Home-Based Microschools Offer a New Path for Students

In Mesa, Arizona a dozen children, ranging from kindergarteners to eighth graders, gather each day in the home of Rachelle Noble. This modest setting is the nucleus of a burgeoning educational movement: the microschool. Noble, a former teacher and founder of Microschool Solutions, saw a gap in her community and decided to fill it by practicing what she preaches—literally. She opened her own microschool, and the demand was immediate.

Noble’s initiative is part of a broader shift in education, one that is reshaping the landscape not just in Arizona but across the nation. As the traditional school model faces mounting criticism for its one-size-fits-all approach, more parents and educators are turning to microschools—small, community-based educational environments that emphasize personalized learning. Noble’s microschool is emblematic of this movement, where education is tailored to the individual needs of each student, a far cry from the crowded classrooms and standardized curricula of conventional public schools.

These schools are part of a broader trend facilitated by Arizona’s new universal education savings account (ESA) program. This initiative, which provides approximately $7,000 annually per student, allows families to seek out alternative educational opportunities like microschools without bearing the financial burden. The ESA program, one of the most expansive in the nation, is a key factor in the rapid growth of microschools and other alternative education models in Arizona.

Microschools and similarly creative schooling options gained increased popularity in the wake of the pandemic, and they continue to gain momentum. Not only are new schools and spaces opening across the U.S., but existing ones are expanding. New data from VELA, a philanthropic nonprofit organization and entrepreneur community, reveals that over 90 percent of the unconventional learning environments it surveyed had more learners last fall than they did at their launch date, and the median compound rate of growth for these programs was 25 percent a year.

As parent demand for more individualized, innovative education options grows, more everyday entrepreneurs are stepping up to meet that demand, while finding greater personal and professional satisfaction as school founders. Many of them are former public school teachers like Noble and Hernandez, who grew tired of one-size-fits-all standardized schooling and wanted to create an alternative. According to its 2024 sector analysis, the National Microschooling Centers estimates that over 70 percent of today’s microschool founders are current or former licensed educators.

Critics of the ESA program argue that it diverts much-needed funds from public schools, exacerbating inequities within the education system. Proponents, however, see it as a vital tool for empowering parents and ensuring that children receive an education that meets their unique needs. For families like those at Noble’s and Hernandez’s microschools, the ESA program has been nothing short of transformative.

As the educational landscape shifts, microschools represent a growing movement towards localized, individualized education, offering a lifeline to students who might otherwise fall through the cracks of a conventional system. The success of microschools is a testament to the power of innovation in education and a sign that the future of learning may look very different from the past.