Micro School Webinar & Discussion Sessions
We invite you to join us! Whether you’re a micro school owner, educator or parent interested in learning more about this dynamic global movement, there is a lot to learn from one another. We aim to provide mentorship and support for colleagues, so all questions and thoughts are welcome here!
Every month (the first Thursday of the month – 12pm ET) we’ve invited esteemed global colleagues to lead a conversation based on their expertise. The following webinars are scheduled presentations followed by an open forum discussion to connect and crowdsource questions with peers. We welcome you to join the conversation!
Join us in the upcoming sessions led by distinguished colleagues:
Dr Stuart Grauer
Dr Stuart Grauer will speak about Leadership & Management Strategies for Small School Leaders on Oct 5 - 12pm ET
For a prerelease of his forthcoming, breakthrough book on naturalist small school leadership, click here. Dr. Grauer is the Founder and Head of The Grauer School and the Small Schools Coalition. His expertise in educational leadership is recognized both regionally and globally. Before opening The Grauer School with credit cards and a borrowed storefront, he served as public school history teacher, Principal of the International School of Basel in Switzerland, and founding assistant director of Fairbanks Country Day. He has taught graduate school education at both US International University and the University of California, San Diego. As a regular Chairman of School Evaluation Committees for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), Dr. Grauer’s leadership is highly esteemed. The Grauer School was named one of the top 10 places to work in the nation by Outside Magazine. His ASCD SmartBriefs have been among the most popular of the year nationwide. He is the Founder of the Small Schools Coalition and was awarded a Fulbright Educational Administration fellowship in 2007. Recognized as Peacemaker of the Year by Encinitas Rotary International and an Encinitas “Legendary Local,” he was also named one of San Diego Magazine’s 50 People to Watch. Dr. Grauer received The Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Award for 2014, the University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences top alumni honor. Dr. Grauer’s work has been covered by New York Times, Phi Delta Kappan, and the Discovery Channel. His books, Real Teachers: True Stories of Renegade Educators and Fearless Teaching: Collected Stories, engage educators, parents, book clubs, and scholars nationwide. Real Teachers has been described as “restorative,” “liberating,” “eloquent,” and “inspiring” by nationally prominent educators. Fearless Teaching, “the rare book about education that is both beautiful and critically relevant,” is an Amazon bestseller in its category and has been uniformly critically acclaimed. Joe Brooks, Executive Director of Community Works Institute, noted, “Stuart Grauer is rapidly becoming one of America’s most important and popular educational storytellers."
Join this session!
Oct 3 – 12pm ET – Dr Stuart Grauer, Founder of The Grauer School and Small Schools Coalition
Leadership & Management Strategies for Small School Leaders
Thomas Arnett
Thomas Arnett will speak about What will it take to reinvent education? on Nov 7- 12pm ET
He is a senior research fellow for the Clayton Christensen Institute. His work focuses on identifying the enabling conditions for disrupting the conventional batch-processing model of schooling. He also studies the circumstances that lead teachers, administrators, and families to adopt new approaches to education. Thomas began his work in education as a middle school math teacher in Kansas City Public Schools through Teach For America and as an Education Pioneers fellow with the Achievement First Public Charter Schools. He has also served as an elected trustee and board president for the Morgan Hill Unified School District and currently serves as a president of the board of Compass Charter Schools.
Join this session!
Nov 7- 12pm ET – Thomas Arnett a Senior Research Fellow for the Clayton Christensen Institute
What will it take to reinvent education?
Tasha Ring
Tasha C Ring, M.Ed will speak about Owning and Operating a Micro School: Centering Sustainability to Reach the Five Year Mark and Beyond on Dec 5 - 12pm ET
She is director and principal consultant at Meridian Learning, a resource and advocacy organization for grassroots microschools and entrepreneurs across the education spectrum. Her broad experience in the education field has included sales, administrative and marketing positions, but her passion remains working with students, parents and teacher-leaders in a teaching, tutoring and mentoring capacity. Her desire to create more personalized experiences for youth led her to the founding of Meridian Learning in 2008 and the first Meridian micro lab school in 2009. An early and continuous advocate of a “less is more” approach to learning, she is honored to be among the first innovators of the micro school movement.
Join this session!
Dec 5 – 12pm ET – Tasha Ring, Director and Principal Consultant at Meridian Learning
Owning and Operating a Micro School: Centering Sustainability to Reach the Five Year Mark and Beyond.
Lizette Valles
Lizette Valles, M.Ed will speak about Building a Trauma-informed and Reparative Schooling Model on Jan 9 - 12pm ET
She is the founder of Compass Educators: A Holistic Educational Services Center & Ellemercito Academy, a Los Angeles-based microschool with a focus on experiential/place-based learning. Her mission is to nurture students who think critically, develop a growth mindset, and demonstrate empathy. She is dedicated to reimagining education, implementing trauma-informed approaches in out-of-system school models such as the fast-growing small school movement, and providing guidance to families seeking personalized learning environments that will best serve their children. For over 16 years, her career in education has included teaching middle/high school English, serving as a K-12 librarian, publishing a bilingual children's book, launching supportive alternative education programs for families, organizing the largest free virtual summer camp in the U.S. during the pandemic, founding Compass Educators in 2020 and Ellemericito Academy in 2021, and growing the microschooling ecosystem in California as the California & Spanish-speaking Field Coordinator with the National Microschooling Center. As an inaugural cohort fellow with the ASU Prep Microschool Entrepreneur Fellowship and deeply honored recipient of the VELA Next Step Grant and Getting Smart's first-ever Learning Innovation Fund Grant, she remains committed to her mission of transforming education. Her work has been featured at Harvard's Emerging School Models Conference, The Cato Institute, 74 Million, The Hechinger Report, Voyage LA, Rebel Educator, the LiberatEd podcast and more. As a Latina founder, speaker, facilitator, and school choice advocate, she views these recognitions as opportunities to further her impact on the educational landscape, inspire others in the field, and contribute to a future where every student has access to innovative, inspiring, and meaningful learning experiences.
Join this session!
Jan 9 – 12pm ET Lizette Valles, Founder of Compass Educators: A Holistic Educational Services Center & Ellemercito Academy
Building a Trauma-informed and Reparative Schooling Model
Angela Fubler
Angela Fubler and Joyce Hayward will speak about Thriving Financially as a Small / Micro School on Feb 6 - 12pm ET
Founder of Chatmore International School and Eaglemann Consulting Angela is a Bermudian educator, presenter, author and educational consultant who is passionate about transformational learning in all settings for adults, families, professional groups and especially children. Angela has a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology, is a Certified Management Consultant and a Member of the Institute of Leadership & Management. Angela has worked extensively with school leaders in Bermuda, UK, Dubai and the Caribbean to address ideas regarding Early Childhood education, Parenting Styles, Neuroscience, Learning and Teacher Training.
In 2011 Angela opened The Chatmore British International School, which progressed to a Middle and Secondary school and in 2017 she amalgamated the Early Years programme to create a full through school which includes Primary, Middle and Secondary Years. Angela introduced the Fieldwork Education curricula (now: International Curriculum Association) to Bermuda and they are now widely used in some of Bermuda’s most prominent private schools.
Chatmore students and staff enjoy many international experiences as the only COBIS Member school in Bermuda and Angela relishes every opportunity to share the benefits and opportunities available to participate in this organization. It is through COBIS that she decided to become transparent about the financial challenges associated with owning and operating a Small School.
As a serial entrepreneur her businesses have pioneered many new areas of learning and inspired many individuals and schools in Bermuda and overseas to pursue new ways of thinking about learning. During the height of the pandemic, sharing an idea with a Canadian Music Therapist for a book series, Angela was invited to co-author an e-book "Mandy's Musical Mask" aimed at helping children be less anxious about wearing masks.
Most passionately, Angela is a “small school” advocate and enthusiast who is actively championing the benefits of “small”, “boutique” and/or “microschool” environments and is a regular participant and Blog contributor for the Small Schools Coalition.
Angela was educated at Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada), holds certificates in Leadership from Harvard University, ManageMentor and has held senior positions in the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Transport, and volunteered for several organizations in Bermuda.
Join this session!
Angela Fubler and Joyce Hayward will speak about Thriving Financially as a Small / Micro School on Feb 6 – 12pm ET
Thriving Financially as a Small / Micro School
Tony Siddall
Tony Sidall will speak about What is accreditation and is it really necessary? on Mar 6 - 12pm ET
He is a senior director of regional services at Cognia serving the Northeast region, where he supports schools to deepen their continuous improvement processes through accreditation. His career of 20 years includes experience as a teacher, school administrator, and district coach in Boston, New York City and the Czech Republic. His work has focused on educational innovation, assessment for learning, youth development, community partnerships, and charter school governance and accountability. Prior to joining Cognia, Tony co-led the Assessment for Learning Project, a national initiative that supports schools, districts and states to adopt student-centered, richer, deeper assessment practices. Tony earned a B.A. from Brown University in educational studies and an M.B.A. from Oxford University in social entrepreneurship.
Join this session!
Mar 6 – 12pm ET – Tony Siddall, Senior Director of Regional Services at Cognia
What is accreditation and is it really necessary?
Siri Fiske
Siri Fiske will speak about Small Schools - Evidence and Data to Convince Your Family and Friends that Micro Schools Are a Great Decision on April 3- 12pm ET
She championed the micro school movement, opening the first self- proclaimed micro school in the USA - Mysa School. Frustrated by how little the research on learning was shaping the ways schools teach Siri decided to create a model of schooling based on what we know about how people learn. In her pioneering moments of delight, challenge and exasperation Siri realized that the work of founding a small school was filled with many tasks best suited not to educators but rather to entrepreneurs and people with business backgrounds. She wanted to find a way to connect school leaders to support each other and share resources while simultaneously providing a site to help parents find small schools for their children which led her to starting the Micro School Network.
Join this session!
April 3- 12pm ET: Siri Fiske, Founder of Mysa School and the Micro Schools Network
Small Schools - Evidence and Data to Convince Your Family and Friends that Micro Schools Are a Great Decision
Kaity Broadbent
Kaity Broadbent will speak about Building Community and Marketing Out-of-the box on May 1 - 12pm ET
She currently serves as Prenda's Chief Empowerment Advocate. Since 2018 she's helped pioneer Prenda's unique microschool-based learning model and philosophy as Head of Learning. Prior to Prenda she was a Speech-Language Pathologist, literacy coach, and curriculum designer. She's a certified peaceful parenting coach and mom to 4 spunky Prenda kids who love their microschools. You can tune into the KindlED podcast that she co-hosts.
Join this session!
Kaity Broadbent will speak about Microschool Marketing – how to reach families and tell your story on May 1 – 12pm ET
Building Community and Marketing Out-of-the box
Mitchell Slater
Mitchell Slater will speak about Building Enrollment and Managing Attrition He is the CEO of School Success and Slater Strategies, a visionary leader empowering schools. Guiding enrollment growth and impactful marketing, Mitchell shapes education's future. With a hands-on approach, School Success fosters a culture of success. As a forward-thinking influencer, Mitchell transforms education, ensuring schools thrive.
He also hosts the School Success Podcast, sharing insights for excellence. Join Mitchell in reshaping schools into hubs of success.
Join this session!
June 5 – 12pm ET: Mitchell Slater the CEO of School Success and Slater Strategies
Building Enrollment and Managing Attrition
Micro School Network Events
Microschools.com is an online community for both educators and parents.
Our Mission
We aim to provide parents with a space where they can find micro schools for their children. We also want to create a place where educators can access information that’s essential to launching and sustaining micro schools, as well as provide micro schools with the necessary tools to innovate.