Fifteen schools. One Shared Purpose: Reimagining What Learning Can Look Like
Written By: Adam Lavallee, Associate Vice President, Middle States Association | Published December 8th 2025
In November, the Middle States Association accredited 15 microschools as part of our Next Generation Accreditation pilot. These schools might not have fit within a traditional accreditation model, yet they meet every one of MSA’s existing standards.
How? Through innovative models, adaptable practices, and deep purpose.
Back in October, I visited five of them across Tennessee. Here’s what I saw:
In the basement of a founder’s home, elementary students sprawled out on a carpet working through phonics lessons, while a few feet away, three middle schoolers debated the economic definition of “utility.”
Another school looked like any elementary school on the surface, but as I observed, new details came into focus: these were mixed-age classrooms; they contained half the number of students you’d expect; and the school’s budget was less than a quarter than that of a typical elementary school.
My journey next brought me to a school on a working farm. Its 10 students were on individualized pathways, but at the particular moment of my visit a 6th and 10th grader were debating the merits of an unreliable narrator. Meanwhile, another group was drafting new short story interpretations.
Yet another school was brand-new and six students strong. The school leader was iterating daily with the help of AI tools to keep costs below the state’s school-choice fund threshold, and free for families, while pushing each student to the edge of their learning zone.
Last, in rural Tennessee, a founder had started a school for students who felt they didn’t fit in a conventional classroom. I saw 1st graders learning to read alongside 4th graders learning to write persuasively. But most importantly, every student was seen, safe, and encouraged to take learning risks. Next door, older students explored physics by designing amusement park rides– a fitting close to what felt like a true tilt-a-whirl through education.
Across every school, I noticed certain constants:
Physically, emotionally, and intellectually safe spaces for students;
Learning that was rarely linear, but always centered on the learner; and
Schools created not in competition with existing models, but in partnership with families.
Experiencing these schools up close reinforced something I deeply believe: the educational evolution doesn’t mean breaking away from conventional practices, but expanding edges to support and include every kind of learner.
