Start a Microschool. 
Building Founder-led, locally rooted microschools for a more human future.
Changemaker Education helps educators, parents, and community leaders found, launch and sustain independently owned, human-centered microschools. Bring your vision to life with personalized coaching, practical operating support, enrollment guidance, curriculum resources, and a national community of fellow Changemaker Microschool Founders.
Building the Schools the Future Needs
The AI era is changing what children need from school. As information and routine tasks become easier to access or automate, young people need more opportunities to think critically, create, collaborate, build healthy relationships, navigate challenges, and develop a strong sense of self.
Changemaker Education helps educators, parents, and community leaders turn that need into action by building locally rooted, human-centered microschools. Each school is independently owned and shaped by its Founder and community, while sharing a commitment to helping children flourish through love, autonomy, community, creativity, and equity.
Microschool Founder Support
What Support Does Changemaker Education Provide?
Building a microschool requires educational vision, entrepreneurial leadership, and strong operating systems. Changemaker Education surrounds Founders with personalized guidance, practical infrastructure, enrollment support, and a community of peers.
Coaching & Advising
Receive personalized coaching, strategic planning, and practical problem-solving support before and after your microschool opens. We help you think through decisions while preserving your ownership and vision.
Operating Infrastructure
Access comprehensive tools, adaptable templates, checklists, forms, strategic partners, and guidance for budgeting, facilities, policies, compliance, curriculum, and day-to-day school operations.
Enrollment & Marketing
Clarify your local market, define your school’s story, reach prospective families, and strengthen the journey from initial interest to enrollment through practical strategy and resources.
Community & Collaboration
Build alongside other Changemaker Founders through cohort sessions, workshops, peer learning, shared problem-solving, and relationships with people who understand the Founder journey.
Your Vision.
A Shared Foundation for Human Flourishing.
Every Changemaker microschool is independently owned and intentionally unique. Founders shape their school around their own gifts, educational vision, and the needs of their local community.
What unites our network is Mind Body Soul, Changemaker Education’s signature whole-human development framework. MBS gives Founders a practical curriculum foundation for helping students develop self-awareness, emotional intelligence, nervous system regulation, healthy habits, resilience, meaningful relationships, purpose, and a commitment to their communities.
Mind Body Soul also shapes how we develop and coach our Founders. Through reflection, personalized coaching, and practical leadership tools, Founders strengthen the clarity, confidence, and self-awareness needed to lead their schools.
You bring the vision. Mind Body Soul provides a shared foundation while leaving room for your school to become something distinctly your own.
Self-Awareness & Emotional Intelligence
Help students understand their emotions, recognize their strengths, communicate effectively, and make thoughtful choices.
Regulation & Healthy Habits
Give students practical tools for managing stress, regulating their nervous systems, caring for their bodies, and building habits that support learning and well-being.
Purpose, Relationships & Community
Create opportunities for students to develop meaningful relationships, explore what matters to them, contribute to their communities, and grow into compassionate leaders.
Founder Growth & Local Expression
Mind Body Soul also shapes how we coach and develop Founders. Each Founder experiences the framework personally, then adapts it to reflect their leadership, students, and local community.
Who Can Start a Microschool?
Microschool Founders come from many backgrounds. Some are educators ready to lead differently. Others are parents, caregivers, or community leaders responding to an unmet need where they live. You do not need to have founded a school before, but you do need a clear vision, an entrepreneurial mindset, and a plan for strong instructional leadership.
Most Changemaker Founders begin small, work closely with students and families, and grow their schools as enrollment and revenue develop.
Educators
You understand what children need and may already have a vision that traditional systems have not allowed you to pursue. Founding a microschool gives you the opportunity to lead, teach, and create a learning environment grounded in your values.
Parents & Caregivers
You may have begun this journey by searching for something better for your own child. With the right vision, community relationships, and educational support, that search can become a school that serves other families too.
Community Leaders
You understand the strengths and needs of your community and know how to bring people together. If you are not an educator, you will need a qualified teaching partner or Director of Education who can lead learning and work directly with students.
Could You Be a Microschool Founder?
Explore how your experience, values, and vision align with the realities of building and leading a small school. Take our free three-minute quiz and receive a personalized Founder profile, practical next steps, and our free Microschool Launch Guide.
Who Thrives as a Changemaker Founder?
You do not need to have every answer before you begin. Strong Changemaker Founders bring a locally rooted vision, a willingness to learn, and a commitment to taking action. We provide coaching, practical tools, curriculum resources, operating support, and a community of peers. You remain the owner and leader responsible for bringing your school to life.
Locally Rooted & Entrepreneurial
You understand the community you hope to serve and are ready to build trust with local families and partners. You are resourceful, willing to solve problems, and prepared to take ownership of both the educational vision and the business of your microschool.
Ready to Work Closely with Students
Most Founders should expect to teach or work directly with students during their school’s first year or two. If you are not prepared to lead instruction yourself, you will need a qualified teaching partner or Director of Education who shares your vision.
Open to Coaching & Collaboration
You welcome feedback, communicate openly, follow through on commitments, and remain willing to grow. You value the support of experienced coaches and fellow Founders while understanding that the decisions and execution ultimately belong to you.
Grounded in Shared Values
Changemaker Founders create caring, student-centered environments shaped by love, autonomy, community, creativity, and equity. They believe academic learning and whole-human development belong together, and they keep the well-being of students at the center of their decisions.
What Changemaker Founders Commit To:
The investment for Changemaker’s planning-year Founder program is $5,000, with flexible payment plan options available. After opening, each microschool contributes 10% of tuition revenue to Changemaker Education for its first three years. This supports continued coaching, shared resources, curriculum development, and participation in the Changemaker Founder community. School startup and operating expenses are separate and vary by location and school model.
Founders participate actively in coaching, cohort sessions, planning, and implementation. They communicate openly, welcome feedback, and take consistent action between sessions.
Founders build relationships, develop local partnerships, and lead family outreach in their own communities. Changemaker provides strategy, tools, and guidance, but enrollment is driven locally.
Most microschools begin small and grow as families build trust in the Founder and the school. Founders commit to managing resources thoughtfully, learning from experience, and building toward sustainable enrollment over time.
See What It Really Takes to Launch a Microschool
Starting a microschool takes more than a powerful educational vision. It also means making thoughtful decisions about your school model, legal structure, facilities, finances, enrollment, marketing, operations, curriculum, and community.
Our free Microschool Founder Launch Guide gives you an inside look at the journey and the support Changemaker Education provides before and after your school opens. Inside the guide, you'll explore:
What Founders and Education Leaders Say
Changemaker Education is built on personal relationships, honest guidance, and coaching that helps leaders move from vision to action.
Building a microschool can feel overwhelming, but Changemaker Education’s combination of encouragement, practical resources, and true thought partnership has given me clarity and confidence at every stage. Their guidance helped me move from vision to concrete action, navigate critical startup steps, and build with greater intention and sustainability. Most importantly, I no longer feel like I am carrying this vision on my own. I feel supported by people who understand both the weight and the purpose of this work.
North County St. Louis, Missouri
Within minutes of meeting David and Joy, I felt certain we were meant to work together. For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of opening my own school. Changemaker Education has removed every excuse and replaced them with confidence, clarity, and a clear path forward. This journey hasn’t just been professional... it’s transformed me personally, and for that, I’m forever grateful.
Changemaker Education’s support has been mission-critical as I build and launch The Resonance Lab. David and Joy have helped me move beyond traditional educational models and reimagine what is possible. Together, we have worked through financial sustainability, enrollment strategy, funding opportunities, and the mindset required to build a different kind of school. Their care, practical guidance, and belief in my vision have helped me create an environment designed to recognize each student’s unique strengths and nurture their holistic development.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Not Ready to Launch a Microschool Yet?
You do not need to have every detail figured out before you begin. Changemaker Pathway Programs help emerging Founders clarify their vision, explore the needs of their community, strengthen their leadership, and begin shaping a viable microschool model.
It is a guided way to move from curiosity to clarity while preparing for a future Changemaker Founder cohort.
