Programs and Services

The micro-academy will be a facilitated, student-centered, co-created and emergent blend of individual and group projects and studies, exploration and skill-building, in a small-group setting. It will involve a blend of online and off-line work.

The emphasis will be on deep, interdisciplinary learning—not just of academic knowledge, but also of important life skills, such as the “5 Cs” (critical thinking and problem solving; communication; collaboration; creativity and innovation; and citizenship). In addition to group work—built on solving practical, real-world challenges whenever possible—children will also give monthly presentations to their peers about interest-driven individual projects they've chosen to pursue (with guidance, as needed, from the facilitators). 

Essential Details:

Days: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Time: 9:30a.m. to 1p.m. Eastern Time (see below for a breakdown of the time)
Ages: The first cohort (for the 2020-2021 academic year) will be ages 9 to 12

Size: There will be a maximum of 16 children per cohort, with two facilitators
Location: Online

Outside of micro-academy hours, children are free to follow other elements of their customized learning pathways, whether that involves working individually on building core skills (with the help of resources such as Khan Academy, software apps, books, or eclectic independent studies); attending tutoring sessions; participating in The Hub's à-la-carte programming, or third-party online or offline classes; or doing other activities. The sky's the limit!

This will be the starting point for the micro-academy's daily flow. We will be agile and iterate on the details—when doing so seems warranted, based on observations, feedback, and where the energy is flowing on a given day—in order to optimize the experience. 

9:30a.m. – 10:15a.m.: Setting the foundation

• Community building—check in, share how everyone is feeling, and share and reflect on what else everyone has done since the previous meeting.
• Targeted skill building—a mini tutorial on something that's relevant to all members of the group (e.g., watching a short video to inspire new project ideas; sharing subject-area research related to a project that's already underway, or doing an exercise to develop a meta-skill such as project management).
• Expanding horizons—monthly guest speaker presenting a “show and tell” about a job or hobby.

10:15a.m. – 10:30a.m.: Break

10:30a.m. – 11:30a.m.: Group work

• Working in groups of various sizes, on projects of their choosing (with a facilitator's guidance). These will be based on meaty questions the children want answered, and/or real-world problems they want to solve. The elements that are productive to do together will be done jointly online; the children will work independently on the rest, either online or offline.
• Humanities examples: Answering questions such as, “Where did my ancestors come from, and what were their lives like?” or “How can groups of people make decisions that don’t leave many people unhappy?” Solving problems such as, “Let’s write and send letters that will comfort sick residents in our communities.” 
• STEM examples: Answering questions such as, “Why are bees disappearing?” or “How are cars made?” Overcoming a challenge such as learning how to effectively light a space for recording videos. 
• Practical life-skills examples: Answering questions such as, "Why is our compost bucket smelling bad?" Solving practical challenges such as building a container for sewing supplies. 
• A learning artefact will come out of each project, whether in the form of a written document, a PowerPoint presentation, a video, a piece of art or music, etc. This will further develop important communication and presentation skills, and also provide avenues for studying art and music, and engaging in creative self-expression.
• A facilitator will be checking in with each group, guiding children to work together to answer questions that have arisen, demonstrating how to find resources to get through bottlenecks, etc.

11:30a.m. – 11:45a.m.: Break

11:45a.m. – 12:30p.m.: Individual work

• This time is set aside to work on individual “passion projects,” with the opportunity to consult with each other and/or with a facilitator, as needed. The passion projects could be anything—learning to play guitar, learning a foreign language, learning how to code, etc. At the end of each month, the students will present to their peers about what they’ve done and learned.
• Students may also choose to work on their passion projects during another part of the week, and use this time to work on some of their other à-la-carte offerings, with “office hours” access to a facilitator. 

12:30p.m. – 1p.m.: Closing circle 

• This closes out the micro-academy's formal program for the day. Students reflect on the time they spent together, what support is needed for next steps, and talking about what each student is planning for the rest of the day and until the next meeting.

1p.m.: Optional extra time for group lunch

• Children are welcome to stay and have a virtual lunch with each other. (They're also welcome to eat as needed to fuel their bodies and minds during the morning.)

In the process of doing such interdisciplinary projects, children will have opportunities to develop skills in areas such as research, reading comprehension, debating, communications, and inter-personal relations. Such projects also serve as vehicles for learning about fields such as history, cultural anthropology, economics, geography, sociology, psychology, literature, civics, biology, ecology, chemistry, physics, engineering, math, and materials science.

Micro-academy enrollment comes with membership in The Hub. As members of The Hub, enrolled children and their parents also have access to the following:

Community Spaces and Events for Children and for Parents

Hub members will have access to private online social lounges where they can come and go and interact with each other at any time. There will be one for the children (on Discord) and a separate one for the parents (on Mighty Networks). There will also be opportunities to attend group games and other social events throughout the year.

Curated Resources

The Hub will maintain a curated list of third-party platforms, websites, curriculum packages and events (at a range of price points) that might interest members, to help them choose how to spend their remaining time. New discoveries will be added regularly. We'll also share examples of curated pathways, showing how the micro-academy and various à-la-carte elements can be put together to form a comprehensive whole, as well as examples of portfolios to document learning. (For more in-depth and personalized guidance along these lines, members will have access to additional wraparound services.)

Priority Registration for The Hub's À-La-Carte Programming

Hub members will receive early notice of and advance access to new à-la-carte programming, before registrations are opened to the general public.

Collaborations With Other Like-Minded Learning Groups: Several learning centers around the United States that share similar values have already expressed interest in collaborations, such as teens visiting The Hub to offer presentations about topics of interest to them, and occasional facilitator exchanges that will expose children to additional perspectives and locales. 

Expanded Age Range: We will expand the online hub's age range to ages 9-13 in Fall 2021, and then add a teen cohort in Fall 2022. 

A Full-Week, In-Person Option: The plan is to also launch a five-day-a-week, in-person version of The Hub for residents of the Washington, D.C. area, starting in Fall 2021. The physical hub will eventually offer micro-academies for younger children too. We will aim to take advantage of cross-pollination opportunities between those enrolled in the online and in-person hubs.

Get in touch if you would like to be added to a mailing list to find out more details as they are officially announced for upcoming years.