east valley
Volume 3 Issue 27 Mesa, AZ
January 17, 2021
Mesa ‘micro-school’ serves home-schooled kids TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
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IN THE BIZ
ourteen years ago, Lara DeRoule needed a break. She had been a Pre-K-2 teacher for 15 years, both in Mesa Public Schools and a small private school, but tired of the bureaucracy of a public school system and decided to become a dental hygienist. “It just was a bunch of testing at that time where I felt like we weren’t really using what we found out,” the Gilbert woman said. Now, DeRoule is back in school – her own. Two years ago, she started Dynamic Micro School, riding on a wave of a growing interest in small-group schools that are neither charters nor public and that aim for home-schooled children from Pre-K level to sixth grade. Working in an old barn on the Superstition Farm in east Mesa, her goal is to help a group of no more than 15 “highly sensitive children find freedom, flexibility and fun in their learning environment so they can build the scaffolds they need to pursue their passions, enjoy life and contribute positively to the community.” At a time when many campuses are closed because of the pandemic, microschools are gaining popularity as parents look for a nontraditional environment that offers classes small enough to encourage social distancing while countering the isolation often associated with online learning at home. DeRoule said her school is an enrichment program for children who are homePublic Notices ............... page 3 © Copyright, 2021 East Valley Tribune
Lara DeRoule is back to teaching the way she thinks kids should be taught with her own micro-school located on Superstition Farm in Mesa. (Pablo Robles/Tribune Staff Writer) schooled. “It’s kind of cool for parents who want their kids to be in school,” said DeRoule, a certified teacher. “They’re able to socialize and we have a lot of open air and the kids can wear or not wear masks – whatever their parents want them to do. It’s just if a parent wants everybody else to be wearing a mask, I can’t guarantee that. Everybody has to be respectful of everyone else’s decision. I try to wear a mask when I’m close enough to the kids.” Dynamic Micro School also is a kind of throwback to the little old schoolhouse, where kids of different ages all learn to(USPS 004-616) is published weekly
Mailing Address: 1620 W. Fountainhead Pkwy., Suite 219, Tempe, AZ 85282
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gether. Because it’s on Superstition Farm, which is partly an animal rescue, “it’s a cool place for the kids to be because of the animals,” said DeRoule, adding students also work in the garden as they learn about plants and how to grow them. Though her students sit at desks in the cleaned-out barn for now, De-Roule is planning to work with the farm owner and eventually have a school building that will look very much like a one-room schoolhouse. Although all her students are in one place, she said, that doesn’t necessarily Subscriptions are $26 for 2 years, $14 for one year. Periodicals postage paid at Phoenix, AZ 85026.
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Ezra Day and Hayden Wortman, students at Dynamic Micro School, are helping to build a garden. (Pablo Robles/Tribune Staff Photographer) mean they’re all learning the same thing, as there are some lessons for the entire group and others requiring her to break them into smaller groups based on their ages. Currently, her students range in age from 4 to 12. “It’s more based on what a child’s ready for next – in math, science, reading, whatever – rather than ‘you’re in fifth grade, so this is what you’re supposed to be doing.’” She said a typical day comprises “a lot of hands-on, project-based…guided learning” and that Fridays are devoted to kids’ “passion projects.” “There also are certain skills I want to get across and in most cases it’s an enrichment for kids who are already home schools, so it’s not necessarily for everybody,” she continued. “My son for one is online through Chandler Online Academy but he’s able to integrate coming with me and doing his online school. He brings his computer and he does online classes and
he joins us for other stuff.” Much of what happens depends on the student’s age, DeRoule said, explaining that the younger ones “might actually switch projects or switch their subject for their project every week where the older child might study the same thing for four or five or six weeks. It just depends.” Dynamic Micro School is not a franchise, though DeRoule is plugged into a network of similar schools to exchange ideas. Dynamic Micro School has four different options, which also can be combined in different ways. The four-day-a-week program provides 80 hours of instruction a month 8 a.m.-1 p.m.; the two-day-a-week program offers 40 hours of instruction a month. There also are the Passion Project Fridays and Spectacular Saturday Gatherings that meets once a month and focuses on art and STEM subjects. And parents must provide proof their child is registered as a home-schooled stu-
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dent. Now that she is back to teaching, DeRoule finds her school is more suited to the ideas she had about education when she was a teacher in public schools, which she found too regimented in the way they expected teachers to reach students. “I’m kind of going back to my roots,” she said. “I’m able to go back and extract those things that I thought were most valuable to the kids and most fun – honestly, to teach not subject-wise but in manner of teaching,” she said. “We can pick a theme and we can cover the different parts of academic through that theme or we can teach it through the way the kids are interested. We don’t have to pull out the Harcourt Brace second grade book and read this story because that’s what we’re supposed to do this week.” Information: campdynamic.com
JANUARY 17, 2021
Public Notice JAMES MADISON PREPARATORY SCHOOL, INC 5815 S MCCLINTOCK DR. TEMPE, AZ 85283 480-345-2306 480-3450059 (FAX) www.madisonprep.org Announces open enrollment for grades 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10 for 2021-2022 school year. The open enrollment period is February 1-19, 2021.
Public Notice CITY OF MESA PUBLIC NOTICE FY 2021/2022 Public Hearings #2 and #3 Date of Publication: January 17, 2021 FY 2021/2022 Annual Action Plan Proposed Use of Funds for anticipated awards from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), Emergency Solutions
Grant Program (ESG), HOME Investments Partnership Program (HOME). In accordance with the federal regulations at 24 CFR, Part 91, the City of Mesa (City) is required to prepare and submit an Annual Action Plan for its Housing and Community Development Entitlement Programs funded by HUD. The Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 outlines how the City intends to spend approximately $4,065,626 in federal CDBG, $327,701 in ESG funds, and $1,510,503 in federal HOME entitlement funds. The FY 2021-2022 Annual Action Plan proposes uses of CDBG, ESG, and HOME funds for funding activities that are consistent with the City’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan. As a condition of the receipt of federal funds, the City is required to hold a minimum of two public hearings to inform the general public of additions or changes, including the cancellation of pro-
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posed activities or amendments to the City Citizen Participation Plan. Public Hearings #2 and #3 Will be held on Monday, February 1 and Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. via a telephonic conferencing platform, and the live meetings will be accessible telephonically. More in-formation can be found at https://www. mesaaz.gov/residents/communitydevelopment. The live meeting for Monday, February 1 may be listened to by calling 669-900-6833 (or to find your local number: https://zoom. us/u/ad6fHzLxVl) using Meeting ID 930 5107 1119 and Passcode 808922 and following the prompts. The live meeting for Tuesday, February 2 may be listened to by calling 669-900-6833 (or to find your local number: https://zoom. us/u/ad6fHzLxVl) using Meeting ID 910 4037 2379 and Passcode 906425 and following the prompts. Written comments may be sent to: Michelle Albanese, City of Mesa, P.O. Box 1466, Mesa, AZ 85211-
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1466. You may also contact her at (480) 644-4546, or via e-mail at Michelle.Albanese@mesaaz.gov for further information. The City of Mesa is committed to making its public meetings accessible. For accommodations, translation, or additional information, please contact the City of Mesa Community Services at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting at (480) 644-4546; or e-mail: CommunityRevitaliza-tion@ mesaaz.gov; or AZRelay 7-1-1 for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Si necesita asistencia o traducción en español, favor de llamar al menos 48 horas antes de la reunión al 480-644-2767. Michelle Albanese, Housing & Community Development Director (January 17, 2021 East Valley Tribune) 35680
JANUARY 17, 2021
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