Before the COVID pandemic magnified the vast inequities that exist within our education system and spurred an education renaissance that rapidly spread across the country, the quest to reimagine what school could be had already begun in pockets across the country. In my home state of Florida, microschools and learning cooperatives were already serving families with fresh and innovative learning models.

When families realized their learners needed options that better met their needs, these environments were poised to respond. Nimble and hyper-local, each innovative model designed solutions intended to serve the unique population of children in their community.

When I met Iman Cassells Alleyne in 2018, she was just beginning her visionary journey to build a new school model of her own. She came to visit the newly founded Verdi EcoSchool in Melbourne, Florida. We sat together, sharing ideas and a vision of what school could be if led by individuals brave enough to challenge the status quo. Verdi EcoSchool was founded in 2016 as the first place- and project-based urban farm school in the southeastern United States.

Community-Based, Hands-On Learning Through Microschools

Using the community as a campus, students learn that “school” doesn’t just happen behind a desk with a textbook—learning is all around us. Our connections to the community deepen experiences that we might otherwise miss in a conventional classroom. As we explored the campus, Iman joyfully expressed her desire to build a community of people connected to each other and united by a desire to be kind—to themselves, to each other, and to the world.

My time with Iman highlighted a great absence for me in my work as a school founder—fellowship. The road to founding and leading a school is exhausting and often lonely. How do we sustain ourselves as school founders in an industry where 50% of school leaders leave the profession entirely after five years? Iman’s vivacity brought me to the beginning of a new journey: connecting to a community of women—mothers and educators—dedicated to changing the face of education.

Read the full article about sustainable microschools by Ayana Verdi at Getting Smart.