In fact, my colleagues and I deliberately left school-world behind when we left our jobs at one of the most competitive private schools in Austin, Texas, to strike out on our own. We founded The Number Lab in 2014 to provide practice-based teacher training to K-12 mathematics educators. And we opened up our sunny, flexible space to summer programs where kids could work together on advanced computations between walks to the park to play.
It was our own version of heaven: a true learning environment, for teachers and students alike. Sometimes we would pull our summer students in to teach a lesson on a particular concept to our teachers. Often we would observe as students worked together, feeling their way through more complex equations based on what they already knew.
Then a mom called us. “I’ve looked at every school that’s available, and I don’t think any of them are right for my son. He doesn’t need fancy buildings; he doesn’t need art or music or gym — I can do all that. What he needs is an environment that challenges and engages him. Please let this be his school.”
So we began Long-View Micro School in the fall of 2015 — with a student body of one. Of course, having only one student is a fantastic way to reduce complexity. But even as we’ve expanded — we had eight by the end of that first year, and now have 26 (with an intention to go no higher than 75!) — we’ve taken pains to keep things simple. Our mantra is “turn away from school, and turn toward learning.”
That means that we do pretty much everything differently from other schools. For starters, our students don’t sit at desks in classrooms. They aren’t assigned to any grade level. And our report cards grade them on the skills we’re working to teach them, instead of arbitrary subjects like math or science. (If you’re curious, we grade on four skills: creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.)
Instagram = Show and Tell in a Snap
We communicate differently with parents, too. We don’t send any paper home with our students. There is no weekly folder full of permission slips and reminders. No regular emails or newsletters.Instead, our parents follow us on Instagram. We’ve found that this social media platform gives us an effective way to tell our story — to insiders and outsiders.
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Now, a few disclaimers are probably necessary here: not having classrooms or offices means that we can hear everything that our students are working on. So any one of us can grab our phone and snap a photo instantly when we catch someone in the act of learning.
Most schools seem to do little more than brag on social media: “We won a basketball tournament.” “Our student received a prestigious award.” “Our graduates got into elite colleges.” What a missed opportunity — and really, how boring. Our kids use social media to connect, share information, laugh, interact. Why shouldn’t we do the same?
Here are some specific ways we use our Instagram account:
- To share information with parents about what their children are doing in the classroom. We made gliders as part of a study on aspect ratio. We identified the qualities of great conversations. We go to the park every day. And our parents get to see all of it as it happens.
- We believe sharing these moments facilitates better conversation at home about the school day. We also believe this is what it looks like to be in true partnership with parents — to work together to instill a love of learning.
- To remind. Kids need warm clothes to go outside. It’s National Novel Writing Month. We’re having an open house. Whatever would ordinarily go on a sheet of paper or in a weekly email, we put on Instagram.
- To market ourselves. Sure, polished admission brochures are great — but they’re also expensive. We skip all that and just show people what we’re doing. Prospective parents appreciate the transparency — and they know exactly what they’re signing up for at the very beginning.
- To build our culture. How do you know if a school is a good fit for your family? We try to make it easy.
Facebook Group Builds School Community
We also created a closed Facebook group for our families that we imagined would be a way to share specific ideas for activities — like open hours at the University of Texas telescope, or a scheduled bird-watching adventure. Over time, it’s helped us build a strong school community. Families use it to make social plans outside of school hours. They invite each other to their children’s dance recitals or soccer games.And we use the Facebook group to have fun. Our students amaze us with their intelligence, their good sense, and — sometimes — their really awesome T-shirts. Before long, the #TShirtsofLongview hashtag was born.
Catching Up on the Go
Let’s face it: Everyone’s busy. Our parents tell us they know more about what we’re doing at Long-View than they did when their children attended traditional schools with “Friday folders” or weekly emails. And they don’t have to carve out time every week to go through all of it — they can catch up while they’re in line at the supermarket.I know an image-based platform has helped us distill our messages down to the essentials. And along the way, I believe we’ve communicated more about our approach and our theory than one long email ever could.