Exploring Atlanta’s Innovative Microschools
A clergyman, two policymakers, parents, and a school board member all tour a microschool…
Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke but it was the group on a recent trip to Atlanta, Georgia brought together by EdChoice that toured Black-led microschools. Some of the schools are a part of the Black Microschools ATL, a collective of K-12 education providers shaking up the look of schooling. The sixteen participating microschools span the Metro Atlanta area and service hundreds of students with the goal of providing student-centered learning environments.
Nia School: Redefining Communication and Ability
The Nia School is a microschool that works with students with high-support autism who also have apraxia, a motor skills disorder. Dr. Maya Corneille, founder of Nia School, has decades of experience as an educator, and as a mother whose daughter had autism, she knew her daughter needed more support than her traditional school was able to give.
“So many Black and Brown students [with special needs] don’t get the opportunity to show the gifts they have,” Cornielle said. Students are able to showcase their gifts at the Nia School in classrooms that are designed to accommodate students and help them thrive. Students here are “spellers and typers” meaning they use alternative modes of communication besides their voices. At the beginning of the year, students start off using boards with the letters of the alphabet cut out and use their finger or a stylus to point to each letter to spell answers to questions. One goal by the end of the year is for students to graduate from the letterboards to a small keyboard.
Ferguson School: Building an Educational Ecosystem
Ferguson School shares a building with three other microschools, including the Nia School. Since the Ferguson School also serves students with autism, students from both schools can share equipment, books, and other resources like speech therapists. Founder of the Ferguson School Tiffany Blassingame described the “portrait of a thinker” they are cultivating at her school, a student who is a critical thinker and has a curious mind.
Tread: A Hands-on Approach to Experience-based Learning
Tread uses a former office building as their elementary school and a nearby church houses the highschoolers. A single grade can hardly capture the progress students make throughout the year, so there are no grades at Tread; instead, they focus on mastering skills in the curriculum and students have the freedom to move on to other subjects at their own pace. Tread started as a tutoring service, but it gained so much popularity with the families using it that they convinced the founder to start a microschool. Tread uses four-day school weeks so the high schoolers can participate in internships on Fridays and gain real-world work experience to add to their resumés.
Expanding the “School Choice Menu”
One of the attendees on this tour was David Mitchell, the CEO and president of Better Outcomes for Our Kids (BOOK). His organization’s purpose is to give families all the options on the “school choice menu” so they can make the most informed decision for their student’s specific needs. Black Microschools ATL is also trying to add to the menu by bringing awareness of different educational options available to families. Families should consider these models as viable and impactful alternatives and remember that they have the right to take charge of their child’s education because they know best.
