You want to start a microschool. You have the idea. You've done the research. You've listened to the podcasts. You've saved the posts. But when are you actually going to OPEN it? Or maybe your microschool is already open—but next year you want to grow enrollment, hire a teacher, move into a new facility, add another grade, change tuition, expand your programs, or finally create systems that make your school sustainable. It's time to stop saying “someday” and put dates on the dream. In Episode 425 of the ReDream Education Podcast, we're kicking off October's BUILD NEXT YEAR NOW series with PLAN IT—a practical microschool planning session designed to help you stop endlessly researching and start reverse-engineering the school you actually want to build. Grab your calendar before you listen. You're going to need it. Because planning a microschool isn't spending six months scrolling Facebook groups, researching curriculum, comparing websites, listening to podcasts and saving ideas. Planning requires deadlines. And today we're creating them. 📅 Start With Opening Day—and Work BACKWARDS First, we're choosing an actual start date. Not “next fall.” Not “hopefully August.” A DATE. Then we're working backward. The framework for this episode starts with where you want to be in August and reverse-engineers through enrollment, marketing, open houses, applications, pricing, capacity, staffing, facilities, your financial model—and finally, what needs to happen TODAY. ReDream Education — October 202… Whether you're opening your first microschool or planning the next stage of an existing school, we'll also get underneath the logistics. What are you actually building? Are you starting a microschool while still working another job? Do you eventually need to resign from teaching or another career? Are you currently homeschooling and wondering whether what you're doing with your own children could become a microschool or homeschool hybrid? Are you trying to grow your current enrollment? Stay intentionally small? Hire? Move? Add grades? Change tuition? Open another location? And underneath all of that: What are you afraid of? What do you really want? What questions keep circling in your mind? What keeps you awake at night? Those questions matter because sometimes we spend months researching around a decision we're actually afraid to make. This episode helps you move from “I'm thinking about starting a microschool” to “Here's what I'm building, here's when it starts, and here's what has to happen between now and then.” 🚨 Meet Your D-Day: Your DONE DAY We're also introducing a simple planning concept: D-Day = DONE DAY. Instead of writing “work on tuition,” decide when your tuition structure will be DONE. Instead of “research curriculum,” decide when your curriculum decision will be DONE. Instead of “work on website,” decide when your website needs to be DONE. Instead of researching indefinitely, we're putting boundaries around research and deadlines around decisions. You'll identify five major D-Days for your microschool: 1. Your Offer Is Done — grades, schedule, programs, capacity, tuition, fees, educational philosophy and the families you were created to serve. 2. Your Family Information Is Done — including two BIG non-negotiables: your Microschool Introductory Packet and your Microschool Family Handbook. 3. Your Enrollment System Is Done — applications, tours, information sessions, open houses, enrollment materials and the process that takes a family from interested to enrolled. 4. Your Marketing Begins — website, social media, email, community awareness, partnerships and consistent visibility BEFORE you desperately need students. 5. Your Financial & Operational Plan Is Done — capacity, tuition, projected revenue, staffing, payroll, facilities, hiring triggers and the numbers that determine whether your plan can actually work. 🅰️ This Is Where ATTRACT Begins This episode also takes us deeper into the A of ReDream Education's A–B–C Microschool Founder Path: ATTRACT. Before families can enroll, they need to understand what you've built. Your Introductory Packet helps clearly communicate your microschool's offer to interested families and gives them the bigger picture of your school. ReDream Education — October 202… And your Microschool Family Handbook establishes the policies, expectations and agreements underneath the family-school relationship. The October strategy identifies these two resources as the featured foundational tools for the PLAN IT stage. ReDream Education — October 202… These aren't documents you scramble to create after families start enrolling. They need D-Days, too. 🔥 Stop Researching Your Dream and Start Building It You don't need to know everything today. You don't need to have every curriculum selected. You don't need to have every social media post planned. You don't need every answer. But you DO need to know: Where am I going? When am I getting there? And what has to be DONE before the next thing can happen? By the end of this episode, you'll have a start date, five major D-Days and the beginnings of a backwards-designed microschool launch or growth calendar. Because research without a deadline can go on forever. Put a date on the dream. This week we PLAN IT. Next week, we FILL IT as we break down microschool open enrollment, marketing, open houses, applications and the system that moves families through PREPARE → ATTRACT → CONVERT → FOLLOW UP. ReDream Education — October 202… Visit ReDream Education to explore our A–B–C Microschool Founder resources, including the Introductory Packet and Microschool Family Handbook, and learn more about Microschool Masterminds for founders who are ready to take what they're learning on the podcast and actually implement it. Don't just dream about next year. Build next year now. ----more---- Microschool Masterminds: skool.com/microschool-masterminds Every Thursday from 12-1 pm (EST), join Makenzie Oliver, microschool founder, VELA connector, and instructional coach, along with other founders, parents, and dreamers, as we connect, inspire, and progress through the challenges and celebrations of starting, running, and growing a microschool! When you join Microschool Masterminds for just $107/month, you get: Live Weekly Collaborative Sessions to Maintain Your Momentum and Create Community Instant Access to Over 150+ Resources on Marketing, Finances, Organization, Hiring, and More! The Key to the Mastermind Vault, with ALL of Our Recorded Presentations since April 2024 EXCLUSIVE Access To Mastermind-Only Discounted Items Microschool Masterminds is about collaboration and transformation – about helping you become a confident, empowered entrepreneur, ready to take on the world with friends to guide you along the way. Join us on this remarkable journey from overwhelm to success. Leave The ReDream Education Podcast A Review Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/redreameducation If you’re searching for a community because something in your life, your classroom, your family, your child, or your heart is asking for a new dream. A wiser dream. A ReDream. You belong in ReDream Education’s Microschool Community (Facebook Group). We challenge the old models, rethink what learning can be, and build innovative pathways for children, families, and communities! Blog: redreameducation.com/blog It’s time to take the light that’s been dimmed, due to the overwhelming pressures, and spark a flame! Whether it’s starting a homeschooling business, designing a microschool, or even becoming a traveling tutor...teacher friend...the options are here for you to stay in the teaching profession and do what you love.
