What It Takes to Start a School – And How Learning Lab Helps

Ever think about starting your own school?

At its core, Learning Lab Wichita is designed to support educators and founders starting new K-12 education models, providing families with more options for their children's education. 

Learning Lab Wichita hosts seven K-12 education models. In this episode, Lydia and Kristin chat about what it takes Learning Lab does to support these models and why the Lab is an ideal location to start a school. 

Although Learning Lab Wichita has no additional space for new resident models during the 2026-2027 academic year, there are still ways to get involved at Learning Lab. Listen to the episode to learn more.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hi, I'm Olivia, and I'm Christina. Through artwork and learning lab, which is talking about we get our product roads into innovation and personalized kindergarten through 12th grade learning. On this podcast, we share stories of how educators and parents are helping kids discover their passions. So you can do the same for a child you love.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

I'm just dive in, but let's get personal.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Hi everyone, and welcome to Let's Get Personal, Real Talk about Reimagining Education. Today, it is just Kristen and I, and we just have some things we want to say.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Isn't it great to have an outlet for all of our all of our important topics?

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Right. Um, no, but it's a great time of year at Learning Lab because I mean it's our second time doing it, but it's been resident model renewal season and um we're thinking about who's gonna be here next year. And so what we thought we could do today is kind of deep dive the resident model experience because they do make up the majority of our community, uh, our membership community. Um and it really is kind of the bread and butter of our work is helping helping groups incubate new ideas. So we thought we could deep dive that with everyone to share.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Yeah, if you come into our space on a weekday during school, traditional school hours, you're going to find I I think you looked it up, and it's 77% of our people are from a resident model. And we kind of made up the word resident model. I'm still not sure that that's the best word.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

I agree that it's not.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

But so do you want to talk about like what a resident model is or why we do that first?

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yeah, let's let's start with why. So, you all, if you're a listener, but if you're a longtime listener or first-time listener, let's just rehash that our vision, the world that we want to live in, is one where all kids have an education that works for them. And when we look out across all communities, we know that that vision means we need a lot more personalized learning pathways for each kid to find the one that works for them and that works for their family and the dynamics that and things that their family has. So if we need more, we need a well, how do how are we going to get there? We need infrastructure that supports the launching of new ideas. In business world, this is a very common thing. This is why you see co-working spaces, this is why you see incubators and accelerators. It's like very commonplace in the business industries to incubate new ideas. This is kind of this is the new concept for education overall is providing a shared space. That's what Learning Lab is for people to get their ideas started, incubate them, then help them grow up. So that's what resident models are. They are groups who are coming in who are um have a new idea or are reimagining an old idea, um, and need kind of the infrastructure and support that we can provide here to uh launch their model.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

So our goal is actually that our close friend resident models grow up and move out, which is actually terrible. Why did you make it like that? We get pretty attached. It's kind of like they become colleagues or um people that we really care about, both the adults and the kids involved in their model. And I think this is a good time to point out that not all of the models that we're incubating in Learning Lab Witch Ta are schools. Yep. So we'll talk more about that. But a lot of them are some type of school model.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So let's talk about how what do we do, Kristen, to support these resident models. And then what do we not do?

SPEAKER_02 4:17

So which bucket do you want to cover? I mean, you know, I've been talking a lot lately about we started this as a first of its kind space. And so we had to kind of invent the model. And then the hard part in my role is that we have to tell people what we invented in a way that makes sense to them. And because we don't have something that we're looking at and copying off of, um, we don't have a model for this. And so Learning Lab is a brand new thing. And we came in with the idea that all of our resident models were gonna operate independently. Uh-huh. So um, we want them to own their business model and their education, all of it that they're doing. But we were going to help these models in certain ways. And the most obvious way, I think, is what we call equip.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

Because everybody knows, not everybody, but everybody who's been to Learning Lab knows that we're located in Union Station, which is a beautiful historic building in downtown Wichita. And we have 16,000 square feet of space that our resident models and all of the rest of our community shares. And so the first thing that we were hoping to do is just offer them a space to have their education model that maybe was a little bit more affordable than what they might have had. Maybe it had amenities in it that they didn't wouldn't have been able to provide in the first year of a brand new business. So things like a print lab, things like a makerspace.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Yeah. Yeah. Just the you, I mean, just the utilities and the operational infrastructure of systems that goes behind a business. So for them to not have to worry about setting up their internet or paying the electricity bill or the maintenance of our digital studio. There's just burdens that our team carries so that they can really focus on getting their idea started. So that's kind of like the dividing line, right? Is what's internal and like their group specific, they manage, where we, Learning Lab, we manage everything surrounding that. I do think it's important to talk about to us, there's a difference between co-locating school models versus what we're doing here. So it's not there are other places in the country that have school models co-located together.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

Right. Um, that are living side by side. Yeah, that would be like tiny spaces sharing a large building.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Tiny schools, sorry, tiny schools.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Tiny schools um or smaller sized schools. Yeah. What we are facilitating here is is a bit more like we call I would call it shared learning spaces because it's internal and they're getting a much smaller footprint and they are sharing these amenities that Kristen mentioned. Their kids are interacting with one another. There's a lot more overlap than just being simply co-located, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Yeah. So they not only share our amenities and the materials and equipment that come with those amenities. Right. From everything from three 3D printers to glitter.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah. They love, or I mean slime materials. Slime materials make slime.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

So they not only share that, but they share community, which kind of follows falls into the bucket of how we want to empower them.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

But my favorite thing about our space is the people involved. And I mentioned, I mean, they these grown-ups who are running these school models almost become like colleagues and friends to each other and to us. Um and even just having someone else to bounce ideas off of, somebody that is familiar with education, that understands what the school is trying to do, I think that is a huge added value for an entrepreneurial educator that is starting some kind of school model. Yeah. Um, so that has been huge, I think. And then we also do um community-wide activities for the learners. And so learners from different school models get to know each other. Um and you even design the space, and we've mentioned this on the podcast before, that you have to cross or walk by other people's learning space um to get to the kitchen, to get to the bathroom, to get to all the specialty spaces. And that way they see what other models are doing. And I do believe that they all take ideas from one another, and that was part of the intention.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Yeah, absolutely. And something that we just to maybe like dispel a myth that or an assumption that people could have about the school models, the resident models in our space. We get asked a lot like, are they competitive with one another? Or like, is it a negative culture, right? Because you're worried that somebody else is going to steal your students. We select our resident models, right? So not everybody just gets to come in here and be a resident.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

They apply.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

They apply. And part of that application is building this shared belief that, again, all kids deserve an education that works for them. Every grown-up who comes into this space has that vision in mind. The resident model leaders, their teachers, and so on. So if you deeply believe, if you have that same belief, all of our school leaders, all of our resident leaders are very good about referring students and families to learning models that will work best for the kid. It's not about them. I mean, it's like the most selfless part about this is we really do all want kids to be successful. And yes, the business side matters too, but it is most important to every one of these people that kids are in a learning environment that helps them flourish along the way.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

You know, I don't know if we believed when before we started this, before we met a single one of our resident partners, I don't know if we believed we could find people that were selfless in that way that really just wanted the best for every kid because we knew that's what we wanted. We knew that's what we believed for for all kids. Right. Um, but I've seen it happen multiple times. We just had a student leave one of our school models, go to another school model because it was better for that student and both sides are happy about it.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Right. Right. So it's possible. It is possible. It is possible, but I think that's why we're so big on drilling that in or like really questioning around that belief in the very beginning. You know, if if you can't believe in that statement, it's gonna be really frustrating for you to be part of our community.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Um it's like collaboration over competition on a level of like a ch child's future. Yeah. So you have to like if you can't prioritize what what's best for kids, I mean, we don't think maybe you should be running a school.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Right. Right. Well, and another, so another myth to dispel would be um to your to your comments about um, like they see things and they take things from each other. The models are all still very different. So a myth to dispel is like, okay, do they all become just like each other? Yeah. And it's that's not the case at all, but you can walk through and observe best practices from a homeschool parent to apply to you as a public school teacher. That like it doesn't matter. There's always practices, best practices to learn from other people or ideas of an activity. Um, so each of the models is still very much maintaining its own unique identity. We're not seeing or at least observing that sort of blend of similarity.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Yeah. I mean, and I mean, that would also go against what we're trying to do if that happened. Um, yeah, but it's absolutely not happening. So our goal is different, different different models. And so because all kids are different, all kids are different, and why would we teach them all the same way?

SPEAKER_00 13:01

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Um, so we've talked about equipping them, we've given them the physical things they need to be successful, or at least helped support those things. Um our models do bring in their own, like materials, books, curriculum, supplies. So they still have to provide the tools they need for learning. It's just we're supplementing what they're doing. Yeah. Um, and then we empower them. So we have a we are building and continue to build a network of community partners, resources, other school founders. So we just know a lot of people working in the K-12 education space in the Wichita community. And we hope to connect our entrepreneurial founders with resources that they need to be successful. Yeah. Whether that is something for one of their students or something to help their business thrive.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Yeah, absolutely. And then lastly is probably the most, not the most important bucket, but the bucket up your alley, which is the elevate bucket, which is, you know, we when we started this idea in Wichita, we were not like the truest trailblazers in the sense of being the very first people to do some education differently in Wichita. Wichita has had this momentum of alternative and unconventional learning spaces popping up for a very long time. Um, so elevate, the elevate bucket is really around the storytelling and shining the light on the people who are doing the work, who have been doing the work, newcomers to the space. Because again, you can't, you as a family can't make a choice that's best for your kid if you don't know what's all out there. Our team is great at connecting you, kind of being like your concierge, but part of that storytelling and elevate bucket is really about shining a light to make the invisible visible, um, which there's been a lot of that in our history here in Wichita. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

I mean, I hardly knew what a micro school was when I started here. I mean, I I remember I had some friends in town that started a pod school during COVID. And that was about all I knew about micro schools, is that these families like got together and they hired a teacher for a year or two and then it dissolved, and that was a micro school. And that's yeah. And in Wichita, we have like 30 plus. I mean, we have dozens of micro schools, which is kind of interesting. Yeah. But we are trying to show people that they have more school options than they might think they do.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

Um, and in doing that, we are sharing different stories about different ways to educate. We're doing that through our podcast. We do have a blog. The blog has been a little lame in 2026. The blog got tired.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

It's not tired. It's just the the trade-offs of being a very small team.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Yeah, we have a really small team right now. Um, but you know, eventually we hope to do more video storytelling. We have very regular posting on our social media that shares things. Um, we reshare things, but it's just kind of elevating those entrepreneurial educators who are doing hard work, doing it different than, you know, maybe what their school looked like or what you think of as a traditional learning environment.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Yeah. So if you are someone here in the Wichita area or beyond and you're doing something cool, you should reach out and be on the podcast. Or be a blog article. We would love it. We would love it. Let's talk about what we don't do. Hold on before I want to go back up to why do we make them move out? To Kristen's point of like, why do you make my friends leave? Um, so this is also why we're not just co-location, we're shared learning space because the goal is that you get what you need, you get your three to five year runway to become sustainable. And part of the experience over that timeframe is incremental pressure, mostly through cost. Um, so we charge them rent for their space. Um over that time, we have a target cost per square foot that that we're wanting them to be able to achieve by the time that they leave. And that number was decided because of um the Wichita market and other comparable spaces here. We I don't want them to be shocked when it's time for them to move on and they can't, they're not ready to to pay for that kind of cost. Um, but again, we're a launch pad. The ideas that are here are great, but again, Wichita needs a lot more. And so, yes, we do make them move out. It's not because we don't like them.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

No, it's because we do like them.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

We do like them and we want them to be sustainable. And the okay, so going back up to our vision of all kids having education that works for them, we don't get to that level of choice until all communities, all neighborhoods, all pathways have like multiple pathways, even within the pathways, right? So that families who may have logistical barriers uh can still access what they need. People with financial barriers can access what they need, people with very specialized kids with very specialized interests can have what they need. So we need the ideas to move out of here to get closer to the communities and neighbors that they want to serve, right? Because here, again, I'm just to make it clear, all of our resident models, because we're gonna talk about what we don't do. So we don't provide transportation. Um, everyone has to get here on their own. We don't provide meals. Each of our resident models decides how they're gonna do food. Even those as two basic fundamental needs of human beings can present barriers to certain groups of people.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

Absolutely. And I think you and I share the idea that we really believe that all kids deserve the education that works best for them. So um, if we have more models doing it differently, charging different price points, some of them, you know, we have a public school model, so we have a free model in the space, all the way up to, you know, a private school tuition model. And so um, you know, another thing that limits people is geography. And so one of the benefits to growing them out of the space is theoretically or hopefully they'll go to different parts of town. And so there will be different schools in different parts of town doing different types of education for different types of kids.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Um okay, so let's run down the list of things that we do not do. So we've already talked about food, transportation. Um, and I'm saying we do we learning lab. Okay, so imagine a line in the sand. Learning lab really maintains the environment. They manage all of their internal operations. So we don't do admissions, we don't do their curriculum or learning design, um, we don't do discipline, we don't do parent engagement, we don't plan their events, like we're not event hosts for or event planning committees. Um, we don't do their marketing and communications, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:26

So that means like we we're happy to reshare everything that they share, really, but um, we're just not going to create their marketing to attract students because that's part of running a sustainable business. And so if we did that for them while they were here, then they would leave and they would be sad because nobody would be doing that. You know, one thing that we said, we were talking about this earlier today, is we came in here, both of us having worked in public education, and we both said, I do not want to be a principal. Nope. I came to this job having worked for the National Principals Association, and I knew all the pain points principals experienced, and I did not necessarily want to experience those. So we said, I think we were especially thinking about discipline. We want every model to operate as an independent learning environment. So they have to do their own discipline. But during our first year of operation, we realized that we might have to step in on occasion.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

On occasion, highly selective occasion.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Well, it's important to us that our space is safe, and we've gone to great lengths to make the space secure. I mean, we have a security officer, we have cameras, alarms. I mean, the space is safe. Yes. But yes, also within the space, you know, kids, kids are kids.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Kids are kids.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

And so sometimes if they are creating some kind of a safety hazard, I think about last year we had some kids that really like to jump in. Swing at our lights.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Yes. God. Or if they're hurting our our infrastructure. I mean, if they're hurting our property, we are gonna have to step in. So I think it took us maybe six months to figure out what the line of we aren't doing discipline means to us. Because we still have to make sure we take care of our building. We have to not be safe in our building. And so we don't do consequences and all of that. That's up to the resident model. But we are a little more hands-on with kids than I think we thought we would be, both on that side. And I mean, we just love our kids. It's impossible to work here and not build relationships with the kids. And so, in that way, you know, sometimes we're trying to get work done in the back office and we get visitors from lots of small people. And sometimes we do tell them to go away. But it's depends. It's a privilege. I mean, really, it's a privilege to work with these kids. And so those two things, I think we've kind of moved our line a little bit on.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

We've moved the line. Yeah. Like we do believe, you know, they say it takes a village. We're part of their village. Happy to be part of the village. We love being part of their village, to be honest. And so I think we have provided some of that village support at times for because we are trusted grown-ups to them. And I think you're right. That's totally a gift. It is a privilege to be a trusted grown-up in their life. Um, but I just I just back to your earlier point. I think there's certain still certain mentalities and certain moments of like they need an office to send the kids to. And it's like, nope, nope, nope, nope. And like we're that that's part of being a that's part of being the owner. It's part of being the operator. What are you gonna do when you're not here anymore? They're how do you part of our work is really building the norms of the space and like reinforcing the norms. So stewardship of our space, safety, security, respect, all those things, that's where our team is always going to intervene and redirect. Um, but yeah, we're not their admins and they are not our employees. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

I know sometimes even some of the resident leaders kind of act like we're their bosses. And I'm gonna be like, girl, like you on a business I know.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Like, what do you think? What do you want to do? Um like this is just, I think, because this is such a different concept. This is part of the narrative that we keep having to adjust or read yeah, readjust here in Wichita. Um, no, none of our resident models work for Learning Lab. I am not any of their bosses. They are like our clients, if you want to think about it that way. We're here to support them and their operations. Um, but no, I don't, they're not our employees. Um even on like on the event planning side, we love having events here. That's part of the benefits of being a member and a resident model, right? Is that you get to use our lovely facility for your events. Our team's job in that relationship is making sure the facility is ready for you. Uh, you got your tables, your chairs, is your access ready? But we are not like the event hosts, right? Um, and I get that it's funky. But if you want to think about it like the mall, you're not going to the Town East administration when one of your stores at the Town East Mall is having an event, right? You go to the store. It's the same thing here. If a group is hosting an event, you go to that school leader or that member, whomever it is. So it's just a different kind of relationship because we really do want everyone to operate in here autonomously and independently so that again, they can grow up and they can move out of the house.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

Yeah. Well, and plus, if we did any really any of those things, it would, it would increase how homogeneous the space is. We want them to be different. We want some of them to have different, you know, maybe a more controlled environment, some of them to not.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

And no, a hundred percent. Um, because then yeah, you skew towards efficiency overall um instead of the unique.

SPEAKER_02 26:12

Right. So to summarize, I would say like people that haven't been here do not understand that we have multiple businesses running inside the space. And we are just providing like a thread that connects them with community and infrastructure. Um, but because nobody's ever really done this for education before, it confuses people.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Confuses people. Yes, a hundred percent. So let's talk about what this has looked like since we opened. So let's get we can get a little bit more specific here. So we started with four models last year. We had seven this year, kind of more like six, because Elizabeth with a guiding light um was pursuing her education. And so that just really didn't uh take off for this year. Um, but Kristen, why don't you talk about those models that are more comprehensive or full stack or whatever word people want to put with this? But these are the models where this is the kids like full-time education model. This is where they go to school. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

Um so I we have three that we would consider like pretty much all day comprehensive learning models. Um the first one that we can talk about is Creative Minds, which is a Wichita Public Schools model. Um, when we were still an empty shell, Lydia actually approached um 259, which taught public schools, and just said, if you could experiment with any kind of school model, what would you do and would it benefit you to do it outside of the construct of a traditional school building? And they came to us and they do project-based learning for kindergarten through sixth grade. I think we have almost 40 kids in the building for them this year. Um, started with 15. It's just been a lovely, lovely experience. We like it because it's challenging the idea that public school has to look a certain way. And public schools are innovating all over the place. But I would just say, and I'll claim it as my opinion, that they're not doing it fast enough as a whole. If you look at all of the public schools in the country, I can tell you some really cool examples from my experience with the Principals Association. But yeah, but as a whole, a lot of them are still sitting in desks doing lecture, test, you know, repeat. Yeah. Um, and this is a great example, especially for little kids, because we know research shows us little kids need activity. Little kids shouldn't be sitting for eight hours a day. And this model, probably my favorite thing about it, is it gives kids the chance to make some choices about real projects and experiments that they're doing. So a lot of teachers give student choice, but this is kind of on a bigger scale. For example, their quarter project last semester was they planned the expense and sourcing of a meal for all of their parents, then they cooked the meal and they fed a couple hundred people.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Yeah, 120, 150 people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Um, and it was very impressive. It looked very professional. They got to use a kitchen in a very nice restaurant here in downtown Wichita. So the choices they're making are not really on a small scale. It's not like, do you want to study the whale or the dolphin?

SPEAKER_00 29:47

I want to study both of those.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Um, so that's yeah, that's creative minds. Um, they're expanding. So next year they're they're gonna stay here in Learning Lab because it this was their second year. Yeah. But they are also going to open in a different Wichita Public Schools building. And so it really makes us excited that that model is gonna reach more and more kids as time goes on.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Yeah. The value prop, the value proposition for my non-business people. I'm so sorry. But like what is valuable about our setup here to Kristen's point about being separate is it's like a test vacuum. And that is a really hard thing to accomplish when you're in a larger institutional structure. Um, because sometimes most of the time when you're doing the different education idea, it feels disruptive or you're going against other constraints of the building. So it's really exciting that instead of an entire teachers love, they don't love. Teachers get voluntold a lot. So I really love and admire that Wichita Public Schools was like, hey, we're gonna go about this very small to start with. 15 kids, we're gonna grow it, then we're gonna take what we learned, and if it works well, we're gonna pop it up somewhere else. Like it's very opposite of what you see in a lot of school districts when a cool idea is kind of developed and shaped out.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

So we always hear about cool ideas that have happened in public school that somehow get squelched. And I just don't think the superintendent is planning to squelch this anytime soon.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

So yeah, keep it up, y'all. Um, Khan Lab School, which taught?

SPEAKER_02 31:27

So that's a self-paced mastery-based learning private school. And there's one other version of the school that's located in California. It was started by an entrepreneur named Sal Khan. And this is that brand's second expansion school. So it's their first school outside of California. Um, really focusing on middle school. We have a lot of middle school kids in this building in that model. Um, I just made a video for them, and the really cool stories that I heard were about number one, that self-paced mastery-based learning is helping kids that maybe struggled in one subject really move through it and get to grade level and even beyond. So I think that's neat that first of all, they're making progress. But secondly, a kid who was behind last year could be ahead this year because they worked that hard. So it's I love the idea of self-paced mastery-based learning.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

They do a lot of that online. And then they do some collaborative projects. And then number two is just more of that um one-on-one attention because since their learning is individualized on the computer, that gives the educators in the space a little more time to give one-on-one help, which some kids really need that type of academic assistance. So it's instilling leadership skills and confidence in these kids that maybe they didn't have before. Um, and I just think that there is a lot of student growth happening in that model.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Yeah. Yeah. They're really fun to watch. They're, they are figuring out as they go, which is something that, you know, in education, I don't know why, but we want it to be like it to be perfect right away. Um, and have the perfect model and everything go perfect right away. And Conlab School, they're doing great. Kim Hat is doing a great job as their school leader. Um, but they're like they're learning through it. And that's what we need a lot more of education experiences to be. They're looking at their kids and figuring out what works for them, but still within the design, the learning model design that they believe is best, which is the self-paced mastery-based model. So it's just been I've really admired how they have actively just sought better solutions and better structure and better um frameworks for that would work with their kids. Um, because yes, they are in California, um, but the kids in California are different than the kids in Wichita. Um, and so they're they've not copy-pasted what was came from California. They've really tailored it to the kids here in our community. So great job, everybody. Um, we tell them that every day. Um okay, in the Wichita Training Center, Kristen.

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Well, that's one of our favorite stories, just because we just we happened upon a wrestling dad at the homeschool expo last year, which all of those things don't really make sense to have how we normally operate. But um he his kid was part of a wrestling club that was started by a really awesome um wrestler, former wrestler who was a national division two wrestling champion who wrestled for the national national Mexican wrestling team and then started a club wrestling team. So, what does this have to do with learning? Um, so they had a homeschool group that was practicing in the morning, and then those kids were doing homeschool on their own in the afternoon, but they had kind of an idea that they wanted to start like a collaborative homeschool environment where they all did their work, but they were all together supervised by one or two teachers. And so they found us. They realized that there was some room in our storm shelter where they could fit some wrestling mats. So they come here every morning and they practice for a few hours in the morning, and then mostly boys, but a few girls, they come in in the afternoon and learn together, do their schoolwork together, I guess is how I would say it. Yeah, yeah. But um, they are the nicest group of kids. They are hardworking, well-behaved, respectful.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

Yeah, all the things.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

And I love that. I think it's a trend in alternative education right now, just the idea that sports motivate kids to learn. Uh, we've talked about it before. My daughter is a competitive gymnast, pretty high-level athlete, and needs extra practice time. So she leaves her high school every day at one o'clock so she can flip around. Um, but her sport ha I have seen with my own eyes that because she cares so much about her performance in her sport that she works really hard in school because she knows those things go together. Yeah. And it's kind of like that mentality. If you are excellent in one area, it kind of bleeds over.

SPEAKER_00 36:40

Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Yeah, we just really loved having them here. They're growing in size for next year. Conlabs, all of these comprehensive models are growing in size for next year, which is which is exactly what we said we wanted to happen. Like, what? Stop it. Um, okay, let's talk then about the other kind of we don't have a good word for them. Unbundled, flexible, supplemental.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

I mean, so to incubate in Learning Lab, you don't have to be an all-day school model. So some of the models we're about to talk about are hybrid or supplemental to something at part-time. But then some of them, I mean, like at least Arts Partners is not even a traditional school model, but they are so integrated in kindergarten through 12th grade education that it made sense for them to be here.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

Yeah. So let's talk about them a little bit more. Um, so Arts Partners is a 30-year-old, almost 30-year-old arts, nonprofit arts integration program. And they take uh performance and visual art and weave in um STEM education into the art. And so they are helping kids like move, I don't know what you would call it, move levels in a matter of weeks when it comes to literacy or math or whatever it might be, because the kids are learning it in connection to this art medium. Um, we know kids thrive with art. It's such an important part of their education experience for them to have that sort of expression in different ways. So the magic behind taking the core curriculum and bringing it into an arts uh medium is amazing and they do amazing work. They so they have their, we're kind of like their home base office, is what they use their space for. Um, they bring their teaching artists here and do their professional development and planning together. Um, they teach classes as part of our Fun Friday programs, and then they also host their events here, um, their programs here at times, but they also support all over 900 kids across the state of Kansas with their teaching artists in their program. So I remember last summer they were teaching virtual art classes through Zoom, right? To kids, a lot in western Kansas, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:04

So rural Kansas, um, kids that maybe wouldn't have the exposure to the type of learning that they were providing. I just think, you know, when we first accepted them as a resident model, I I kind of had like a little bit of a question mark of like, is this does this fall in our wheelhouse? Should we be incubating a nonprofit that works with kids? But I think it's been an excellent fit um because the learning that they're providing, all of our whole community is benefiting from it. And they, you know, they kind of fell within our like guidelines because they their model was pivoting at that moment. They were funded to go into Wichita Public Schools and their federal funding fell out. And so they've had to pivot and figure some stuff out, and we've just really helped them, you know, provided the space for them to do that. But plus they're just lovely.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

Oh my gosh, just the best people. Yeah. And it was really fun. Um a recent thing that they worked on were these murals that our kids painted as part of Fun Fridays, or just were able to have access to to helping their their artists paint the murals here in our space. Um, and then they were recently just put up at League 42. And so it was cool to see the pictures of the event and see some learning lab kid faces and be like, yeah, you guys, you guys helped do that. You helped beautify our community. And I think that's what they that's what I really love is the way that they l help the kids leave their mark um in a meaningful way.

SPEAKER_02 40:41

So a really good story that we need to tell is that those murals they made are beautiful. And we watched them making them, but we didn't know that they were gonna be put up at another local nonprofit space for the community to enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

So Yeah. Yeah. Um, and sorry, last thing about arts partners, and then we can talk about Derby. Um I think what so again, like they have a very niche focus, if you will. And so it's been cool to see their wheels start to turn about okay, yes, we're doing these one-off programs with kids, but what could a comprehensive learning experience look like if we could turn what we're doing into something more? So that's that's really exciting. Okay, Sunflower Learning Community. I wrote down the wrong word on my notes. Sorry, Darby. Um Darby is our leader of sunflower learning community. Uh, Kristen, you want to share about Darby?

SPEAKER_02 41:39

Darby has a master's in theology, so she's taken a lot of curriculum in the humanities, and she's really good at teaching kids about things like history and other cultures. Um, she does good literature and English, and so those humanities subjects, and she kind of had a dream that she wanted to start a hybrid homeschool, which was basically if you homeschool at home on certain days, but then you come together with a group of kids and have a teacher for certain other days and subjects. Um, and so she has pivoted her model a few times. Um next year, I think she's offering Wednesdays. Is that correct? Yeah. So it's like Wednesday would be the day that you would come to a school-like environment with a small group of other learners.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

Um, but it's kind of nice because it just offers a family some flexibility. It offers mom the chance to maybe like get her hair done, go to the grocery store on her own, work out. Yeah. And then the kids get that social interaction and learning from somebody that has a specialized, you know, base of knowledge. Yeah. Plus, Darby is somebody I would want around my kid. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

So sure. We really like her. Yeah. She's been so she started as a program instructor last year in the space and again saw what was going on here and then had that those wheels turn of like, okay, wait, I could do, I could do something more than just offer these one-off classes, and that's turned into the hybrid homeschooling. So it's been really fun. We love it. And then last but not least, never least, um, is which taught independent secular educators. They are the homeschool community in the space. Kristen stalked them on Facebook and got them to come visit our temporary. Um, but they are a community because not a co-op. They all do their learning independently. They are here today, actually. On Mondays, they come up and they do uh kind of a community activity of some kind, bring their their community members together. Um and so we've really loved being their home base for their people.

SPEAKER_02 43:57

They're creative. Um Homeschool in a way, like they all homeschool differently because each family is in charge of their own education. But the supplemental learning and socializing that they do is probably similar to what I would do for my family if I decided to homeschool. I mean, it's very community-based, they get the most learning that you can get out of the community of Wichita. I mean, they've been everywhere too. They are everywhere. It's amazing. And um, the parents are just like easygoing. They want everybody to be involved, they want their kids to be around all different kinds of people. And so they were our one of our first partners. And so we appreciate that too.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

We do, we do.

SPEAKER_02 44:41

And then we had Elizabeth. So Elizabeth was a mother who was helping her kid with online schooling, realized she kind of had a calling to be a teacher. So she started a micro school and she was helping kids do online learning together and decided she wanted to go back to school to get her teaching certificate, which I think is awesome because it just demonstrates a real commitment to the work.

SPEAKER_01 45:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

And so this year she had to student teach because they require that. She actually that school incubated with us in our temporary space.

SPEAKER_00 45:15

The OGs, Guiding Light Academy. We love them.

SPEAKER_02 45:18

Great group of kids. Um, and we loved having them our first year open. So we were with them for two years. So really we were with them longer than we've been with any of these other groups. Um and we miss Elizabeth, but she's still around because her son is going to Creative Minds. So that's fun. And I think she'll be back. Um, but she accepted a traditional teaching position. And we think those kids are lucky that to have Miss Elizabeth.

SPEAKER_00 45:43

Yeah. And I really appreciate Elizabeth's perspective of like she wants to learn more about all environments, right? And again, there's something to learn from public education, the same way that she can take what she did as a micro school leader and bring it there. So it's just that idea. She's really walking the walk when it comes to not being siloed in education and cross-collaborating.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

Yeah, she's gonna have a really well-rounded perspective.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

Love it. Okay, so maybe with the last little bit of time that we have, um, something that we're looking forward to in Wichita, uh, or in our space, I guess, is um so you've heard that our resident models they apply, they get, they get to renew, they have the choice to renew. Um, so we just did that annually. Everyone signs a 10 or a 12-month contract, also is another little detail that people like to ask. Um, but every, so every we've gone through the renewal process, we know who's coming back for next year. And it doesn't always work out that we're able to open up applications. Um, this year we really didn't have space, but my sweet, sweet team is living with me as I gave away all of our workshop space to resident models. Um, but it's all gonna be fine. But we are excited that we were able to find a way where um a space could be shared. So, Kristen, do you want to talk about who our new resident model leader will be? Or maybe I should.

SPEAKER_02 47:16

I always get the name of our organization wrong. So we're really excited to have Leah Ellis who runs the Society of Child Entrepreneurs. I cannot remember the word society. Yes. Um, we met Leah because she has been teaching in our Fun Friday programs. So I compare her a little bit to arts partners in that she has this really great niche and skill set that she can share with learners and she's already doing it on Fridays. Um, but what she does is help kids basically start businesses. So she's doing what we're doing for kids. I know it's so exciting. And entrepreneurship. I do, yeah. And for kids, it's just um one of the most real life learning experiences you can have. And some kids that work with Leah have amazing, profitable businesses, including her own daughter. Um, and so having her in the building, planning all of her entrepreneurship activities, but also just our resident models having access to her brain and her resources. I think she's gonna be a great fit. She's going to share a space with Darby. Um but yes, we're very full next year.

SPEAKER_00 48:27

Very full. It's a good problem to have. Um, so here, let's talk about this then. Um what opportunities exist in Wichita? Um, so when I because we are full, but this is Kristen hears this soapbox too often. Wichita is full of people, places, and things to learn from. There is plenty of there are plenty of spaces in Wichita that are underutilized during the week because kids are at school. And so, yes, learning lab is full, but if you have an idea and you're like, I don't know where to do this, this is one of the ways that we can be maybe a helpful connector because we look out across Wichita and see spaces where it's, you know, if you can get the right conversation, there's an opportunity to have a school model kind of hosted out of an empty church during the week, right? Or um some of these community spaces. Um so we really want to see more school models taking place again, closer to the neighborhoods that they can serve or that they would serve, or in community assets that will be aligned from a content perspective. Um but just knowing like that is an opportunity that I see existing in Wichita.

SPEAKER_02 49:46

Yeah, I mean, just because Learning Lab is currently full does not mean that you cannot start a school or a school model, and it does not mean that we cannot help you. So we still want to connect with anyone who's considering a new or different school model. But also if you have a space that you would like to share during the week, maybe you're a weekend business.

SPEAKER_00 50:13

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:14

Right. Maybe there are certain days of the week that you don't need your space. Um we would love to know about it.

SPEAKER_00 50:21

We absolutely would. And then a pattern that I see across the United States, and Kristen, I think from your previous work experience, my previous work experience, the things that are really resonating, and then our work here, obviously, um, that are really resonating with parents and families and educators alike are those very niche, tailored, curated, smaller learning environments. Um so if you're like, hey, I have never I want to start a space school where they learn everything. Oh my God, it's my dream. Um I just think you will have an audience for it. I think we just need to dispel this myth that when you start a school, you should be aiming to have 300 kids in your school someday. There's nothing wrong with having your school only be 20 kids forever. I mean, like it does it doesn't have to be a certain scale to be a successful.

SPEAKER_02 51:16

If you wanted to scale, I just feel like there are people looking for and and I do think niche is key. Like one of our fastest growing models, if not the fastest growing model, is the wrestling which taught training center wrestling academy. And it's it's wrestling. It's wrestling, and that's what's bringing these kids together, but it's also motivating them to learn well.

SPEAKER_00 51:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:41

Um, so you know, I think about like the coolest programs that I see in our city in public high schools are the career in tech ed academy type programs that focus on either aerospace or they focus on nursing. And so that's niche. That's like a very niche interest that these kids are dedicating a lot of time to. Yeah. Um, but we have a lot of room for growth in that area. You know, we're seeing, we don't know everything, but we do have a lot of families that come to us and they're looking for a different learning environment. And we don't see a ton of non-traditional learning environments for high school students. I have a hard time referring to some families. Of course, we have great private schools in which taught we have good options for people, especially people that are maybe more inclined toward academics, but for kids with learning differences, maybe kids that have a hard time sitting still, kids that work with their hands. Sometimes it's hard to find a right fit at the high school age.

SPEAKER_00 52:46

So if you guys want to start in high school, seeing founders or interested people. Um yeah, exactly. Exactly. And again, like they don't have to last forever, and that could be its whole little episode all on its own. But our all die on the hill that education needs to evolve over time. And that's part of our work here, but that can also mean that a school model can work really well for a certain amount of time. And unless, you know, like maybe that trade outgrows our industry here, in which or whatever it might be. Whatever.

SPEAKER_02 53:23

Um, I just think about how AI has changed everything. I mean, there's a lot of room to use AI in education. Some people would say they don't want their kid anywhere near AI, but that's why we need more, better, and difference.

SPEAKER_00 53:39

That's right. That's right. Um okay, Kristen, let's do this as our last question. What are our resonant model? Our residency non-negotiables. I'll let you go first.

SPEAKER_02 53:54

So you're asking the question: what does a founder have to believe to be here?

SPEAKER_00 54:00

No, I'm thinking about from like our side, when we think about supporting resident models, what are our non-negotiables? Here's let me go first. Yeah, you go first. I my non-negotiable is that um I'm gonna hold very firm to the line of what we do and what we do not do. Um, like I want you to be the operator. I want you to own it. I want you to feel that struggle, even if it means I want it to be productive struggle. I want you to feel the pain and the failure if something doesn't go the way that you want it to go, because I want you to to have that be that visceral emotional tie to change it for the future. Um like I I challenge our team on this all the time of like, is that our job or is it their job? Like, what is the role that we're playing here? Because just with everything that we talked about, you do too much and it doesn't set them up to be sustainable when they move out. That's one of my non-negotiables. Do you have anything you'd add to the list? We didn't prep this question.

SPEAKER_02 55:06

Well, I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around like what are non-negotiables for what we'll do for them. I I mean, probably one of my biggest priorities when working with the other models is just this idea of inclusiveness. Not that they have to include every kid in their model, but just the idea that we are in a community and you will value community if you want to be in the space.

SPEAKER_00 55:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:33

And so, you know, if you are a model that doesn't want to be around certain types of people or you don't want to collaborate, I would say learning lab is not the best place to incubate your model. I want our resident models to be interested in growing and learning and coming together with others in the name of what's best for kids. And so um, I don't know if that really is the question you were asking, but that's just what comes to mind for me is is this sense of community that I want all of our residents to share.

SPEAKER_00 56:09

Yeah. No, all kids deserve an education that works for them.

SPEAKER_02 56:13

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 56:13

That's why we're starting an education revolution, Lydia. That's right. Shared believe. That's what we're doing here. Um, I think it's great. Anything else you want to tell the people about resident models?

SPEAKER_02 56:24

I would just say that there's a possibility that we open up space in spring of 2027. Yeah. That's right. So you never know what's going to happen with these models. If you are starting a school or you have a small school model or education model in the K-12 space, you can still be involved at Learning Lab without having a reserved classroom space. That's basically the difference. We have ways that organizations can join the space. We have a lot of open or shared spaces that alternative schools or co-ops or groups of kids could use for education. You don't have to live here to be involved. So I just want groups that work with kindergarten through 12th grade kids, no matter what time of day it is, whether you have a school, a co-op, a nonprofit that meets at night. We would love to try to find a way to work with you if you're interested in a podcast studio and a makerspace and a really nice group of people who all want what's best for all kids.

SPEAKER_00 57:27

Yeah, that's exactly right. And it's interesting. I mean, now we have Darby and Leah, right? Who started as program instructors and now they're residents. So to your point, we think about it a lot, or I think about it a lot. I won't say for the group, but what's the right size next best step for the person who has the innovative idea? Is it just booking a space for an hour? Is it having a membership? Is it being a resident model? I think that will vary. Um, but we can be supportive for whatever that next step might be. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 57:58

If you haven't been here, you work with kids in Wichita, book a tour, just come see what it's about.

SPEAKER_00 58:03

That's right. That's right. All right. Well, thanks, Kristen. What a great discussion.

SPEAKER_02 58:08

I hope you guys enjoyed it and we'll see you next week.