The Center's Lone Rock Retreat

This November, thirteen members of the National Microschooling Center team came together at Lone Rock Retreat in Baily, Colorado. The theme of the event was Uncharted in recognition of the microschool leaders across the country who are blazing their own trails through the educational frontier that is microschooling. This gathering was much more than a Center team meeting or staff retreat. As many states and communities as possible were represented by the Center’s field coordinators. What’s more, everyone in attendance has founded a microschool, and most still lead the microschools they founded.   

Though the hours were long and the work heavy, Lone Rock was the perfect place to stimulate the thoughtful, constructive conversations needed to understand the struggles and triumphs that microschools have seen in each state. I was equal parts impressed and empowered by the passion that my teammates have for microschools in their communities. Whether our small groups were working in comfy nooks throughout the lodge or our whole team was gathered for a meal, it felt fitting that the uplifting stories of our nation’s microschools were being shared at over 8,000 feet elevation. Some stories truly took my breath away – or maybe that was just because of the lower oxygen levels! 

As we dissected the Center’s latest Sector Analysis Report, analyzed ways that we could learn from other movements, and laid out goals for how we can best support the microschools and communities we all represent, the air was charged with hope and determination. In fact, one of my favorite quotes of the trip spoke to that very determination, from the Center’s Chief Innovation Officer Ashley Soifer: 

I love how everyone who chose to write about barriers to microschooling just wrote about how they were going to knock them down instead of how the barriers would prevent microschools from thriving. 

Especially working in my state, West Virginia, with the Hope Scholarship ESA program, the many conversations between team members about working with state leaders to ensure that microschools have access to school choice funds like ESAs and vouchers will be one of the topics that most informs our work this coming year.

Also, learning from other states and leaders about how they connect to and engage their communities to support microschools and talk about them in a positive light represented another essential area this retreat proved informative.

Even though our Center team definitely made the most noise while we were there, we weren’t alone in our work. We were lucky enough to be joined by Jeff Proctor from Stand Together. Not only did Stand Together serve as one of this event’s generous funders, but Jeff also led us through some fantastic sessions to help us keep our mission – building and supporting a healthy microschooling movement across the nation – front and center. We also had the amazing hospitality of the Lone Rock team to support us in our work. Everything from the view to the food was spectacular. They truly set the bar very, very high on that mountain.