A Brave Space Where All are Welcome: 5 Questions for Ellemercito's Lizette Valles

Ellemercito Academy is an independent microschool founded in 2021 with the simple goal of providing students with a living, highly tailored, and transformative education. Each student's academic and social-emotional development holds equal value and a holistic, trauma-informed, and experiential learning approach is taken to meet individual needs. Educating students both in a relevant and meaningful manner coupled with an engaging, project and place-based model is at the core of who we are. We provide a small teacher to student ratio, individualized learning plans for all students, exceptionally personalized, differentiated instruction, and unique field trip/world schooling opportunities that all focus on student-centered learning. 

As a former private school teacher and K-12 librarian with a master’s degree in education, Valles founded Ellemercito Academy to restore connection, curiosity, and joy in learning. Located in Los Angeles, CA, the microschool serves K-12 students and emphasizes a decentralized approach to education, an appreciation of nature, and the empowering belief that education happens in community both inside (and more frequently) beyond the classroom walls.

What is one unique (or uncommon) feature of your microschool experience your learners and families tell you they especially value?

Experiential learning is of utmost importance at Ellemercito Academy. We value a living education that transcends the classroom and allows for students to have real-world experiences. Opportunities for students to engage intellectually, creatively, emotionally, socially, and physically are in abundance! We have intentionally set aside nature and field trip days bi-weekly for our students. Partaking in immersive experiences, reflecting, and synthesizing what has been learned/appreciated is  part of our school culture that our families truly appreciate! From sobering moments such as Zooming with a Holocaust survivor and learning about systemic injustices to enjoying equine therapy and learning aerodynamics through indoor skydiving, our students experience a wide range of real-world interactions unlike any other learning experience they’ve ever had! 

What is one favorite aspect of your work that would have been especially difficult to deliver in traditional school settings?

The flexibility of building an authentic community, creating and implementing custom tailored learning plans using a proprietary blend of curated curriculum and strategies, being student-centered, connection-driven, holistic, and free to preserve childhood and nurture adolescence are just a few of the aspects that are not possible in a traditional school setting. Relational teaching and learning happens when mutual respect is earned and students know and believe that we are for them! We’re able to offer an extension of a family-like environment that transforms the lived experience of what it means to be educated.

Share a story about what success looks like in your microschool! No need to name specific children, but stories of thriving are always welcomed!

Success at Ellemercito means nurturing students who think critically, develop a growth mindset, and demonstrate empathy. When a student moves from a place of judgment and fear to love and acceptance of others, that is a win! We have delved quite significantly into trauma-informed teaching and seeing the social-emotional progress of our students has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of this out-of-system model. We can discuss implicit biases and help our students reflect on how they view themselves and the world. This reflection paves the way for deeper connections and friendships that might otherwise not take place. By broadening their understanding of themselves and others, students are able to more fully engage in their one wildly messy and beautiful existence!

What is one piece of advice you give new microschool founders?

The work that you (we as a microschool community) are doing is hard and holy work. There will be days that feel as though this is an experiment and the temptation to return to the status quo is real. That former place may not have been fulfilling, but at the very least, it was more predictable. On days like that, don’t give in. The work we’ve embarked on is breaking generational cycles, and we are trailblazers in our own right. We meet in warehouses, churches, homes, community centers, parks, and so many other places. We teach, mentor, inspire, learn, unlearn, adventure, discover, and transform the way education is experienced. We connect and move past our fears and we inspire the next generation of world changers to dream big and take action. We don’t settle for standardized ways of being, and we will never fit the mold. We were never meant to and that is what makes what we’re doing worth it! You have a vision that our kids need. You have a vision that our world needs. Run with it! I’m cheering you on and so are the many other founders who have taken this life-changing step!

Please describe one facet of your microschool’s experience that you’d like people to think of when your microschool comes up in conversation.

Ellemercito is a brave space where all learners are welcome and adventure is expected! We are curious explorers at heart, inquisitive problem solvers, and tenacious thinkers who will learn anywhere and everywhere! We are a small but mighty school where each person is seen, known, and heard because we are a family!