Hoping to lure families back to public schools, Wichita launches K-6 microschool experiment

The Wichita school district is launching an experimental microschool in hopes of luring back some families that have left public schools.

The new Creative Minds program features a one-room schoolhouse approach, with about 20 students from kindergarten through sixth grade learning from one teacher.

It is housed at the for-profit Learning Lab space inside Union Station downtown — an education collaborative with ties to Wichita-based Koch Inc.

District officials revealed the program during a special school board meeting recently, after quietly developing it behind the scenes.

Its inaugural class includes about 15 children who were recruited from area families that had already left public schools or were considering it.

“This classroom is kind of invite-only, or word-of-mouth,” said Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld. “We didn’t want to go super public and then have everyone say, ‘What about this? What about this?’

“Really, we’re just trying it. … This is like educational research and development.”

The district will pay Learning Lab $6,000 a year to rent space. It will not provide transportation or meals for students attending the school.

District spokeswoman Susan Arensman said there were still a few spaces available in the program, and the school’s website points families to an “interest in enrollment” form.

But it’s unclear whether or how district officials would select more students for this academic year. Classes began at the K-6 school on Wednesday.

Rob Dickson, Wichita’s chief information officer, said Education Imagine Academy — the district’s online school — became hugely popular during and after the COVID pandemic. He said the virtual-school program — as well as a recent exodus of students from public schools — illustrates that families are looking for something different for their children.

Kansas public schools have lost about 16,000 students over the past four years. Many went to private schools or homeschools. Others went to so-called microschools or co-ops — a hybrid model of learning that’s catching on across the nation.

“We targeted those families to find out, ‘All right, what was it? What was the reason you exited Wichita public schools?’” Dickson said. “‘Could we … entice you to come back, and what would that look like?’”

District leaders are calling Creative Minds a “vertical classroom,” which means children won’t be divided into traditional grade levels. But they still will be tested on district and state standards, the superintendent said, and will take all the required Kansas assessments.

The microschool will have a home-base classroom inside the Learning Lab. Students also will have access to the Learning Lab’s common areas, including a kitchen, STEM lab, podcast studio and outdoor patio.

Learning Lab opened last fall on the second floor of Union Station. Stand Together, a philanthropic organization founded by Koch Inc. CEO Charles Koch, partnered with California-based Khan Lab School to develop the collaborative.

The Wichita site houses Khan Lab School Wichita, the first expansion of Sal Khan’s project outside of California, as well as Guiding Light Academy, a K-8 virtual school and microschool hybrid that partners with the Buhler school district.

Learning Lab also offers memberships and day passes for home schools and microschools to use its spaces and equipment. Wichita Independent Secular Educators, a local homeschool community, meets several times a week at the downtown Wichita space.

Learning Lab director Lydia Hampton says the company wants educators to rethink how students learn.

“The goal … is to help education overall move from a one-size-fits-all to more personalized options,” Hampton said. “Our hope here is that we can shine a light and provide opportunities that let people try things at a more low-risk situation, and then people can see what’s possible.”

Wichita district leaders say they plan to watch the pilot project closely and collect feedback from parents and others. If it’s successful, they could consider expanding it or creating new and different microschools.

Hampton, the Learning Lab director, approached Wichita school officials more than a year ago to talk about possibilities at the new space. She said she admires educators who are willing to explore new ways to reach children and families.

“It’s a little bit of creative destruction in action,” she said “They recognize that our society is changing, that parents and families want something different. They could have either stepped out and said, ‘Nope,’ or they could lean into the discomfort and do something about it.”

For the Wichita district, anything that brings families back to public schools will mean an enrollment bump and more state funding. But Bielefeld, the superintendent, said the new partnership is about more than money.

“My hope would be that we’re always looking to the future to see: What do kids and families want and desire?” he said. “And making sure we are that opportunity for those families.”

This story is shared from KMUW through the Wichita Journalism Collaborative, a coalition of 11 newsrooms and community groups, including The Wichita Eagle.