The Public Microschool Playbook — from gettingsmart.com
School systems today face a complex challenge: how to personalize learning while responding to the rapidly shifting needs of students, families, and communities. Enter the Public Microschool Playbook—a new, field-tested resource co-created by Getting Smart, Learner-Centered Collaborative, and Transcend to help public education leaders reimagine learning from the ground up.
This isn’t just about launching new schools. It’s about designing dynamic, student-centered ecosystems that live inside our public systems and reflect the aspirations of the communities they serve. With an intentional focus on access and opportunity, microschools offer more than just flexibility—they offer a path to more relevant, sustainable, and empowering learning for all.
Grounded in three key phases—Planning, Designing, and Implementing—the Playbook equips district leaders, charter networks, and innovators with real-world tools and insights to launch microschools that meet local needs and drive systemic transformation. From policy navigation and budgeting to learner-centered design elements like advisory, PBL, and multi-age cohorts, this guide is a blueprint for creating purpose-built environments that make learning personal and powerful.
Also from Getting Smart, see:
The Reboot of Readiness: It’s Time to Take Action in Renovating CTE from the Ground Up — from gettingsmart.com by Adam Kulaas
Key points:
- CTE programs need to move beyond traditional frameworks and adopt the Career Clusters Framework to better prepare students for real-world opportunities.
- It’s crucial to integrate career readiness into the entire educational experience, making it an intentional and structured pathway from early education through high school.