Microschools pop up in St. Louis as alternatives to virtual school | Education
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Marcella Enloe, 5, left, and Duke Daniel, 5, right, practice writing the letter F during class at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Kindergarten class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Rachel Pavelka talks to her Kindergarten class at the beginning of their school day at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Kindergarten class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Kindergarten students’ backpacks hang in their cubbies during class at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Jase Gambill, 5, left, asks Duke Daniel, 5, if it is his turn to sit in the rocking chair during class at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Kindergarten class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Anthony Hargraves, 6, reads a book during class at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Kindergarten class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Rachel Pavelka holds the door for her students as they leave the classroom for recess at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Kindergarten class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Anthony Hargraves, 6, center, laughs as Jase Gambill, 5, throws a ball at him during recess at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Kindergarten class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Marcella Enloe, 5, practices writing the letter F during class at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Kindergarten class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Anthony Hargraves, 6, left, and Marcella Enloe, 5, grab their pencil boxes from their cubbies during class at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The Kindergarten class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Charlotte Boothe, 5, asks her Kindergarten teacher, Rachel Pavelka, how to write the letter F during class at Mercy Co-Worker Children’s Center-South in Concord on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The class can hold ten students and there are currently six enrolled. Microschools are popping up around St. Louis for students, and this class is open to hospital staff and community members’ children. Photo by Cheyenne Boone, [email protected]
Michelle Schramm had a long-term goal to open her own school with small classes and hands-on learning. That goal became more urgent when most schools closed down in March and moved online.
“The pandemic was the catalyst,” Schramm said. “There are skills that just can’t be taught through a computer.”
Discovery Micro-school opened Tuesday in the former school at St. Bernadette Catholic Church near Jefferson Barracks. There are five students enrolled in each of two classrooms, one with kindergarten through second grade and the other for third through fifth grades. Tuition is $235 per week, with some flexibility. The maximum enrollment this year is set at 20 students.
Schramm, 39, is certified in early childhood education and previously taught kindergarten and first grade. Her son is a fifth grader at the microschool, which she plans to keep open even after most students return to classrooms.
While St. Louis County officials said Wednesday that schools could start bringing back elementary students, most school districts in the area have committed to virtual learning for at least the first quarter of the year.
Microschools were developed before the coronavirus struck, but they are perfectly suited for small class sizes and social distancing. They are the 21st century version of the one-room schoolhouse — typically 10 or fewer students in a mixed-age classroom. The private schools offer personalized education and mostly eschew standardized testing and textbooks.
