Olivia Sumner’s glass-walled classroom inside the Learning Lab space in downtown Wichita is an experiment in learning — a K-6 microschool developed and operated by Wichita public schools.
Last summer, the district reached out to several families who had planned to pull their kids out of Wichita schools. Some were headed to private or religious schools, others to homeschool.
They changed their minds and instead enrolled at Creative Minds Academy.
“We know that a traditional classroom is not the best environment for every student,” said Rob Dickson, Wichita’s chief information officer, who helped launch Creative Minds.
“This is a way to think about a conversation back and forth with a family about: What needs do you have in educating your child?”
THIS FALL, Creative Minds will more than double its enrollment, with two full-time teachers in two classrooms. It’s also gaining national attention from microschool advocates and other school districts.
“These are really innovative practices happening in teaching and learning that are community-rooted and community-driven,” said Don Soifer, president of the Las Vegas-based National Microschooling Center.
“What you’ve got there (in Wichita) is a real gem … and I think that that is going to have resonance nationally as it gains more attention.”
The COVID-19 pandemic boosted the microschool movement across the country, as families sought alternatives during shutdowns and remote schooling.
ACCORDING TO a recent analysis by the National Microschooling Center, microschools now serve an estimated 2% of the U.S. student population, or about 750,000 students. And increasingly, families don’t even have to leave their public school to join the movement.
Wichita pays Learning Lab $6,000 a year to rent space inside the converted Union Station building, where students have access to a podcast studio, maker space, print lab and several common areas. They’re also within walking distance of downtown parks, museums and businesses.
The district does not provide transportation to the microschool, but this year it will begin serving breakfast and lunch to students.
SUMNER, the Creative Minds teacher, said a typical day at the school doesn’t look like your average classroom. Art, music and physical activity are incorporated into daily routines, and students collaborate on projects.
“The students could choose to write a song, or produce a podcast, or maybe they’re going to do interpretive dance to show their learning and write a caption about it afterwards,” she said.
When they do split up for math or reading lessons, groups are divided based on skill, not grade levels.
“I have a kindergartner working at the end of first grade, I have a fourth-grader that’s working on some second-grade work before he hops back up, and anything in between,” Sumner said. “So wherever the student is at, they are not limited either direction.”
