Why Microschools Offer Big Dreams & Real Results

In this S5E5 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies conversation, join me with David K. Richards, founder of Changemaker Education, as we explore how microschools are revolutionizing classroom belonging, student engagement, and teacher empowerment. 

Is the traditional education system stifling your child's natural curiosity? Discover why efforts to improve schools might be missing the point, potentially diminishing students' creativity and motivation to study. 

David shares his 25+ years of experience from the classroom to the boardroom, revealing why traditional education strategies aren't working and how microschools offer a breakthrough solution.

What if the secret to fixing education isn't more funding or technology, but completely reimagining how we teach? 

What You'll Learn:

• 💡How to boost student engagement through self-directed, experiential learning
• 💡Effective teaching techniques for working with students in multi-age environments
• 💡Instructional strategies that inspire students and increase participation
• 💡How caregiver involvement and family partnerships transform education outcomes
• 💡Professional learning insights for teachers ready to embrace education transformation
• 💡School leadership approaches that create positive school culture and climate

Episode Mentions: 

• ➡️Drive by Daniel Pink
• ➡️Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage in Human Consciousness by Frederic Laloux 

Perfect for teachers, education coaches, school administrators, caregivers, homeschoolers, and anyone passionate about student success and thriving students. David's journey from teaching Spanish to seventh graders to founding innovative schools demonstrates how empowered educators can create lasting teacher impact and school change.

Chapters

0:00 Introduction: The Problem with Traditional Education 

1:00 David's Educational Journey: From Banking to Innovation 

3:00 25 Years in Education: Classroom to Boardroom Experience 

6:00 The Mountaintop Moment: Starting Over at 40 

9:00 The Fundamental Flaw in Our Education System 

12:00 A Day in a Micro School: Multi-Age Learning Revolution 

16:00 From Standards to Passion-Based Learning 

18:00 Teacher Transformation: Educator to Entrepreneur 

21:00 Overcoming Fear and Embracing Educational Innovation 

24:00 Disrupting with Love: Handling Resistance to Change 

27:00 The Future Vision: Education in 2035 

29:00 Conclusion and Resources

Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child. 

📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com

🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

#Schoolutions #SchoolutionsTeachingStrategies #EducationReform #MicroSchools #StudentEngagement #ChangemakerEducation #TeacherEmpowerment #EducationalInnovation #SelfDirectedLearning #ParentInvolvement #SchoolLeadership #TeacherCoaching #EducationStrategies

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

Olivia: [00:00:00] You know that sinking feeling when you watch your curious creative child slowly lose their spark in the traditional school system, when they go from asking why about everything to just asking, will this be on the test? Well, what if I told you that all of our efforts to fix education, more funding, better technology, even the most dedicated teachers are missing the point entirely.

I'm Olivia Wahl, and today I'm in conversation with David K. Richards, someone who's spent over 25 years in education reform from the classroom to the boardroom. David founded Changemaker Education and has this fascinating perspective. He says, we're not dealing with a problem that needs fixing. We're dealing with a completely broken operating system that needs replacing.

Now David isn't some education [00:01:00] disruptor throwing stones from the outside. This is someone who taught Spanish to seventh graders, climbed the ladder, do executive leadership at Summit Public Schools. Started his own charter school and then had this mountain top moment holding his three-year-old son, realizing he needed to start completely over. 

What he discovered will challenge everything you think you know about school. He's talking about microschools. Think one room schoolhouse meets modern innovation. We're talking 10 to 15 kids per teacher, multi-age groups, caregivers as partners and kids who actually get to follow their interests. 

And here's something that I thought fascinating. David says, the teachers in his program are making this huge shift from compliance-focused educators to educational entrepreneurs, and that that transformation in the adult, it's completely [00:02:00] changing the experience for kids. If you've ever wondered why we keep throwing money and reforms at education with limited results, or you're curious about what learning could look like when we stop treating children like products on an assembly line, this conversation is going to open your eyes. Let's dive in with David K. Richards and explore how microschools might just be the breath of fresh air our children desperately need.

This is Schoolutions Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers to ensure every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive.

I am Olivia Wahl, and I am so happy to be in conversation with David [00:03:00] K. Richards today. Let me tell you a little bit about David. David has over 25 years invested in education reform as the founder of Changemaker Education David has unparalleled experience with launching award-winning unconventional schools. Today David will offer insights on how microschools can redefine education as we know it. David, welcome. I'm so happy to be connected with you today. 

David: Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. 

Olivia: Yeah. We were just saying that we share so many common core values in what we believe to be true about education, and I'm excited to hear the research that you can offer us that aligns with your core values.

David: Yeah, it's fascinating. So when Daniel Pink's book Drive came out, I can't remember the exact year. I know you love it. 

Olivia: I do.

David: But I know that, I wanna say it was like late 2008, 2010, 11. Does that sound about right? Yeah. Okay. 

Olivia: It does. 

David: So [00:04:00] I was, at that point, I was at Summit Public Schools, which I had started there as a teacher, as a small charter school at the back of, you know, a high school, like couple portables. And we had grown that organization to, we grew that organization from one charter school to 10 across the Bay Area and now it's in the models in 300 schools across the country. 

Olivia: It’s crazy. 

David: In the summit learning model. So it's a really cool story of like starting small and building and scaling. But we read that book when I was, I believe I was just starting to become a principal. So we were, we had replicated our flagship, we had two schools in Redwood City, and then we were about to replicate two in San Jose, and I was the principal of school three and then ended up becoming the, um, Executive Directors of, of, of school three and four, and then the chief of schools, of all the schools. But yeah, we read that book and we were like, this is it. 

Olivia: This is it. This is it. Yeah. 

David: In terms of what we do with our students, what we do with our, our team, and what we do with ourselves. And so that book literally changed my life and I still use it today for Changemaker Microschools and the work we're doing with this [00:05:00] organization I have now. 

Olivia: That is my heart calling. And I couldn't agree more. I was actually just with four assistant superintendents this week and we were leaning on Pink's research alongside collective efficacy, professional capital, and you know, how do we gather as a network of minds and hearts 

David: Mm-hmm. 

Olivia: That want to do right by kids. Um… 

David: Yes. 

Olivia: And that really is, I mean, it's so fascinating because within your over 25 years of experience. You have been a teacher, a principal, an executive at Summit Public School. So what was the moment before you were in that portable that you realized you needed to tear it all down to start over and build it back up?

David: Yeah. Well, what's interesting, I think going back a little bit is I had actually started my education career right outta college, teaching Spanish part-time without a certification in California and. Figuring, [00:06:00] feeling like it was the most difficult thing I'd ever done. And I was like a first-generation college student. I supported myself through college. Like I had done a lot of hard things. But getting into a classroom with seventh graders and trying to teach Spanish was the most difficult thing I had ever tried to accomplish, and I did not accomplish much. And I left in the middle of the year. 

Olivia: Oh wow. Wow. 

David: I was like, I'm gonna, yeah, I'm gonna go into corporate banking because I did banking throughout - that's how I supported myself through college, was working at banks. I was like, I can get a banking job in five seconds. So I went and got a banking job in Washington DC and I was there and I climbed the ladder and I was doing really well on the outside, but I was really miserable on the inside. And so when I turned 30 I was like, I'm quitting my banking job and I'm going all in on education.

And so, and then like we, like I told you earlier, I had this amazing experience with the Growing Charter School Network. And then the other decade marker was I turned 40 and I realized that I was almost, in a way like back at the bank in terms of, 'cause I had moved into the kind of central office. We were building like a district essentially, [00:07:00] and it just didn't really light me up because I like to build and I like to innovate.

Olivia: Yeah. 

David: So when we were building that organization, it was really fun. And when we were innovating, but then my job became teaching all the principals, how to implement the model that we had innovated. Right. And so, 

Olivia: Yeah. 

David: I was like, this is not fun. You know, I love teaching. But the teaching part I loved. But the. Innovation part was like, now we're standardizing. So I just had this moment where I was like, it's not for me anymore. And then I started my own charter school, uh, 10 years ago, and everybody knows the story of the mountaintop moment where I was holding my three-year-old son and I realized that I'm leaving my executive job and I'm going to start my own school and start over.

So I think that was kind of the moment I realized I had to start over from scratch and then doing that again, you know, going from being like number two in command for like 200 employees, being that guy that everybody's like, you know, oh, we respect you. That all that kind of fake stuff, right, then to being like, Hey, hey, I, which I don't love.

I was like, I don't even like this. I just [00:08:00] wanna talk to everybody. But then I'm like, I wanna go back into communities and talk to the people that don't have great schools and talk to the people that really care the most about their kids. So I just started meeting with moms at Starbucks and community organizers and built that charter school from scratch. And that was like the most meaningful work I had done in a really long time since I built the last organization. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

David: And then, you know, fast forward I left the charter school because I found that charter schools in California, I think this is happening across the us, started to become highly regulated and they started to feel like district schools in terms of the red tape and the bureaucracy, and less about the kids and more about the adults.

And so I got uninspired by charter schools. So I passed on my charter school to an amazing leader that I trained, and she's running it now. And that's when I decided that microschools were the way to go. And that story's actually great too, 'cause I found one of my life coaching clients who said, Hey, can you help me open a microschool in rural South Dakota?

I was like, sure, I guess. [00:09:00] So we went for it and it's called Onward Learning, and it's been around for five years and it's right outside of the Native American reservation she grew up on, she was a teacher or principal on the reservation, and she's like. It's not working anymore. And so she started a, microschool that now has 60 kids right outside of the reservation.

Olivia: So, you know, this is a interesting segue because what is - you, you've seen from the classroom, from the principal's office, from the boardroom? I mean, you just said you've experienced every layer the educational system. What is that fundamental flaw that it feels like no matter how many reforms, how much funding, how much tech we throw at the education system, we cannot seem to fix it. What is that flaw? 

David: Yeah What I always talk about is there's a flaw in the operating system just to use that, that language. 

Olivia: It's interesting. Yeah. 

David: But the idea is that we've created a factory model, an industrial model of schools, and I always am fascinated [00:10:00] about, so I got really excited into, uh, Montessori schools. 'Cause at Summit we were doing self-directed learning for middle and high schools. Then I did self-directed learning from my K-8 here in Sacramento. And I was so fascinated by, by Montessori. So I started consulting with a lot of Montessori schools.

It was so incongruous to me because you had these kids doing amazing stuff in the classrooms. It's like multi-age and self-direction and peace and conflict, you know, management and all this really cool stuff. And then you, and then I go in as a consultant to help them figure out how to deal with their organizational issues. 

Olivia: Mm-hmm. 

David: And I'm like, oh, you're running a top down organization where the teachers have no say in anything. And it's 

Olivia: It’s fascinating. 

David: It’s so incongruous. It's like cognitive dissonance. And so that was my moment where. The other book I'd recommend is Reinventing Organizations, which talks about the future of organizational development and how it's what they call Teal. It's all about self-management and kind of like this self-directed way.

Um, but yeah, so that was so fascinating to me. I think this operating system is off [00:11:00] because we're treating everybody like cogs in the machine. And so no matter how much money or technology or the best teachers, the best teachers do well in spite of this system, right? 

Olivia: Yes. yes, 

David: And so, we need to create systems where the teachers, the students, the families are actually at the center, which is what I love about microschools. 'Cause you're shrinking everything and you're allowing the teachers and the families to really be engaged and do what's best for their kids. 

Olivia: I could not agree more. I think a term that came up this past week when I was, um,  collaborating with different, um, coaches and superintendents together is that idea of parallel pedagogy. And so you cannot expect our students to thrive, their caregivers to thrive within a system if we are not modeling what we want to see with those children. Right. And so that it, it's just fascinating. And I guess the other layer [00:12:00] I love that I feel from you is you are such a curious human and you. 

David: Yes.

Olivia: I appreciate that. You do, you do interviews, you reach out, you ask, you're so curious. I am very curious to know what it would feel like to walk through a typical day in one of your schools and how it would feel different than that traditional, uh, schooling that we're used to. 

David: Yeah, so basically, here's what's different. It's really the redux of the one room schoolhouse. And, you know, my mother grew up in rural Texas, my mother-in-law, rural Nebraska, and they're kind of like, you realize it's not innovative, right? Like this is what we did when we were kids. But basically just walking you through a day, it would be no more than 10 or 15 kids in a classroom per teacher. There probably wouldn't be a “classroom.” Right. There might be like 30, 40 kids in the whole “school.”

Olivia: Yeah. 

David: But there's, um, you know, there's different adults working with the kids based on what they need. So you see the multi-age groups, you [00:13:00] know, maybe like a group of five- to eight-year-olds, um, maybe not even using grade levels, we're not even gonna talk grade levels, just ages. So a group of like five- to eight-year-olds, a group of like, you know, nine to 12 year olds and. They're working on what they need to be working on. And honestly, we haven't even gotten into how this is possible with AI. Like in terms of where we are as a, as education, you know, world.

But, and my microschools are not, you know, big on, oh, we have to use AI, but it's big on creating the structure so that the kids get what they need. And then you'll, you'll see volunteers in there, like, we don't want to be traditional school that pushes parents out and tries to control them and be scared of them. Having the parents in the, in the classrooms and having a lot of engagement, having the kids go outside, working on what they want to work on. 

So, you know, if you can really personalize learning, they could get done with math, reading in, you know, two hours maybe throughout the day, depending on the age, you know, but about a couple hours of real personalized, individualized instruction, whether that's AI or like the human doing [00:14:00] it.

Like my friend in in South Dakota, she's anti-technology. She's like, no, these kids are gonna be spending so much time on tech. She wants some in nature, she wants some like, you know, tactile talking. But other founders that we're working with are like, no, we want AI to be a two-hour piece. And then the other, you know, 3, 4, 5, 6 hours, they're working on projects.

They're starting businesses. And so, I mean, it's kind of limitless because our model is, it's a network, but it's also empowering the founders, going back to the mastery, autonomy, and purpose. So the founders come to us with a vision that's aligned with our values. So like, I really wanna do a STEAM middle school in Chicago.

I really want to do, you know, like arts-based school in Philadelphia. And we're like, great. If you're willing to use the Mind, Body, Soul (MBS) curriculum and it's a heart-centered school and it's a love-based school and you're willing to use our curriculum around that, then go for it. And you know, as long as your values aligned around self-directed learning, some form, some form ex experiential learning, and you use our social emotional learning [00:15:00] curriculum, we're on board and we're selecting the right people, but they're all gonna look a little different. But the concepts are gonna be the same of having those kids be in charge and the adults facilitating not, you know, standing and deliver instruction. 

Olivia: So that is beyond fascinating. And I have another whole podcast episode of questions just about. I know that, um, yes. What I'm going to try to do is process very quickly in the moment because a conversation I was also having this past week was around having extraordinarily high expectations for every learner. I am so over hearing what children cannot do. 

David: Mm-hmm. 

Olivia: And having children placed in these pockets of, because I am eight years old in second grade, this is what I'm capable of. 

David: Yep. 

Olivia: It drives me nuts. And so instead, um, if we have these high expectations, I would hope that we're saying, what is a child passionate about? [00:16:00] How can I facilitate learning around that passion? And then I still hear this little buzzing in my ear. Standards. Standards. 

David: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Olivia: And so if I'm a teacher shifting from a traditional model where we have learning targets and standard based expectations…

David: Yeah. 

Olivia: What would that shift be? And is there someone in mind that has made that shift that you could tell us about? Like breakthrough moments, fears?

David: Yeah. 

Olivia: And where are they now? 

David: I think it's a very difficult shift. And in at Summit and at Growth Public Schools, my charter school I started, and now with Changemaker, we're seeing the same struggle, which is if you think about our schools of education, they're really teaching you to, to teach in the factory model, right?

Olivia: Yes. 

David: And so, and, and they're doing great work, but they're teaching you to, to do it in the factory model. And so they're teaching you to work in second grade with, you know, probably a prescribed curriculum. And so now you're asking a teacher to try and, you know, they're like, wait, so I have to do like [00:17:00] 17 lesson plans, you know, different lesson plans for different kids? And I'm like, no, that's not necessarily how it works. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

David: But, but it's a mindset transition. And I think the biggest transition is being open to the mindset transition. 

Olivia: Okay. 

David: And once you can be open to that. Then you can start to be open to like, how does this work when you start to really attune with what the child needs and not what the kind of standards based curriculum is asking you to do. And there's still, there's still standards. I mean, you're still following, most of our microschools will still be following the state standards, and, but there's, they're just doing it in a different way. 

And then I think the other really fascinating transition is this transition from educator to entrepreneur. So it's, it's a massive mindset shift around your - the way you're thinking about organizing your students and the way you're thinking about your curriculum and all those things. But it's also a massive shift from what we've learned for our, we had our first cohort this year that are launching, we have seven schools launching in the fall in seven different states, is that that's the number one thing that they're getting from our cohort and our [00:18:00] program is going from because if you think about our education system, you're taught to follow the rules. 

Olivia: Yes. 

David: Right? Whether you're a student or a teacher. 

Olivia: Comply. Comply. 

David: Comply. So I have these amazing educators, I have this amazing vision, and then they're like, but I, I can't do that. 'cause I, I have to wait. It's, it's gonna be 1, 2, 3, 4, A, B, C, D, E. Right? That's how you open up microscope. I'm like, no, it's an entrepreneurial endeavor. And then they'll, they'll say to me things like, wow, that was really profound, what you said. What did I say? You said it's a non-linear process and we have to be adaptable. 

And I'm like, oh yeah, you're an entrepreneur. Like. It's every five minutes, something is changing. So they're starting to figure out what it's like to have autonomy. They're following their purpose, the dream. And most of them, not most of them, all of them have had a dream to open a school that's been their lifelong dream. So they're in line with their purpose.

They're having the autonomy because they're affiliate founders, so they're not even our employees and they're starting to figure out the mastery, right, of what it means to run a really great school. So it's been fascinating to watch and [00:19:00] the most fascinating thing is seeing, like when I interview them and they say like, well, how much money am I gonna make?

And like, what's the benefits? 

Olivia: Mm-hmm. 

David: And I'm kind of like, well, here's what I think it will be. But you know, it depends on how many students you have, what your tuition's gonna be, or do you have education, savings accounts, different things, and seeing them kind of be so scared in that first round interview.

Now fast forwarding several months later where they're just like leaning into like, I'm gonna apply for this SBA loan and I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do that. I'm like, I'm gonna take this risk. And they're so invested in the success of their micro school, and that's gonna translate to the passion that they're gonna have when the kids arrive. Right. It's just, gonna be so different. Yeah. 

Olivia: It, well, that's it. It, it's lovely to hear and it's also, I think. I recently interviewed Pernille Ripp, and she has moved home to Denmark. She said something about fear and it it captivated me because she said that fear makes us think that [00:20:00] something's scary, but it also, it, it could be coming from a place of, it's really exciting, you just, yes, you need to lean into it. And so I think that moment when we decide like, this feels really uncomfortable getting comfy with that. That's what we want for our children. So this idea of the messiness of entrepreneurship, anyone that is running their own business. Boy, is it messy? 

David: You understand?

Olivia: We make, we make, I do. And we make so many mistakes, but having the, I think courage I'll say mm-hmm. To say, whoa, that was a misstep. How am I going to move on from here? What did I learn from it? And what I find profound is actually putting what I learned from it out in the world. And so it's holding myself to it like I messed up and here's what I plan to do to make life better moving forward.

Um, and with that said, [00:21:00] you are disrupting an $800 billion industry, and I'm sure that the education system has given you some resistance at some point. So, you know, what have you had to face, or what obstacles have you had to overcome? 

Yeah, what's really fascinating is it's your closest friends that actually give you the biggest trouble because they're the ones you talk to, right? And then it comes, but it helps you because then you understand where it's gonna come in general. So one of the things I've learned is I always say that I disrupt with love. So I'm not here to fight you. I'm not like, let's have a dialogue and a discourse and talk about it and I can share my perspective and I'll do deep listening and hear yours.

So I'm not here to fight with you. But, but I feel like the pushback that I'm seeing, so I'll just talk about a few of my close friends that are career educators that are amazing, have amazing resumes, right? And so what they're saying to me, and then I'm, what I'm getting kind of from the public is, um, number one, like [00:22:00] how could you be on board with education, savings accounts and vouchers, right? Like there it's public money going to private schools. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

David: So that's one piece. Um, the other one is how do you maintain quality? And how do you make sure that these are gonna be actually like real schools and kids are actually learning, right? 

Olivia: Right. 

David: But if you really scratch beneath the surface for both of those concerns, it's, they're, they're a little bit different. But the actual piece underneath it is we're scared of the change that you're proposing. And so now that I've been doing this kind of being in, on the front end for the last, you know, 25 years. It's like now I'm kind of used to it and it's taken me a lot of inner work to understand that it's not about me.

And you know, everybody who goes out first is gonna get the most flack. Right. There's just gonna be a lot of pushback. And so for me, I just always go back to the values and I always say like, look, I, 10 years ago, I would not have been in favor of vouchers going to private schools [00:23:00] and you know, there's, but there, but you gotta go with the change.

And so. What I'm seeing is that the families, and then I always go back to families, I always tell the stories that, you know, when charter schools came out there was a lot of, there still is like anti-charter rhetoric and a lot of people, and I would run into a lot of people at parties that would be really angry at me for working at charter schools.

And I would always just say, here's the bottom line. You just ask a mother or a father about what the charter school did for their life and they don't care about the politics. Like if that school changed their life. And there's bad charter schools. I'm not saying all of 'em are gonna change their life and there's bad microschools, but if you are able to give a family a school that's changing their life, then the politics don't matter.

And then what I find funny things, you know, it's like the head of the union sends their kid to a charter school or whatever it may be. Like there's so many, when we, we will make decisions for our children that we don't want people to know in public. And so I always go back to the value of, with the vouchers and the Safe Education Savings accounts, it's like, I want a way to push [00:24:00] on this massive behemoth of an education system, I want to create change. And you know, like that's like saying, well, um, you know, Netflix should have never created Netflix because we had a really good, we had a really good way of like renting movies and stuff, you know, like whatever. 

Olivia: Yeah, yeah. 

David: So it's, it's just when you're in an innovative, innovative space, you're gonna get a lot of people that are questioning and asking you. And I just go back to the, the values and I also. Listen to other people that are innovating and kind of understand what they're saying and how they're looking at it. And then I just share that perspective. 

Olivia: I, also think that we can learn so much from the way that you are innovating and look at, you know, how can we steep children in a multi-age approach? It doesn't have to be like within a classroom if we crack open and look at the age of a child, I think again, we're doing a huge disservice in early childhood education shoving reading down [00:25:00] children's throats at such a young age instead of allowing them to play for many, many hours in the day and be steeped in hands-on learning and language.

Um, so I, you know, we can learn a lot a network if we're open, we have to be in that learner stance. Um, so I want to wrap with this question for you because I'm fascinated to hear your response. I want to fast forward 10 years, and I would love to know what you see education looking like if your vision comes to fruition in 2025.

David: Yeah, I think it's, to your point, what you were just saying, it's around people learning from it and I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that microschools are gonna be, you know, 97% of all the schools in America in the next 10 years or something like that. Right. It's really gonna be maybe five or 10%, I'm guessing.

Olivia: Okay. 

David: And it's gonna be similar to charter schools. It's gonna be an innovative model that people can start to say, oh wow. So for [00:26:00] example, when we started Summit Public Schools, we were in one high school district and you know, we did these advisory programs that were like really unique, like four 14 kids for four years.

And you, you built a family. So it was basically an advisory program. We had every single kid take the college prep courses no matter where, you know, where they came from middle school. So we did some really innovative things back in like 2003, which now were like so normal. And by five years in when we had a lot of success and a waiting list of 500 kids, and the district was like, we need to do something about this.

They started having an advisory program. All of a sudden they were doing the A through G or the college prep requirements that all of a sudden they were having smaller schools within the schools. And so. That's the vision for our microschools. We have a vision to have a hundred of them over the next seven to 10 years.

Um, rural, urban, international, not just in the us, across the world, where we can actually say like, here's a model that's really working. And so what it would look like in 10 years is multiple models across the world [00:27:00] where we're actually personalizing learning for kids and families are actually involved and they are not paying tuition.

The tuition's being paid by the state or the federal government. So that it can be accessible to every single family, and that we all have like a really, you know, high-end microschool in Chicago where the parents are paying 25,000, and then we'll have one in Phoenix, Arizona where the parents are paying zero.

But there's basically a portfolio of microschools across the world that we can say, look, this is a place we can learn. This is a place where we can understand what happened, what went well, what didn't go well, and we can start to create a system. Of smaller schools that people can learn from. And then my hope would be that the district schools would start to have microschools and the charter schools would start looking into it, and there'd be a whole revolution around how we can reimagine what we're doing with kids in school.

Olivia: That's what you are doing. You are reimagining the possibilities for what education looks, feels like, sounds like. And I'm so [00:28:00] grateful that you're in this game of education alongside me. Um, I also wanna put out there in the universe you have a magnificent podcast. 

David: Oh, thank you. 

Olivia: As a fellow podcast host, shout out for Changemaker EDU. Um, I will make sure to talk all of your details into the show notes. And David.. 

David: Perfect. 

Olivia: Thank you so much for taking the time to connect today. 

David: Thank you for having me, Olivia. I really enjoyed it. 

Olivia: Absolutely. Take care. Schoolutions Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me. Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Thank you to my guest, David K. Richards, for sharing how microschools might just be the breath of fresh air our children really need. It's time to explore what's possible when we put caregivers and [00:29:00] children back at the center of education. 

You can learn more about the micro school movement and find resources  at Changemakereducation.com. Make sure to send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com to let me know what resonated with you from this conversation and what your next steps are after listening. Tune in every Monday for the best research, back coaching and teaching strategies you can apply right away to better the lives of the children in your care. And stay tuned for my bonus episodes every Friday where I'll reflect and share connections to what I learned from the guests that week. See you then.