On November 15 - 17, the National Microschooling Center held our annual team retreat. We were fortunate to stay at Lone Rock Retreat in Colorado, which provides retreat space and lodging specifically for education related organizations. With the mountains as our backdrop we spent three days charting the path forward, both for the Center and for each of us as leaders of the microschooling movement.
The Retreat was gorgeous, with hiking, hot spring hot tubs, saunas, firepits, and so many more luxurious amenities, but they were largely untouched until after 8pm, as we worked nonstop to make the most of our time together in-person. My husband was incredulous when I told him that day 2 found us working from 9am-7pm (with meal breaks!), and he was especially dubious when I told him that it didn’t even feel like work! The conversations flowed so organically from one topic to the next, with every person in the room feeling passionate and motivated on figuring out how we could best work to not only continue building on the microschool movement, but also how to support our Center members who are right there with us.
We had sessions to dig into the vision and purpose of the Microschooling Center, led by Jeff Proctor of Stand Together Trust. He helped us to envision ourselves on the team, and discover next steps that would maintain both motivation and momentum. We are so grateful for his time, his analogies, and his humor throughout the retreat. We also had sessions wherein we dug into our own purpose within the Center, the Center’s purpose as a whole, and where we all saw things going for this coming year. It was motivating, it brought some passionate tears, laughter, and thoughts, and overall it made us a stronger team for our Microschool Members.
Members of the National Microschooling Center are fortunate not just to have our online resources, but also field coordinators with expertise in a multitude of areas and disciplines. Spanish speaking or bilingual schools can benefit from support in translated documents, surveys, and meetings with our Spanish speaking Field Coordinator, Darla. Native communities have a resource as well! Not just languages are supported, but we also have a literacy specialist, rural community support, black founder support, teacher training opportunities, and more. For more generalized support, we also have Coordinators that host meetings for new members, school founders, or pre-launch schools. During our retreat, many of the coordinators began finding more areas in which they felt both passionate and skilled, so the new year will bring many other specialized trainings and support opportunities.
Perhaps even more energizing was that It’s not just our passion and expertise for what is available to microschools now, but what we are seeing on the horizon. The Center team is excited to work together to create more opportunities for supporting rural schools and communities, becoming conversant in all of the new legislation in the works, and supporting the creation of new microschools in the public school sector. Not just that, but as the movement for ESA funding continues, we are working hard to help schools in states both with and without funding to figure out how best to structure their budgeting for long term financial sustainability.
With the microschool movement on a continual growth trajectory, our work is rooted in supporting schools and founders who are in the thick of this movement, and we are so excited to be with them on these journeys!
Walking away from the retreat both energized and strengthened in purpose and direction, it wasn’t hard to feel how fortunate in these modern times to have fast internet connections and Zoom capabilities, allowing our work to span the continent and truly be National. However, a retreat that gives us a few days away from family and school responsibilities and allows us to be fully present for one another and the work we do with the National Microschooling Center is truly beneficial. We walked away with new bonds, vision and purpose, and I look forward to all that the National Microschooling Center will accomplish this year with our members!