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When my younger daughter Abby told me that she wanted to go to public high school, I said 鈥渘o.鈥� It was the spring of 2024 when she was a seventh grader, and I was in the final stretch of drafting the manuscript that would become my latest on alternative education, or the unconventional schools and learning spaces that have sprouted across the U.S. in recent years. 

Abby had been since birth. She and her siblings were granted the freedom to chart their own educational pathways as self-directed homeschoolers and, more recently, as students at the , an alternative private school in Framingham, Massachusetts, that since 1968 has embraced noncoercive, democratic education with no curriculum, tests, grades, or homework. It has inspired the growth of dozens of Sudbury-model schools around the world.

No, I told her. Traditional schooling, with its standardized curriculum and testing mandates, is not an option. 

After all, I had spent the previous several months crisscrossing the country visiting founders of emerging schools and similar models, such as microschools, learning pods, and homeschooling collaboratives. The majority of these founders were former public school teachers who felt that their creativity and autonomy were stifled within a conventional classroom. They left to build something different. Parents left, too. Frustrated by frequent testing and a one-size-fits-all curriculum, the parents I interviewed pulled their children out of traditional schools and enrolled them in these alternative ones because they wanted more freedom and flexibility in education. 

No, I wasn鈥檛 going to allow Abby to give up that freedom.  

Gratefully, for her and me, I soon realized my error: If educational freedom is truly my top value, then Abby deserves the freedom to choose the educational option that is right for her. We all deserve that freedom.

Students, parents, and teachers today have more K-12 education options than ever and they are increasingly able to find the best fit. For Abby, our traditional public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is undoubtedly right for her. It is clear to me now that this is where she belongs, while my other children currently have no interest in attending a conventional school. When my ninth grader joined the other 2,000 high schoolers earlier this month, she quickly felt at home in the large, bustling environment with access to hundreds of clubs and activities, a wide assortment of academic offerings, a talented team of educators and a breathtakingly diverse group of fellow students from across our city. She loves it.

But for some children and teens, a traditional school may not be the best fit. They may be lost in large schools, feeling either held back or left behind by a curriculum meant for the masses. Others may confront bullying or feel unsafe in a conventional classroom. Some may struggle with anxiety and depression, or have special learning needs, and desire a smaller, more personalized learning environment. Some kids might just want a change. Now, there are many more of these personalized learning environments to choose from, and they are more accessible than ever.

in Arizona is an example. One of the dozens of innovative schools I spotlight in my book, it was founded in 2021 by Tamara Becker. She was a public school teacher and administrator for nearly 30 years who became attracted to microschools during the COVID pandemic due to their small size, individualized curriculum, and focus on each child鈥檚 academic growth and emotional wellbeing. 鈥淢icroschools are the wave of the future because they provide an environment focused on the child, not the system,鈥� said Becker, who runs one of Adamo鈥檚 microschools out of her home in Queen Creek, a suburb of Phoenix.

Adamo currently enrolls more than 70 K-8 learners across multiple locations, who are all taught by certified teachers, including Becker. One-third of her students are neurodiverse or have special learning needs ranging from dyslexia and dysgraphia to ADHD and autism. Her students have grown both academically and socio-emotionally since joining Adamo, and all of them attend the microschool using the state鈥檚 education savings account (ESA) program. Becker ensures the tuition is fully covered by the ESA program, so that no parent has to pay out of pocket.

In 2022, Arizona became the first state to enact a school choice policy enabling every K-12 student in the state to be eligible to access a portion of state-allocated education funding to use toward a variety of approved educational expenses, including microschools like Adamo. More than a dozen states have since followed Arizona鈥檚 lead.

Microschools and other creative schooling options are spreading quickly in states like Arizona where students can often attend tuition-free, but they are appearing all across the country as more families look for low-cost, highly-individualized alternatives to traditional schools 鈥� both public and private.

More students today are able to enjoy an educational environment that is right for them. For Abby, that is shifting from homeschooling and alternative education to a traditional public school. For others, it could be the opposite. As parents, we should look at our children鈥檚 distinct educational needs and interests, and say 鈥測es鈥� when they want a change.

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