A new facility recently opened in Boulder City that puts a little twist on traditional education.
In early August, EmpowerEd Leaders opened its doors to children in kindergarten through eighth grade at 1028 Wyoming Street.
Founders Jamie Haynes and Amy Higley, both former teachers at Andrew J. Mitchell Elementary School, said they were excited to bring the microschool concept to the town where they grew up.
“Being a parent and a public school teacher, I didn’t really have a lot of options,” Haynes said. “Our school staff is great, but the district is just making choices that don’t support our kids to the best of our ability. I was pushed away.”
Higley agreed.
“We wanted to find a different way to educate children that was most effective for families and children,” she said.
EmpowerEd Leaders has 36 children and already has a waiting list. Nearly half of these students were from public or private schools, and the rest were homeschooled. What’s even more unique is that we’re open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fridays are reserved for field trips, special projects, and tutoring.
Each room in the current location separates children into different class groups, as well as rooms dedicated to crafts, computers, and a library. While Haynes, Higley, and teacher’s assistants work with the children, there is also plenty of independent learning. They said microschools come in many forms, including private schools, charter schools, tutoring centers and homeschool co-ops.
“We’ve been thinking about this for several years,” Higley said. “But it really started happening this spring.”
When asked how difficult it was to start from scratch, both men laughed.
“I was looking, hoping something might happen,” Higley said. “We were fortunate in that everything worked out well, and we were able to be part of a nonprofit organization that would fund the renovation of this space.”
“We wanted a space where families felt safe and trusted us to help their children learn in the best possible environment,” Haynes added.
This school year, word of what they were doing quickly spread through social media and word of mouth. An open house was also held, and there was a lot of interest from parents. And because they both worked at Mitchell, some parents and students knew them well. In addition to the fact that they were born and raised in Boulder City, they know both the community and its residents. That being said, we agreed that starting something completely new was hubris for both us and our parents.
“Everything worked out exactly as we hoped,” Haynes said. “It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.”
Although the school hours are only four hours a day, they said that’s still enough time for the children to learn what they need. This will give you more time to spend at home with your family and do other activities and sports.
“It’s not difficult to get everything done in that amount of time,” Higley said. “By the end of the day, they are mostly done and are working on other projects.”
Parents of children there say many still like the homeschool atmosphere, but that it allows them to be more social with their peers. School safety and class content also became an issue.
“We decided that if we don’t do this now (in Boulder City), someone else will,” Haynes said. “So we went for it. I’d also like to thank our parents for their courage. We couldn’t have done this without them.”
So how did microschools come to be? While not necessarily a new concept, they have grown in popularity during and after the pandemic, according to a 2022 article on edchoice.org.
“The gradual closure of schools over the past two years has caused families to think differently about K-12 education,” the report said. “School responses to the pandemic have shown that the public school system’s traditional one-size-fits-all model does not work for everyone. , warmed people to the idea that families need different models of education.”
Additionally, “Microschools, also known as learning pods, are a reimagining of the one-room schoolhouse, with class sizes typically less than 15 students of various ages, and schedules and curriculum tailored accordingly.” Ta. Meet the needs of each class. ”
Ron Eland is the editor of Boulder City Review. Contact him at reland@bouldercityreview.com or 702-586-9523.
