What is a Microschool? (Part 2a): Starting One

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:25):
Well hello, okay, just myself. Hello, Hello everyone, it's your girl, Gabrielle.
Welcome to a brand new episode of Hot Topics. Let
me tell you what this podcast is about. So this
show is think of it like a like a deep

(00:47):
dive educational type programming, so to speak. So we like
to have real talk about real teens as it is
I like to say, and in my trinidadi and twang
tings not things. So yes, real talk about real things

(01:08):
here on Hot Topics. As we are a part of
my company A step Ahead tutoring Services, we stay within
a particular scope. So we've done episodes about homeschooling, we've
done episodes about AI, we've done we just did an
episode about chronic illness. So we want you to be

(01:34):
more knowledgeable and more informed than how you were the
day before, and today is no different. So I am
looking forward to this conversation. So this is a continuation
of a previous thread. But there's a particular direction that

(01:54):
I am going to go and let me say what
that is. So that brings me to the topic of
today's episode, which is what is a micro school? So
this is part two of that conversation. What is a
micro school, but we are going to focus specifically on

(02:17):
starting one. Uh So we are going to talk about
starting a micro school today. But this is a continuation
of what is a micro school? So make sure you
guys check out part one in our catalog. But yeah,
so that is our focus for today. And my guest
who is going to help me out. She is new

(02:39):
to the show, new to the hot seat. So her
name is Shartajia right fits you and let me tell
you about her. So who is she? Who is Shartaji? Right?
Fits you? Well, let me tell you. So she goes
by Taji and she is a ted X speaker, a

(03:00):
STEM educator and founder of Kidmistry, an educational consulting firm
helping schools and teachers close opportunity gaps through innovation and equity.
A former science teacher, district leader, and co founder of
a personalized learning middle school, she knows firsthand what it
takes to reimagine education from the inside outs. Through her platform,

(03:26):
Taji the Teacher's Teacher, she equips new educators with practical
tools and culturally responsive strategies that transform wait what moments
into powerful aha breakthroughs in the classroom. So Taji holds
a BS in biology from Texas Southern University and dual

(03:47):
master's degrees from Southern Methodist University and STEM Education and
Urban School Leadership. She's on a mission to ensure that
every child, regardless of zip code, gets to access agency
and real world skills to thrive. Whether she's coaching teachers,
speaking on stages, or building micro school models rooted injustice,

(04:11):
Taji leads with purpose, faith and fire. Beautiful. All right,
So without further ado, I'm gonna go ahead and bring
her to this stage. Hello, Taji, how's it going?

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Hi there? How you doing? Thank you so much for
having me, Dabby.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Thank you for coming on. So we met a couple
months ago, I believe at like a networking event about
micro schools, and I wanted to keep in touch with you,
So thank you for coming on. So I'm sure a

(04:51):
lot of people want to know, especially a lot of educators.
How how do you arts micro school? Where do you begin?
So let's let's jump right into that. So what's yeah,
how do you even start a micro school?

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Being crazy and ambitions? I don't even want to say that.
I'll just say everything is geared to your purpose and
I'm an educator. I have been into schools for over
a decade. I'm an educator at heart, and it really
just there was this quick awakening in my spirit that

(05:32):
I feel like it's important for us to provide some
options for our kids, right for our families. And so,
you know, since COVID, a lot of parents are now
exploring different options of what micro schooling and what schooling
could look like. It is no longer that traditional classroom
with twenty something kids. Now it is turning into options,

(05:56):
it's turning into personalization, it's turning to additional support and
opportunities for different families who have very diverse needs. And
away for me to truly answer that question, I would
say it started with my family, me becoming a mom
and seeing why it is important for us to begin

(06:18):
the work of creating personalized learning for students and utilizing
the skills that I have acquired as a public school teacher,
and understanding why it's important for us to cultivate all
of those skills coming together and creating something new that's
going to be meaningful for many, many families. So I'm

(06:38):
super excited about the work, and I know for sure
that micro schooling is not starting for me, it did
not start in twenty twenty. Micro school has historically started
when there was a need, and some publications would tell
you that it started in nineteen eighties, some publications will
tell you that it started in the early two thousand,

(07:00):
but honestly, micro schooling has been a thing since the
reconstruction era, post slavery, where there was a need. We
had African Americans who were wanting to read and wanted
to know how to read and be more literate, and
so there was a small group some teachers got together,

(07:21):
gathered a few African Americans together and taught them how
to read in the micro school.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's that's amazing. So there's a the fact that it
has that because I'm thinking it started in COVID, but
it actually started much farther than that, and even and
even has uh roots and slavery absolutely.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
And it was so interesting about it is that you
may see it in the tech blogs as if it's
some new phenomena, but that's not true. A lot of
people and I'll just say in particular, this is just
from the work from doctor Carita Brown from the Battle
of the Black Mind. She reminds us that micro school
started with African American women leading the charge to make

(08:11):
sure that people African Americans who were enslaved have an
opportunity to learn how to become literate and read. So
it started as a revolutionaryther It started as an opportunity
to gather people around and teach them a skill that's
going to help them to get further in life. And

(08:32):
its micro school has definitely evolved, but it's been around
for a long time, and I think we're all coming
back to that right now and being able to address
some of the individual and diverse needs of the families
from that perspective.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
So how micro school's got on my radar was so
I do this virtual event every year about homeschooling and
one of the attendees that came asked about micro schools.
So I didn't know what that was, and from how

(09:10):
it was explained by one of the by the panelists,
it's this new wave of homeschooling, and that's how I
came across it. And maybe like several months later, I,
you know, one of my former guests on the show,

(09:30):
she talked about micro schools and I was like, oh,
So how it came to me was because I'm always
trying to keep up to date on homeschooling. It's this
new wave of of homeschooling, but in learning about it,

(09:51):
it's more complicated than that.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
So yeah, it can definitely be a little bit more complicated. Say,
there's this term called personalized learning where a lot of
those things are tied into the idea of micro schooling.
Right where there may be a micro school for neurodivergent
students only, there may be a micro school for boys,

(10:18):
may be a micro school that only focuses on STEM so,
but they are providing all of these different modalities accustomed
to the individual needs of the students that's in that
particular room. So it might be where we create a playlist,
right where I have a student who may need assistance

(10:39):
in reading, So in their playlist, they may have more
resources that's going to help them become a little bit
more phonetically sound and more aligned to them growing in
their reading. Whereas in the same room, I may have
a student who needs supporting math, so their playlist is
going to be accustomed to more mathematical support so that

(11:00):
they can meet their individual goals. So it's based on
whatever the individual learning goals are for the kids. In
the room. Therefore, it requires it to be a smaller setting,
and that's what makes it more successful because it is
almost like having a tailored suit, but for learning according
to whatever the individual needs or the nooks and crannies

(11:21):
of their students' needs and their learning, you'll be able
to provide a solution for that in the same space
with other kids.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
All right, So let's get into that. So what how is?
How is a micro school setup? So can you talk
about the setup of a micro school?

Speaker 2 (11:42):
Absolutely? So genuinely. Generally, it would be like a one room,
one stop shop. Okay, So it'll be one classroom. It'll
also have if you have upper levels, it be technology
in that classroom because technology allows us to be able
to personalize the learning by using various platforms. You may

(12:05):
have a student who is let's say, for instance, if
it's like a homeschool setting, you may have a middle
school where you have some kids or in the sixth grade,
some kids are in the seventh grade, and some kids
are in the eighth grade, but they're all going to
this one micro school in the same classroom, and the
teacher is able to kind of like rotate and do
small groups or meeting with the individual students based on

(12:27):
the grade levels or where their skill level is, and
to provide that ongoing support throughout the day. So it
might be where they are starting off with a learner playlist,
while sixth grade is working on a learner playlist, seventh
grade is actually pulling a small group and vice versa.
And so you're able to kind of work create a
schedule where you're working out the personalization in that room.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Sorry, when you say playlist, what do you mean?

Speaker 2 (12:55):
So just kind of like if you're listening to your
own music and you got your music at the beginning
of the day, and then you may start off with
praise and worship, ended with praise and worship or whatever.
So a playlist is pretty much kind of like a
set of tasks that's going to help that student meet
their particular learning goals for that particular day. So a

(13:17):
sort teacher is creating these tasks in like a digital
platform where the students are able to complete those tests
to get closer to their learning goals, and we call
it a playlist.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Ah okay, So now your micro school, how is it
set up?

Speaker 2 (13:36):
So as it pertains to my personal micro school is
for littles. So it is very much aligned to meeting
STEM and literacy and allowing them to kind of like
do all of these things through play and from a
monosaoric perspective. So I served zero to five years and

(13:57):
I'm able to kind of like support them because I
have a science background. That is something that I am
actually implementing in our school where we're creating STEM experience
for little kids.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
And what made you focus on that particular age group?

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Great question. So I am a new mom, right, and
so at first, thank you. So at first it was
I'm a middle school teacher, right, I've taught science all
grade levels and secondary and then I was able to
create those experiences for my kids. But now I have

(14:38):
two littles. I have a ten month old and a
two year old, and I want to continue to provide
them with that support. And so with my son having
individual needs where he is getting receiving speech therapy and
all the things, I am fully aware of the challenges
of our young black boys in particular who are having

(14:59):
hard time I'm becoming literate, right, There's a lot of
illiteracy going on with our black boys, and I want
to make sure that my son is not a part
of that statistic. So me becoming his first teacher and
seeing that he loves reading, and then I'm able to
implement a lot of the STEM and science said I
have a previous background in, but give me that opportunity

(15:21):
to give them a heads up or two steps ahead
to kind of keep them in that place where they're
able to be successful once they transition into full time schooling.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
So now your micro school, because I learned as a
difference between accredited and non accredited, right, so where are
you with that? Are you accredited?

Speaker 2 (15:47):
I'm still going through the processes because our micro school
will launch in August, so you have to kind of
like go through the processes or the necessary steps to
actually become accredited with the state. And so that's what
we're currently working on.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Oh so you already your schools already established, it's just
not accredited.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yet, correct. So we officially launch in August. So our
school launches in August, and a part of that first
year will help us get that accreditation process going.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Oh so I'm confused, So it's it's not launched, it's
not running right now.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
Correct, So we start in August and we will begin
our full time micro school, which is actually kind of
like a childcare perspective. So right now it's set up
like a childcare, but it'll be fully accredited at the
end of the year.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Oh okay, so is it do you? So you don't?
I guess? Let me, how do I act? So you
don't have students? Right right now? Hello?

Speaker 2 (17:07):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (17:08):
I think you froze? Oh okay, give me one second,
you guys, looks like it looks like she froze on me.
Hold on, let's see, give me one second. What second? Ah,

(17:42):
she froze on me? Okay, all right. So while all right,
it's a while I wait for her uh to to
come back, I'll just kind of share what I understand
about micro schools and the way that they're set up.

(18:04):
So the my understanding is that you can so in
terms of you starting a school, you can decide whether
you want to do K through twelve or which is

(18:26):
like all grades here. You can also do a certain subseet.
So as Toddy was talking about, she does zero to
five years old, so she does the the early years,
the early intervention. Some micro schools do middle schoolers so

(18:50):
like six to eight. What else? There might be some
high school micro schools out there, I would think so, right,
So there's certain subsets that a lot of the founders do,
and in her case, it sounds like she does the

(19:11):
early intervention early learning. So in terms of setting up
your own micro school, that might be. So that's one
of the things that you want to decide for yourself,
is do I want to do K through twelve or
do I want to do a certain subset of kids.

(19:34):
So I do have to clarify this, but my understanding
is that if you want to become accredited, meaning recognized
by a government authority that you are a private school,
I believe you have to be it has to be

(19:55):
K through twelve. I'm not sure if they allow subsets.
Have to get back to you on that. I think
my understanding was if you go the accreditation route, which
means that your school will be recognized on the public
stage as a private school, that it has to be
K through twelve. So K through twelve all subjects. I'm

(20:22):
going to get some clarification on that. At least that
was my understanding, but I'm going to get some clarification
on that. So for those of you starting a micro school,
that might be something to consider. So just kind of
going back to the homeschooling aspect. So it came on
my radar because that's although she said that micro schools

(20:49):
have been around for many, many years, it seems like
it kind of just exploded in the past couple of
years on the homeschooling stage. And one second, I think
she's I think she's sending me a message. Hold on, okay,

(21:11):
she's trying to get back in all right. Yes, yeah,
So it seems to have exploded in the homeschooling space
micro schools in the past couple of years. I guess
with all the changes in schools and all that's kind
of going on in current events and in the world,
it seems to have exploded. And honestly, I believe since

(21:32):
COVID and since COVID peaked in twenty twenty, homeschooling really
has exploded, like it really just blown up. So there's
all these different types of options in regards to micro schools.
So micro schools have been around for a very long time,

(21:55):
as I recently learned, but I think now it has
entered well, it's always been around, but I think now
it's making more headway in the public space, particularly when
it comes to to homeschooling. So for those of you
looking to start your own micro school, so this is

(22:17):
I guess think of it like an entrepreneur type thing.
But yeah, so starting a micro school, and again I'm
speaking about this from the knowledge that I know and
kind of speaking about it from an entrepreneur perspective, and
hopefully I'll be corrected later. But but yeah, so starting

(22:42):
a micro school you And again this is assuming you're
not going the accreditation route, which would make you a
private school. So if you don't seek the accreditation route,
then you would be considered a homeschool. So I'm gonna pause.

(23:04):
I just see her pop back and how's it going?

Speaker 2 (23:10):
Sorry about that? I am back.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
I am back. I was just rambling about starting micro
schools and sharing my knowledge. But but yes, so let's
kind of pick up. I I I forgot what I
asked you. So we were talking about accreditation and and launching.
I totally forgot my question. I'm sorry, but let's all right.

(23:37):
So let's let's try a different way. So starting a
micro school, how, well, tell me your plan for the school.
Let's go there. So, what what are you envisioning? What
do you see? What does your micro school look.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Like it's just safe space. It's just safe space for learning,
it's just safe space for exploring and for littles to
be actually doing science experiments, you know, That's what I
want them to be, being able to think deeply about
concepts around them, to build a vocabulary through playing and

(24:14):
doing and increy based learning, and to love reading and
love how to connect the two parts of the brain,
right the part that allows them to be artistic and
to flow and create stories and make connections, and the
parts that think in a very cognitive and experimental way

(24:36):
where they're able to solve problems. And so that's the goal.

Speaker 1 (24:40):
So it sounds like you're just focusing on the sciences
a zero to five correct.

Speaker 2 (24:49):
I really want to make sure that we really address
littles from that level. And the reason being is because
by the age of three, seventy percent of the brain
is developed based on how much a student has been
exposed a little has been exposed to life experiences, and
by five years old, right before pre K, ninety percent

(25:10):
of the brain is developed. And so I want to
make sure that if we get quality instruction in front
of littles who are able to do amazing things at
such a young age, they will truly be able to
make the connections and really be able to use both
sides of their brain and think in a very deep
and intentional way as it pertains to content that they're

(25:34):
going to be exposed to later on and their learning journey.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
So now you're focusing on a specific subject. So now
how would it work for other subjects? Are they going
to go to other micro schools? Are they are parents
expected to supplement that somehow? How's that going to work?

Speaker 2 (25:54):
So for hours, we integrate science and math, and we
also do literacy foundations of literacy, But I want to
think about micro schools from a bigger perspective. I think
there's so many different co ops and options for different parents.
If you get involved into a micro school where it

(26:15):
might be a partnership that that particular micro school may
have with another where they may kind of like interchangeably
have those subjects and go and do social studies on
a Wednesday, or science on a Tuesday and a Thursday,
or something of that nature. It really depends on how
people are modeling and creating these environments for learning. But cognitively,

(26:38):
for the age group that I focused, I'm focused on
I'm not giving them the social studies, math reading, and
which is social studies, math science, reading and language arts
like they would do like in a traditional schedule. Ours
is more integrated through play and from a monossory approach.

(26:58):
So it just depends on like the particular model of
the micro school that a director may have.

Speaker 1 (27:04):
Can you go into more of the monassory approach, I've
I've heard you mentioned it a couple of times. What
is that?

Speaker 2 (27:12):
So? Monosory approach is just teaching kids how to do
things as independent individuals, right, and so you're teaching them
how to be able to cut up their own food
and create, you know, make their snack. You're being able
to clean up the space. Monossory teaches them responsibility and

(27:33):
create this environment where they are committed to maintaining their
community in a certain way and also building independence in
the child. So I think that's extremely important because as
you as a child gained independence, they're more likely to
be able to understand through their tinkering, making mistakes, being

(27:54):
able to learning the new skill it makes it it's
creating new neurons in their and the more neurons that
they have in their brain, it creates signal passageways, and
it allows them to be able to use the you know,
more and more parts of the brain as they're learning
a new skill.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
Mmm, so you are you are really into the sciences?
What what? What do you love about science so much?

Speaker 2 (28:21):
You know? I thought, like, first of all, I love
miss Prism growing up on the Magic School. Yeah, I'm missing,
but you know I'm not. What's so, what's ironic about
this whole situation is that I'm not that science geek nerd,
you know, like the teacher who may have all these
random facts and you just listen to them like, I'm

(28:42):
not that person. But what my superpower has become is
that I know how to break down complex topics and
make them easy to understand and palatable for the learner.
And I believe that as we continue to see the
gaps in our kids and their learning and how they're
assessing these things, we need to be a little bit

(29:02):
more strategic in how we address those learning gaps. Right,
And there's so much science in relation to how a
child learned and how they grasp this different concepts and
brain development that I don't think we've tapped into. But
it has so much correlation to our low reading levels,
especially for black and brown children. It's it's not because

(29:25):
they're not capable, but if they have a parent who's
working a lot and may not necessarily know much about
brain science, then they haven't been exposed to those things
between zero and three because their parents are trying to
make ends meet. But if we're educators who know and
can make those connections about the child's development, and we're
able to bridge that to culturally responsive curriculum, we can

(29:48):
truly make sure that we're closing gaps for our kids
who are black and brown, neurodiversion, rural scholars, everybody. We're
able to close those gaps for them because we are
aware of how to make those things. It seemed complex,
very palatable for the learner and the parents. Mmm.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
So are you, because you brought up black and brown
students several times in this interview, are you specifically targeting them?
Are you is there a racial component to your school? Well?

Speaker 2 (30:26):
I wouldn't say there's a racial component, but what I
what I will say is that if we focus on
the group of students who are having the biggest challenge
in their learning, nine times out of ten, you will
be able to accommodate other students as well. So really
it is strategy. I just lost my ear, Peace, Peace.

(30:47):
I believe it's it's very strategic to talk to be
able to support our students who are from economically disadvantaged areas,
are students who may be dealing with challenges in terms
of neuro divergent and students who may not necessarily have

(31:08):
the best access to thriving programs. If we focus on
that group, then we'll be able to really meet the
mark for everyone. And so that's what personalization can really
be powerful. If we're very strategic about creating those accommodations
for kids who naturally wouldn't have access to them, and

(31:28):
for kids or families who are still trying to navigate
why their student may not necessarily be developing in certain
aspects that they're learning, then we have created a cheat
code to be able to serve all learns. So it's
really a strategy not necessarily focused on a small group
of people or disenfranchised learns.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
Now, I imagine that you're only sticking to your local
area in terms of demographics.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
Well, this depends, honestly. As we continue to grow, we
do have a vision to be able to focus on
or support various different families. I would say that again,
as it pertains to micro schools, they always start with
a vision and a personal story. And my personal connection

(32:20):
is that I've always taught in schools that were probably
that were really struggling. I've always taught in schools who
were that were in the inner city. I've always taught
in schools where they probably have been, like in the
lowest performing in my state. And so a lot of
my advantage point and a lot of the way that
I approach learning has been from that experience. Now, does

(32:45):
that mean that I only can teach students from those
particular areas. Absolutely not. But it does make me a
stronger teacher. So that means that I can go into
any environment, whatever the challenge is, and I'm very malleable
in the way that I'm able to present content, And
so I wouldn't say that I'm focused on those particular areas,

(33:06):
but it does make me a very good teacher to
be able to teach to different needs of students from
all over, from all over the place, you know, or
from all the vantage points.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Right, because even the kids that tend to be in
inner city schools, they're the ones with that tend to
have undiagnosed learning disabilities, for example, or they're the ones
that tend to be falling behind. More so if because

(33:41):
you have that experience with those types of students, because
students in those areas tend have more challenges than students
in let's say more like middle class upper class areas.
Because of their challenges, you're able to gust challenges and
then you take those lessons and you apply it to

(34:03):
your own school.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
Absolutely absolutely. I think what I've been fortunate to have
is a very diverse teacher too. Al kid, I know
how to teach in low resourced areas and I know
then it, and it became very easy for me to
go to an area that had a lot of resources

(34:26):
because I've been able to teach with a little bit
of nothing and still be able to be able to
make an impact. And I think that as education continued
to evolve, a lot of people from my background is
going to really step in and try to see what
could what would it look like if we create micro

(34:46):
schools that attend that meet the needs of various learners. Right, So,
it may be in affluent areas, it might be neurodivergent.
It might be wherever, but in mine in particular, my
expertise comes from a very unique space where I had
to learn how to truly look at this melting pot

(35:07):
in front of me and find very creative ways of
how to get my kids to learn, not knowing what
is going to be in front of me or the
variation of challenges that my kids have experienced, and still
be able to meet the mark. And I think that's
what truly motivates me now as a new micro school director.

Speaker 1 (35:32):
So now when it comes to because I look at
it as starting a business, right because essentially it is
a business at the end of the day. So what
I guess, what made you start the micro school from
a business perspective? Did you was there a need for it?

(35:52):
Was there a lack thereof like what made you started
from a business perspective?

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah, that's a good question. And I think there is
a unique opportunity for families who may not necessarily know
what their options are. And then too, we have some
legislation that has recently passed in the state of Texas
where there's going to be like vouchers and things of

(36:20):
that nature for private schools. Micro schools, homeschooling and all
of that. And so it lends an opportunity for different
families to explore what their options are, especially if they
have students who has not adapted to the public school
space very well or may have like behavioral challenges, or
from my experience, I've had some students who have a

(36:44):
very challenging background, but then they go back into the
public classroom and because they've been behind on so many
different grade levels, and they've been in and out and
it's just really hard for them to adapt back into
a large classroom setting. So again there is a variation
and needs of like what this to look like, and

(37:06):
you know it is it's definitely evolved from since the
pandemic of meeting the variation of needs for the different families.
And I know that there is an opportunity for students
who naturally just will probably drop out if they didn't
have any other options.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
Right, right, right, And it's it's it seems to be
a recurring theme the public schools are feeling the kids,
especially certain types of kids like neuro divergent, the black
and brown kids, right.

Speaker 2 (37:44):
And I do want to clarify that too, is that
I don't want to say that it's all public schools either,
because there's this connection to strategically defunding our public schools.
So it's not that they do not want to support
it is now that because they're being defunded in a
very strategic way, they don't have the opportunity or they

(38:07):
don't have the structures in place to support our students adequately.
And so then they may go to a private school,
and a private school can choose whether or not they
want to take them in or not. They have their
time to do that. And so what's what's interesting about
the situation is that there is an opportunity for families

(38:29):
to explore options. And then two, there are a myriad
of teachers who are more than capable of creating those
options with the type of background that I have, if
they've been in a very intentional way.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
Mmmm. Okay, so you say strategically defunded. What do you
mean by that?

Speaker 2 (38:53):
So when I say it's strategically strategically defunded, I can
really Let's reference Texas for instance, Texas has not increased
the funding per student in public school since twenty twenty,
so since the pandemic, the amount of money that's going
towards individual students in public schools has not increased, okay,

(39:17):
and that money was intentionally held back by our state governor.
So what is happening now, Well, a lot of those
dollars are being re routed to parents who have stollars
in private school and they're able to use the study
of applying their taxes to the local public school. They

(39:39):
have the autonomy to take that money out and apply
that money to whatever private school that they want their
children to attend. And so what does that do? Well,
Number one, it minimizes the support because we no longer
have the Board of Education, excuse me, the Department of Education.

(40:00):
So it is slowly being like defunded as we speak.
Because you have less staff members, you have less resources.
And the Department of Education creates heads It funds headstart programs,
it funds special education programs, before school and after school programs,

(40:21):
it funds lunch school lunch programs. So it is naturally
when you begin to slowly defund in a very strategic
way those particular areas where are most of those resources
actually going to, where they're going to the public schools. Well,
if a public school is in the area, that is

(40:42):
not being a lot of taxes are not being paid
into it, okay, or if it's in the area where
it's a lot of apartments, naturally there's no there's not
a lot of taxes that's going into those public schools
and so it's surrounded by apartments. It's really depending on
the funding that coming from the Department of Education and

(41:02):
the funding that is allotted from the state governor. But
if he's not allocating that money to that space, that
the classrooms are overcrowded, they may have less teachers who
are going to be a special education to provide accommodations
for students, and eventually you're going to have understaffing in
the school, so it will be less of principals or

(41:23):
assistant principles and things of that nature, and more students.
But you're not able to make those accommodations when you
have a strategic defunding of those public schools HM.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
And hence that's where you come in, right. It's because
of the strategic the funding and it's sort of like
the breaking down of the public school system. You know,
it seems to be more moneys being allocated toward these
private schools. So and in a way, it helps your

(42:03):
micro school because by becoming accredited, you will technically be
a private school. So that's your way of helping those
kids that fall through the cracks. Correct, Yeah, yeah, So
is it just you doing the teaching?

Speaker 2 (42:25):
So at this point, yes, it's a small school, so
of course it's just me. But then over time it's
going to evolve and as we continue to grow. I'm
really big on this model of start an away, build anyway,
right and if I wait until the right situation or
the funding or whatever, I'm not going to do it.

(42:47):
So yeah, we're starting small, but we have a vision
to grow and meet the needs of our families as
we continue to grow.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
And how many students are you planning on taking at
a time?

Speaker 2 (43:02):
Well, that's a great question because right now I'm very small.
It's like twelve kids. It's the true of micro school.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
Right, So it's you with twelve kids. That's a lot.
How do you handle that?

Speaker 2 (43:18):
I mean it's a good I mean, you know you
have support, you create environments for staff, you create environments
for you know, being able to do that. But like
I said, as we continue to grow and kind of
like nurture this environment and we'll create more and more
support that will come in and kind of like build
from there for sure.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
Okay, So so you're the only teacher, but you have
other staff members.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
Yes, we have Supportstaf.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
Okay, God, God, God, God good, because I was like,
that's insane. All right? So is it all twelve kids
in one room? Is it sub sections? Is it like
subgroups or is it all? Are the all twelve kids together?

Speaker 2 (44:06):
So right now, all of our kids are together.

Speaker 1 (44:09):
Okay, and you're only focusing on so he said, science, math,
and early literacy. So are you doing it where? Okay?
From well, let me ask you this way, So how

(44:30):
is your day? How your playlist? How is it organized?
So how long is the typical day? How long do
you spend on each subjects? All that jazz?

Speaker 2 (44:41):
So our day starts at seven thirty and ends at
five thirty, and so we have those allotted times, so
we have playtime, breakfast, lunch, and then you know, of
course our nap time and all the things in between.
For sure, but it's very important to make sure that
we address the learning in terms of sciencience and literacy

(45:01):
in both of the in both parts of the day,
every single day.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
So okay, So it's five days a week, like a
regular schedule, seven thirty to five thirty. And then are
you doing like literacy first, then math than science. Is
there a particular order? Is it times all day? Literacy
all day? What's the order? Like?

Speaker 2 (45:26):
Well, like I said, we make sure that the kids
have time to kind of like play and structure where
we have our breakfast lunch and our breakfast lunch and
snacks within the day. And then we have like our
literacy moments in addition to our science experiments and being
able to tinker with different experiences. But I would love

(45:46):
to share more of that. You can go to our website.
You go to kidmistry dot com and you'll be able
to get a tour. Any parents who may be interested
in that. You're more than welcome to learn more about
what that could look like for your scholars.

Speaker 1 (46:00):
Okay, okay, so okay, so where do you see So
let's look to the future now, So where do you
see your school in ten years?

Speaker 2 (46:15):
Wow? Honestly I had I actually had to grapple with
that a few days ago because I was like, okay,
looking at our our two year plan, five year plan,
I would say that in ten years we were probably.

(46:36):
I'm thinking that we're probably going to stay within that
range of being in a very comfortable space between the
zero to five because it's such a critical area in
a child's development and it's something that I'm very passionate about,
and I think that that is a way for parents
to continue to build relationship with the families that we're

(46:56):
serving and to kind of like get better with what
we're doing. Right, I don't want to continue to grow
where we're not necessarily getting better or niche to getting
better and within our niche. I know for sure that
zero five is really my safe zone.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
All right, So you're going to stay there in that
in that range, but you see yourself expanding in terms
of teachers and okay and subjects. Okay, all right, well
let's start to wind things down. So this is the

(47:36):
part of the show where I like to have my
guests give words of wisdom to our audience. So, Taji,
do you have any words of wisdom for us?

Speaker 2 (47:48):
Honestly, I would say that if there's anything that you
are passionate about, I definitely want to encourage you to
research figure out how can you be a part of
the challenge that we have here in education and build anyway.
I'm really big on making sure that more people are
thinking about the challenges that education is facing and to

(48:11):
be a part of the solution of trying to build something.
That way we can create some equitable systems for our kids.
I've realized that my zone of magic, right, my magical
zone is zero to five. But I know for sure
there's some other people out there who are able to
do some very intentional work to ensure that our kids

(48:34):
are getting all the things that they need, even in
the midst of all the challenges that you see around
you just build any way and move forward and become
a solution in your community.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
Beautiful, beautiful, And one last thing before we get to
the promo. So is there like do you just get
started with the micro school? Like is there a class?
Do you need a certification?

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (49:01):
Do you have to register somewhere?

Speaker 2 (49:04):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (49:04):
How does all that work?

Speaker 2 (49:06):
So it's so interesting because some parents are creating micro
schools and learning pods. So do you have to have
a certification? Not necessarily, just have to have a vision.
You have to have an idea of what you want
to do and what kind of impact you want to
make an education, right and sometimes it's basically empowered by

(49:28):
a need or the lack thereof, maybe a lack of
resources in a particular area. And a lot of people
are saying, you know what, I just want to create
something that looks like that looks a little bit different
from what I'm seeing right now, that I know that
my kids can benefit from. And then there may be
other families who say, okay, I want that for my

(49:49):
child too. Let's partner together. And I think that's the
beauty of it. Now. Some people say, okay, well I
need to be certified in early childhood education, or I
need to be certified in this or that. I would say,
just step in tap into your state wide expectations for
what it could be to start a school based on

(50:13):
age levels. Right, so, if it is to secondary school,
what are some resources or certifications that you would need
in order to create something for secondary Nine times out
of ten is if you have any background working with children,
if you have any like a formal education like college
hours or something of that nature, you can do that.

(50:34):
But some people are not even doing that. Some people
are just parents to say, I just want something better
for my kids, So I'm going to create this environment
and create a community with other parents, and we can
kind of create a co op. So it just really
depends on what your goals are and figuring out what
are the needs in your particular state, in your city,
in your area, and tap into what it would what

(50:56):
it would take for you to legally have children in
your home or a facility with facility next to you,
or things of that nature. It just really depends on
what you want to create, and you just kind of
got to tap into some communities. I personally found some
on Facebook where it's all about micro school and community.

(51:17):
It's so many. I saw black micro schools, I've seen
micro schools in my particular city. I've seen micro schools
from a national perspective, micro schools of justice. There's so
many different types of communities, and I know for sure
that you can step into that and learn more about
one of the steps to create your.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Own beautiful beautiful all right, Well, Taji, thank you so
much for coming on Hot Topics and sharing your story
and talking about the process. I appreciate you coming on
the show.

Speaker 2 (51:50):
Thank you so much, Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
All Right, so it is promo time, so let's get
into that, all right. You guys, you could find her
all over the place. So to learn more about her
micro school, how to get it on it. If you
have a child between zero and five years old and
you want that focus on the scientists, on the maths,

(52:14):
early literacy, you want to get that early education, going,
hit up Taji, hit up our micro school. The website
is kidmastreet dot com. Your area, what area do you serve?

Speaker 2 (52:29):
I'm in Dallas.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
You're in Dallas, Texas, all right, so listen. Our audience
is all over right all over the country. So those
of you in Dallas, Texas, you got you got yourself
a little and you want to get them in a
micro school. You want that personalized learning. And I'm assuming
you take vouchers. You're gonna take the vouchers, right.

Speaker 2 (52:53):
Yes, So right now we're still in the development of
phace because vouchers hasn't started to next year, but it's
definitely on our list.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
Yeah, okay, so right now it's it would be private
pay when you launch.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
Yeah in the state of Texas. Voucher don't start into
twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (53:10):
Ah so then how so it's going to be out
of pocket this year when it launched pre school like
a pre school. Okay, well listen. If you are looking
for you have a child zero to five years old,
you want that personalized structure, that personalized learning. Hit up Taji.
Hit up her micro school. If you happen to be

(53:31):
in Dallas, Texas, you know hu hit up Taji. The
website again is kid mystery dot com. You could also
follow her across her multiple social media platforms. So she's
on Facebook it is Taji the Teacher's Teacher. That's the
name of the group. She's on Instagram, Threats and TikTok,
all with the same account name Taji Teachers. She's also

(53:55):
on LinkedIn, it's her personal LinkedIn it's her name Shartaga right,
and she is on YouTube as Taji the Teacher's Teacher.
So I encourage you guys to follow her on all
of those accounts so you can stay in touch with us.
That information is at the bottom of the screen right now.
But for those of you listening on a podcast, that

(54:16):
information is in the description, so make sure you check
it out. But once again, her website is kid mystery
dot com. So is there anything else you want to
share about your micro school? But you have to offer
anything special? Coming up Yes, thank.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
You, thank you so much for this opportunity. Gabrielle. I
just want to just really appreciate you for creating this space.
And then number one, if you you know in box
me if you have any questions about this journey. Like
I said, I'm very transparent. I'm just a teacher who
want to create something different and wants to inspire other

(54:56):
people to continue to think about what education can look
like for your kids. And so if you are a
person who happened to be in Dallas, Texas, hey, inbox me,
let's collaborate, let's talk about it and to see what
can we do to make sure that we're providing great
opportunities for our kiddos.

Speaker 1 (55:15):
And you have talk I did.

Speaker 2 (55:19):
Oh, I've been super modest right now. Thank you for
the reminder. Yes, So our tech talk is called the
Great Teacher Migration, and I'm super excited about this talk
because it talks about a little bit more in depth
about some of the things that we were talking about today,
and so it will come out in August. Okay, so

(55:41):
we're looking for go to ted X, to the YouTube
ted X and you'll be able to find the Great
Teacher Migration and learn a little bit more about our
journey and how I have really grown to become something,
to create something that's extremely intentioned. Know, you'll see where
it's coming from and why I'm super excited about the

(56:03):
work that we're doing. So yes, thank you, so thank
you for reminding me.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
Yeah, your.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
I'm over your life. Huh oh I forgot Yeah, watch
the share with your friends.

Speaker 1 (56:16):
Yeah, so it's coming out in August. I'm just gonna, yeah,
just throw off the year for reference, August twenty twenty five,
depending on what y thing. But yeah, so it's coming
out on the ted x YouTube channel. Yeah, so head
on over to ted x and listen to her talk.

(56:38):
All right, So there you go. So again, I'm just
going to share her website one more time just so
you guys have it. It is kidmistry dot com. So
if you are looking for personalized learning structure for your kiddo,
for your little one between zero and five. They're interested

(56:59):
in the science, they're interested in the maths, hit up Taji.
The information is on the screen right now or in
the description. Make sure you check it out. All right, Well, Taji,
thank you again for coming on the show.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (57:16):
All right, I will let you go now, all right,
you guys, and that is it's that is the conclusion
of yet another episode of Hot Topics. I can't believe
we've we've gotten to this point in the podcast. We've

(57:36):
been writing hard for almost four years. So here we are.
Uh So, before I go, I just want to highlight
the forces behind the podcast. Uh so, yes, So it's
my tutoring company, A step ahead tutoring services. So is

(58:00):
my company that is behind Hot Topics. So we are
a tutoring company. So at this time we focus more
on third grade to twelfth grade. So, if you happen
to be in our area, which is New York City,

(58:21):
within the five boroughs of New York City and Nasau County,
Long Island, we do have in person tutoring services where
we come out to you in person, or we can
meet up at a local library. So if you happen
to be in those areas, we come out to you. However,
if you are not in those areas or you don't

(58:42):
want people coming at you like that, we do offer
virtual services as well, So we do in person tutoring
as well as virtual tutoring. So in terms of our subjects,
we focus on maths, we do reading, language, arts, writing,
We do some science, is some history depending on the level.

(59:03):
We also do test prep as well for our high
school students, so we do regents prep for our New Yorkers.
We also do SAT, we do ACT, we do GED
as well. We also do the sh SAT for our
New Yorkers as well, so we do those exams in

(59:25):
terms of the test prep. So if you are looking
for any of those services, as we were talking about,
personalized learning, personalized instruction, getting that one on one, that
one on one attention. So if you want that for
your child and you're listening to me right now, I
encourage you to go to our website. That website is

(59:47):
www dot a step Ahead Tutoring Services dot com. Let
me give you that website again. It is www dot
a step Ahead Tutoring Services dot com. I also encourage
you to follow us across our multiple social media platforms.
We're on Facebook, We're on YouTube, We're on x LinkedIn Instagram.

(01:00:12):
We also have some virtual workshops. You'll find us on
event right so we're on TikTok as well. So we
are on a lot of platforms and I encourage you
to follow us on all of them and stay on
top of the stay on top of us as well,
and stay in touch with us as well in terms
of our tutoring services. So just to go back to

(01:00:36):
the services that we offer in home tutoring for our
New Yorkers, we do virtual tutoring as well. We do
test prep. Like I said, we also do collaborative editing
and proofreading. So if you have a paper, you have
a project, so we'll work with you in helping you

(01:00:56):
edit and proofread as well. So we don't do like
the drop off and edit anymore. So it is personalized
tutoring sessions where we help, where we help you edit
and proofree like a paper or a presentation. So you
can hit us up for that college essays, that's a
big one. We do that as well. And we also

(01:01:18):
do college counseling as well, So if you need help
putting together a list of schools or helping undergo navigating
the FATA, all that, hit us up. Website again www
dot a step ahead Tutoring Services dot com, and again
right now. We start at third grade, we go up
to twelfth grade, and we also do early college as well.

(01:01:41):
As I'm talking, it's coming back to me right, So
we do third grade to twelfth grade and early college,
so we do college students as well. Also definitely hit
us up with that. So again, that information is scrolling
in the marquee at the bottom of the screen. If
you are watching this on v if you're watching this live,

(01:02:02):
but if you are listening on a podcast, check out
the description. All those links are there, so one way
or another, you're getting that information. So that information is
at your fingertips. And before I run away, I just
want to encourage you guys to take five minutes and

(01:02:24):
leave a comment in the comment section or in the
comment thread, or I forgot my hashtag, but that's okay,
let me just put it real quick so I don't
forget so let me just there we go make sure
we have that hashtag there. But yes, So I want

(01:02:46):
to encourage you guys, whether you are watching on video.
Let's say you're watching on YouTube or Facebook, or you're
listening on a podcast, listening on Apple Podcasts or good
Pods or Spotify, just take five minutes of your time
and leave your feedback about today's episode. Did you like it,
did you love it? Did you hate it? Do you

(01:03:08):
want to complain? Whatever it is do maybe you want
to tell your own micro school story, you know, whatever
it is, Just take five minutes of your time and
leave your feedback in the comment section. Because the more
you comment, it supports the algorithm. And what does that mean.

(01:03:32):
So the more you comment, the more that the episode
will circulate across social media, across Google. So the Internet
rewards popularity unfortunately, so I need you to help us
make us popular. So the more you comment, don't just

(01:03:54):
drop an emoji, actually type text. So the more feedback
you give us, the more that this episode will circulate
in the Internet, in social media, and it'll support the algorithm.
The more this episode will circulate, the more people will

(01:04:15):
see it the more you comment, So definitely help us out.
Leave a comment in the comment section, give us a rating.
If you're listening on a podcast, give us a rating
as well. It'll help us circulate our episode. And I
want to just get this hashtag up there. Feed the robots.
Hashtag feed the robots, So the more you comment, the

(01:04:39):
more this episode will circulate on the web. Therefore, I'm
asking you to hashtag feed the robots, feed the roadbacks,
feed the robots. With your feedback. There we go. Hashtag
feed the robots. There you go, all right, you guys. Well,

(01:05:03):
that is it for our show for today. I look
forward to joining me on the next episode. Thank you guys,
and now I am signing off. Bye.

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