Back-to-school alternatives grow as families withdraw from district schools

While millions of children are returning to school this month, millions more will not. Home schooling has reached an all-time high in the past year, doubling in 2020 to more than five million students, or more than 11% of the school-age population in the United States.

The increase in home schools last year was understandable, as many schools remained closed for in-person learning. Now, even though most schools are planning full reopens, families continue to withdraw from their local district school for other options. Home schooling advocates in Texas and Virginia, for example, report that interest in home schooling is higher this summer than it was in 2020 when the number of home schooling soared.

Overall, public school enrollment fell 3% nationwide last year as parents chose home schooling and other private education options, or delayed l entry to school for young children.

This moment of disruption and transformation in education is leading to exciting new learning opportunities for American students in Kindergarten to Grade 12. Parents are more open to alternative educational models and students are more receptive to learning outside of a conventional classroom. Entrepreneurs recognize the growing acceptance and demand for back-to-school alternatives and build new educational offerings that challenge the status quo of schooling.

Learning KaiPod

One of those startups is KaiPod Learning, a Boston-based network of learning modules that is currently participating in the popular Y Combinator business accelerator program. Founded by Amar Kumar, who previously worked in product development for Pearson Online Learning, KaiPod is capturing the momentum of “pandemic pods” over the past year to provide alternative and tactile learning spaces for students.

KaiPod ran a successful pilot program this summer and plans to open more locations throughout the fall. These community-based learning modules bring students together in a physical space to work on their own self-chosen virtual learning program, while surrounded by peers and adult facilitators who offer advice, support and activities. daily enrichment. Kumar sees KaiPod as a model for a more personalized, flexible and practical K-12 education better suited to the needs of families and learners today than traditional schooling.

“The future of education is much more personal and much more practical,” Kumar told me in a recent interview. “Every aspect of our life, be it media, entertainment, healthcare, personal finance, everything is truly personalized for us. And education still isn’t. It is really “this is the school which is assigned to you”. It doesn’t matter if it’s right for you or not. It doesn’t matter if this teacher is right for you or not. It is assigned to you. It is not personal and it is not practical for many families. For education to feel that way, it really has to borrow a lot more from the consumer sector in terms of family services, ”Kumar said.

Besides being flexible, KaiPod Learning also aims to be affordable. This fall, families can choose from three different types of membership plans depending on the level of care and support they need. A 2-day-per-week plan costs $ 190, a 3-day plan costs $ 275, and a 5-day plan, which offers around 50 hours of coverage, costs $ 415 per week. These fees are in addition to any fees a family may incur for a virtual learning provider, although Kumar notes that many states, including Massachusetts, offer virtual learning options at public schools that do not. cost families nothing.

Moonrise co-learning space

The personalization and flexibility of membership-based learning models like KaiPod is spreading to other cities across the country. In the Atlanta area, Chris Turner is launching Moonrise, a member-focused co-learning space for students of all ages. Open this fall, Moonrise is part makerspace, part home education center and part mentoring community. It offers learners the opportunity to attend anytime between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., 7 days a week, all year round. Learners can interact with adult mentors and peers in a resource-rich, student-centered learning environment.

Turner’s interest in creating Moonrise emerged two years ago as he researched education options for his then five-year-old son. Her son didn’t get a spot in a local charter school lottery, and Turner was frustrated with what appeared to be limited education choices. As a tech entrepreneur who once sold a mobile app startup, Turner was comfortable with creating things from scratch and saw the education industry as ripe for disruption.

He realized that home schooling had a lot to offer students, but it was not practical for many families. “Home school looks great and I can see the appeal,” Turner told me, “but parents always need a place to send their children during the day.”

He began to envision a physical learning space for children that would cultivate creativity and curiosity without a set agenda, while making technology a central part of the user experience. Moonrise provides a rewarding learning environment while leveraging a mobile app to help members plan their hospitality hours and manage their membership. Moonrise functions as a fitness center, says Turner, where space is available for members to use at any time, and personal trainers and fitness classes are offered to help individuals achieve their personal goals. Likewise, Moonrise is available to members at all times, and mentors and classes are offered if learners wish.

Like a gym, Moonrise members can use the space as much or as little as they want for $ 250 per child per month. As the demand for school alternatives increases, Turner hopes Moonrise will expand to serve more families in more communities. He also sees Moonrise as a role model for happier learning, parenting, and human development. “We are very pro-human. If we can make it easier and more enjoyable to be a child and a parent, then more people will exist and we will progress faster, ”he said.

Montessori guidance

Making learning enjoyable has been a mainstay of Montessori education since its inception. Developed by the famous 20th century Italian educator and physician, Maria Montessori, the Montessori approach to learning values ​​hands-on education, independence and empowerment. Guidepost Montessori is a rapidly growing network of Montessori-inspired preschools and primary schools that has adapted over the past year to expand its offerings to more families.

Launched five years ago by founder Ray Girn, Guidepost Montessori has opened around 30 schools each year across the country and trained 1,000 teachers each year in Montessori principles. Guidepost began to embark on home learning programs before the pandemic and increased those offers last year. Today, Guidepost has approximately 1,000 students learning through its home schooling programs, virtual learning options and teacher-led learning modules, in addition to approximately 6,000 students in its schools. of brick and mortar.

For $ 99 per month, parents can access the Basic Montessori program at home from Guidepost, or pay $ 199 per month for the Montessori program and materials. If parents want to do less home schooling themselves and instead rely on teachers trained by Guidepost to facilitate a program, they can opt for the virtual learning option which costs around $ 1,200 per month for children of primary age. For double this amount, families can train home learning modules with other local families led by an educator trained by Guidepost.

Matt Batemen, vice president of pedagogy at Guidepost, expects the widespread adoption of home and virtual learning options over the past year to be sustained over the long term. “Home schooling, including learning modules and virtual learning, will likely be four to five times more important forever, compared to what it was at the start of 2020,” recently told me. Bateman. He predicts that enrolling in Guidepost’s virtual and in-home program will eventually eclipse his traditional school attendance. “The number of people who are fed up with teacher unions and district-centric options is increasing and really boosting our enrollments,” he explained.

Guidepost’s parent company Higher Ground Education raised $ 30 million in a Series D funding round in April, following a $ 40 million Series C fundraiser earlier this year. The business is poised for massive growth, especially as parental demand for alternative learning models accelerates. “I am incredibly optimistic,” Bateman said. “There is disillusionment with the system in the face of the pandemic. The current traditional system is flaring up. It was blazing before the pandemic, but now parents are seeing it. ”

Indeed, this past year has been revealing for parents. They have been frustrated with school closures and district pandemic policies and no longer just accept a school assignment by default. Today, parents have more education options than ever before as visionary entrepreneurs create new and better models of learning for today’s learners. As Guidepost’s Bateman concludes: “This has never been the best time to be a parent, educator, child. “