Schools should be designed as welcoming spaces, tailor-made for each student, so they feel a sense of belonging and excitement for the day ahead.
Instead, many kids feel like guests in someone else’s space. Students are expected to show up, do the work, and figure out how to fit in.
Some kids can acclimate to the system. Unfortunately, many don’t.
But if we changed every child’s experience? What if they walked into school each morning and thought, “This place feels like me.”
As superintendent of the Eastern Hancock schools in Indiana, I do a lot of talking to students. I hear the same story over and over again.
Some students describe feeling rushed or disconnected, as if school sometimes moves faster than they can keep up. Others say that even when they’re learning and growing, they don’t always feel successful. These reflections point to something many students experience at some point in their education—that school doesn’t reflect how they learn, what they value, or who they’re becoming.
It’s not because teachers don’t care—they care deeply. And it’s not because families aren’t trying—they are. But the structure we all work within was built for a different era, one that valued uniformity over individuality. For students whose strengths or needs fall outside the traditional mold, school can sometimes feel like something happening to them instead of something they’re actively part of.
My local school board and I noticed a growing number of families choosing to home school. As we looked more closely, we realized this reflected a national trend. Instead of trying to persuade families to return, we decided to listen. We met with parents who had chosen home schooling to understand why.
Many were thriving and loved the freedom home schooling offered. Others shared that they weren’t necessarily committed to home schooling itself; they just wanted something different from the traditional public school experience, and home school was the only available option.
When enrollment opened, 38 students signed up in the first 24 hours and more than 50 by the end of the week.
What we learned ultimately led to the creation of the Indiana Microschool Collaborative. As a statewide public charter school, IMC serves as a hub for a network of intentionally small, flexible learning sites—microschools—designed to personalize learning while remaining entirely within the public system. The collaborative operates independently under its own board, but I continue to serve as superintendent of Eastern Hancock while also overseeing IMC as part of my role. The two entities work together closely, and two members of the Eastern Hancock school board also serve on the IMC board.
The first collaborative site opened this fall at Nameless Creek in Hancock County, serving 63 students across the K-12 grade span. When enrollment opened, 38 students signed up in the first 24 hours and more than 50 by the end of the week, prompting the IMC board to raise the cap from 50 to 60 students. We later added a few siblings and now have a wait list of 30.
The school’s design began with teachers. Our founding teacher worked with expert curriculum designers and partners to build a strong academic foundation and a project-based framework. Because the community is small, the feedback loops are tight. Teachers, families, and students regularly shape the experience as it evolves.
Each day is divided between personalized learning and project-based work. In the mornings, students work on core academic skills at their own pace, earning digital badges—similar to scouting badges—to mark their progress. The afternoons focus on hands-on projects, many of which are designed with support from Project Lead the Way that connect learning to real-world problems. There’s also plenty of time for play, both structured and unstructured, including sports and outdoor games, as well as exploration in the woods around the campus, which also serves as a summer camp.
Funding comes through Indiana’s public per-student funding formula, the same as any traditional school. We’re the first publicly funded network of microschools in the country. Eastern Hancock helps manage the back-office operations, finance, payroll, compliance, and special education coordination, so teachers and staff at the new school can focus on students.
Our goal isn’t to replace traditional schools but to expand the possibilities of public education. Eastern Hancock continues to run its three traditional schools, but the demand for our microschool shows that families want more choice and flexibility within the public system.
The Indiana Microschool Collaborative team is now in conversation with several other districts interested in launching microschools in their own communities. Each one would look a little different, but all would share the same vision—to ensure every student attends a school that feels like it was designed just for them, because it was.
This personalized approach to learning isn’t unique to Indiana; it’s part of a growing national movement to make school more human. Innovative educators everywhere are experimenting with flexible schedules, student-led exhibitions, interdisciplinary projects, and work-based learning that connects school to real life.
Redesigning education for the individual doesn’t demand a new building or the perfect curriculum. If you ask students, “What would school look like if it were designed just for you,” you’ll hear ideas, dreams, frustrations, and the beginnings of a better way. From there, schools can construct new approaches to personalized learning, whether that’s job-readiness programs in collaboration with local businesses, project-based learning that reflects students’ interests, or personalized pathways that meet them where they are.
Because when kids believe school is made for them, they show up differently. They try harder, take pride, and care.
And in the end, isn’t that what every great school is really trying to do?
