by Ken Danford | Dec 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
On Tuesday, November 26, North Star staff and teens conducted the 29th Bake-a-thon, making pies for the Amherst Survival Center’s Community Thanksgiving meal. We continue to value our alliance with that important local organization. Many of you may have received the...
by Ken Danford | Oct 8, 2024 | self-directed learning
A Message for Potential Founders and Starters of New Microschool Programs in ESA States! I have attended several conferences in the past year and I am encouraged by the range of people and groups offering start-up coaching to teachers and parents interested in joining...
by Ken Danford | Apr 7, 2024 | self-directed learning
Last week the New York Times encroached on our turf with news articles and a podcast episode announcing that for many families, “school feels optional” since the pandemic. The reporters focus on the serious increase of “chronic absenteeism” at public schools, which...
by Ken Danford | Jan 31, 2024 | self-directed learning
Last week was National School Choice Week, and I attended a School Choice Fair in Manchester, New Hampshire to see if I could find some people interested in starting Liberated Learners programs in the Granite State. New Hampshire offers Education Freedom Accounts to...
by Ken Danford | Dec 21, 2023 | self-directed learning
It’s official! We are honored to announce that Liberated Learners has received a grant of $100,000 from Stand Together Trust to help people start centers using our approach in states offering public funding. We are grateful, excited, and eager to see what we can do...
by Ken Danford | Nov 24, 2023 | self-directed learning
North Star still publishes a printed newsletter to share the stories of our members, and this month we are featuring the story of Emile Marti. Emile has been a very active member of North Star over the past few years: hiking, cooking, the Ozzy Klate Memorial Fund...
by Aaron Damon-Rush | Oct 20, 2023 | self-directed learning
Welcome back to our alumni spotlight series! North Star is now in its 28th year, and we have more than 600 alumni who have gone on to do all sorts of weird and wonderful things. This series will be a chance to check in with some of those folks and talk to them about...
by Aaron Damon-Rush | Oct 10, 2023 | self-directed learning
New! Monthly guest blog post from North Star Alumni Coordinator Aaron Damon-Rush. Aaron is checking in with lots of alumni, and is generating updates he would like to post. Aaron and I agree that using this blog is a fine platform to do so! I aim to post twice...
by Ken Danford | Oct 4, 2023 | Uncategorized
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Emerging School Models conference hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The main theme was sharing the enormous growth of microschools since the pandemic, and the influence of Education Savings Accounts on...
