Learning Spotlights
Get ready to be inspired by innovative ideas and practices in education. Our spotlight shines on groundbreaking innovations that are transforming the way we learn and teach.
A Montessori microschool for deaf students – and a sign of things to come
CLEARWATER, Fla. – More than 20 years ago, Julie Rutenberg and Colette Derks harnessed some of the first private school choice programs in America to create a bespoke little school they knew their community needed. All these years later, Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf continues to show what kind... READ MOREFor this former public school educator, starting a microschool was a dream come true
SARASOTA, Fla. – Alison Rini thought her destiny was to be the principal at a traditional public school. She had been the principal at a charter school, the assistant...
READ MOREThe sky is the limit: How an ed choice scholarship turned Aaliyah into a straight-A student
DeLAND, Fla.– A black sweater, white shirt, and a red tie lay on Aaliyah Tape’s bed when she returned home from a summer vacation spent with family. She knew what...
READ MORETaking advantage of her opportunities, Zori reaches Step 1 of her life plan – an Ivy League scholarship
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Zori Brown was in the sixth grade when she made a plan for her future that was concise and to the point: Attend an Ivy League...
READ MOREA new school and its challenging environment started Owen on his journey to the Naval Academy
NAPLES, Fla. – Owen Phypers’ commute from his new home to his new high school took about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, his parents were driving 90 minutes one way to their old jobs...
READ MORENew Worlds Scholarship and Captain Underpants make reading ‘cool and fun’ for young student
Cam Imburgio can tell you about Grim and Punishment and Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea. He knows For Whom the Ball Roles. Cam devoured the Dog Man series, which...
READ MOREWait till you see where Khyla is going
LAUDERDALE LAKES, Fla.— Khyla Beaujin’s first fashion show as a designer was over, and she described the backstage chaos to her mother. Where are the models? Where are their shoes?...
READ MORE‘The kind of student you dream about’ flourishes with the help of an education choice scholarship
WINTER PARK, Fla. – The piano stood silent in the corner of the empty gymnasium until Riccardo Cerutti sat on the bench, lifted the key lid, and played the opening...
READ MORETiovanni’s road to being ‘magnificent’ starts with an education choice scholarship
Tiovanni Johnson squirms in his chair and lowers his head. His grandmother is telling a story about his kindness toward strangers, and he wishes she would stop. In fact, he...
READ MOREWhere kids still play in the woods
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Millions of students in American public schools are lucky if they get 30 minutes of recess a day. But the students at Wild Oak Explorers spend...
READ MOREYaya’s got this, thanks to the help of a PEP scholarship
DELTONA, Fla.– Of all the skills Yaeli “Yaya” Santos could have picked to earn a grade in that portion of her eighth-grade physical education class, standing on her head seemed...
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