Colleen Hroncich
“We can do this better,” thought former public school teacher Rachel Frevert when she saw her children’s assignments during the pandemic. Her oldest son has autism, and she knew the back and forth of sometimes being at school and sometimes virtual wasn’t going to work for him. He needed more consistency and something more engaging than what his school was doing.
She decided to homeschool her kids, and a neighbor asked if her kids could join them. A few friends heard about it and asked if Rachel could include their children in her group. She launched a microschool in her home with nine kids and soon outgrew the space. Her Integrative Learning Academy is now operating out of a separate house on an acre of land that she and her husband purchased in Peoria, Arizona. She has 32 kids this year and expects 38 next year, which is getting close to the maximum she feels will work in her space.
“Somewhere along the journey, it really turned into this inclusive model, where neurodivergent students can learn alongside neurotypical peers,” she explains. “We strive for a healthy balance to allow both sets of students to really learn and grow together in a space that fosters kindness and community and engagement.”
To meet the varied needs of her students, Rachel organizes the schedule so everyone is doing subjects like math and reading at the same time. This allows kids to go to the class that best fits their academic needs. She adds that they all study the same theme, which encourages discussions and enables kids to move in and out of groups as needed. For example, they’re currently studying geology. Different classrooms may be focusing on different areas of geology, but they’re all doing the same general topic.
The students also spend a lot of time outdoors. “We really let the kids do a lot of risky play. We’ve got shovels out there. We’ve got wheelbarrows. The kids have a whole bunch of bricks—they’re building with bricks and pipes and a whole digging zone. They climb trees,” Rachel says. “We spend as much time as we can outside and really let them get their hands dirty. It’s kind of like Waldorf style.”
When new teachers come in, it sometimes takes them a while to get comfortable with kids having so much freedom for risky play.
Integrative Learning Academy follows a shorter school schedule—Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.—to give kids more time to be kids. This year, they added an optional enrichment program after school and on Fridays for an additional fee.
Arizona’s school choice programs, especially the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, have been crucial for the families who are attending Integrative Learning Academy. “I recognize that we’re super blessed, and I know that a big reason why we’re flourishing is because of the ESA. And because we have such a robust program that not only provides universal ESA but also provides our students with autism with quite a bit of funding, which helps sustain our model and what we’re able to provide students,” Rachel explains.
While Rachel acknowledges that starting and running a school is hard work, she says it’s worth it. “I hear instruction in each of the classrooms, and I hear the kids playing, and it’s just so rewarding. I can’t even believe that this is my life, that I built this,” she says. “When I was in the public school, I would joke, you know, ‘I’m going to create a school’ and then I’d laugh. Like how does someone even do that, right? And I can’t even believe that I’m here. So I think that’s just my biggest piece of advice—if it’s been placed on your heart, it’s possible. Do it.”