Microschools gain popularity as parents seek smaller schools

Microschools are small learning environments outside of traditional educational settings.

• Microschools are small private institutions that serve a median of 16 children.

• The school is usually in a nontraditional educational building, and some microschools have as few as three students.

• Proponents say they offer a quality option for education but critics say they are under regulated.

(NewsNation) — With the 2024-2025 school year set to begin next month, the emergence of private microschools may be the next big option for parents pursuing alternatives to public school.

Microschools are small private institutions that serve a median of 16 children and offer full-time, part-time or hybrid instruction, according to the National Microschooling Center. The school is usually in a nontraditional educational building, and some microschools have as few as three students.

The National Microschooling Center points to research that estimates between 1 million and 2 million students are learning in this type of environment.

How are microschools different from typical learning institutions?

Florida is a strong advocate for so-called school choice and is leading the microschools movement.

A new state education law that went into effect July 1 allows these tiny private schools to operate in places like libraries, movie theaters and churches.

According to a National Microschooling Center survey, only 16% of about 400 microschools nationwide are state-accredited.

Critics argue this is a problem; however, supporters believe the smaller, nontraditional school environment offers students a better, less distracted education.

"Most of my families, they just want their kids to be happy, said Felicia Wright, a microschool teacher at The Learning Outpost. "That seems to be the motivation for almost every single kid that walks through my door. Quite a few have experienced some type of trauma with school, or they just completely hate it."

What's the microschooling landscape like for the rest of the country?

At first glance, a few microschools might not seem significant, but collectively they could greatly impact thousands of students and give their families a new education option.

Nationwide, microschools have gained traction in recent years and are now in more than 40 states with more than 1.5 million kids learning under the nontraditional umbrella.

Families seek these alternative educational opportunities and smaller class sizes so their children can get more personalized attention.

However, critics highlight the lack of oversight and regulation, worrying there are no ways of ensuring the quality of education.  

"So, in some ways, it's like the great one-room schoolhouses that dotted the American prairies in the 1880s. But in other ways, it's really modernized and updated with everything we now know about pedagogies," said Don Soifer, CEO of the National Microschooling Center.