I am starting a private, project-based school. I have been a public school educator for 25 years. I started my career in Texas and spent 11 years in Wisconsin in an award-winning Bill & Melinda Gates lab school, Valley New School in Appleton, WI. Returning to the Texas public schools has been disheartening because what little innovation there is does not change the very structure of our schools, which is what needs to change. The school I am starting, Arbor Academy, will be located in Georgetown, Texas and will be the first project-based school in our small city. We are in desperate need of an innovative school model that hopefully I can replicate. I helped start numerous schools in the upper Midwest and even one in the Netherlands, so I know how to replicate the model.
You can find more about me and my school at www.arboracademy.org. We are also on Facebook and Instagram. We are opening in Fall 2021, and we have one family signed up so far. The funds are needed for purchasing learning materials for the school and the addition of a painter's sink for art projects, but I understand there are probably guidelines for how the funds can be spent. Please reach out to me if more information is needed to make a more informed decision. Please see my rationale and business plan
here.
Sincerely,
Helen Cochran Holmes
Arbor Academy
Georgetown, Texas
[email protected]