful parenting coach and mom to four Prenda kids ages 4 to 11. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Denise Lever was a firefighter turned homeschooling mom who launched a Prenda microschool in August 2020 in the rural town of Eager, Arizona in Apache County, which is one of the poorest counties in the US and one of only 3 counties in the entire country where neither English nor Spanish is the primary language spoke at home. In Apache County, that language is Navajo. Denise is also an administrator of 5 other independently operated Prenda microschools in her town of Eager.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

When Shari Robinson's oldest son wasn't thriving in public school, she pulled him out for homeschooling and then began homeschooling her other children as well. It was her personal experience of homeschooling her own children that inspired Shari over the years to create various STEM activities for local homeschoolers, including continuing to lead one of the highest-ranked robotics teams in the state.  Those efforts evolved into Homeschool Resources Group and Pierian Spring Academy of Arts & Sciences, two low-cost education organizations located in Mechanicsville, Virginia, just outside of Richmond. Homeschool Resources Group serves as a membership-based learning center for homeschoolers, while Pierian Spring Academy is a small, recognized K-12 private school that uses a variety of individualized curriculum resources. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.

Eric Oglesbee is a school founder turned funder. He helped to launch River Montessori High School in South Bend, Indiana that is currently the only high school in the expanding Wildflower Montessori microschool network. After his experience as a founder, Eric joined The Drexel Fund in 2022. The Drexel Fund is a nonprofit philanthropic fund that provides seed and next-stage funding to high-quality private schools serving low-income students and those with learning differences. Apply to Drexel's Founders Program. *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.    

Imani Jackson is an experienced educator currently working as an elementary school teacher in a traditional private school who is launching Poinciana Montessori in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia this fall as part of the fast-growing Wildflower Montessori microschool network.  *** Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at fee.org/liberated.