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Beaufort County Micro School held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Dec. 9 prior to welcoming new students next month. 

If you’re not in the education field, you may be wondering what exactly is a microschool? 

A microschool offers students tailored and individualized attention that meets their needs. Each microschool is capped at about 15 students. These schools can operate in private, public, charter schools or operate independently. They are often described as a “mid-point,” between the traditional school model and homeschooling, EdChoice describes. They are often seen as modern adaptations of one-room schoolhouses where students of different ages, grade-levels learn together with one teacher. It is designed this way to give personalized instruction and foster a sense of community in each student. 

According to the National Microschooling Center, there are an estimated 95,000 microschools in the U.S. educating approximately 1.5 million students. 

Parents are searching for alternative education models, like microschools, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. These parents believe the “one-size-fits all” approach in public education fails to consider social and emotional well-being as potential impacts to students’ ability to learn. 

It’s also why Kimberly Waltower decided to start Beaufort County Micro School (BCMS), a state-registered-approved private school in Washington that educates students in 6th-12th grades by combining e-learning with face-to-face instruction.

Waltower is a former educator who has taught multiple grades levels in public and private schools in Beaufort County over the span of ten years. In addition, she is a licensed principal, superintendent and served as a graduation coach. 

As a graduation coach, she spoke with at-risk students to discuss their academics and home environment to determine what factors could impede their success. 

“As a graduation coach, you deal with every part of the student. You’re that liaison piece between the school system as well as home. So, you’re able to go behind the scenes and see it’s not just an academic problem,” Waltower said. 

Waltower explained that if students’ issues at home are not addressed early (in elementary school) then the likelihood of them being addressed in middle and high school dwindles. Too, middle and high school students “have a lot to prove,” and therefore, may hide why they are struggling. “You have to not only teach or not only be the admin. You almost have to be that parental support – home away from home,” she said. 

Starting BCMS allows Waltower to focus on academics and develop well-rounded, emotionally mature students. 

A typical day at BCMS is filled with digital learning on science, technology, engineering, art, math and English topics. That is followed by direct instruction from a teacher then it’s lunch. The day is wrapped up with time dedicated to feedback exercises, interventions, community service projects and a debrief. 

Students will maneuver between four class rooms – a main classroom, a digital learning room, a STEAM/library room and a sensory room that provides a calming, therapeutic environment. 

“A smaller environment works,” Waltower said. “They’re quicker to say what their struggles are in a smaller environment. It’s easier to see it, because there’s not so many students to keep your eyes on.” 

A study co-authored by an economic professor at Western Carolina University (WCU) “indicates that school choice may result in improvements in student mental health with fewer incidents of adolescent suicide and a lower likelihood of mental health issues later in life,” according to the university. 

“​​I suspect the public school response to the pandemic – by closing and shifting many students to virtual learning – added to the mental health concerns that students are dealing with. Moving forward, I’m not sure how public schools can address these concerns. What our study suggests is that allowing families more paths out of the public schools may be beneficial,” Angela Dills said in a press release from WCU. Dills is a Gimelstob-Landry Distinguished Professor of Regional Economic Development at WCU. 

Dills continued to say, “but that implies that other types of educational contexts are providing a better situation for students to manage their mental health – whether that’s because the school is a better fit for that particular student or an escape valve to remove themselves from a challenging situation, or that other types of schools are providing a healthier environment for students’ mental health.” 

This year, Samantha Benavides chose to move her daughter out of homeschool and into BCMS. Her daughter attended public school until the seventh grade. For the next four years, she was homeschooled. A junior in high school, Benavides’ daughter will be a student at BCMS starting Jan. 6. 

“[BCMS] is still very new to me,” Benavides said, “but I feel like they’re not just teaching to pass a test. They’ll bring out her strengths and nurture a lot of things with her.” She added that a traditional classroom setting “never worked” for her daughter who was a public school student in Beaufort County until seventh grade. 

Benavides shared that her daughter struggles with social anxiety. She described her daughter as “quiet, anxious and withdrawn” and there was “too much going on” in public schools for her. 

If her daughter is able to build up her self-esteem and become a well-rounded individual who is more social by the end of the semester then moving to BCMS will have been worth it, Benavides said. 

Waltower believes an exodus from public education is happening, because she said public education has tunnel vision on test scores. At BCMS, it’s not just about testing, because students’ mental health is as much of a priority as their grades, she explained. 

Waltower acknowledged that not every student in public school needs help developing their social skills and/or improving their mental health; however, it is her hope that families of students who do need help will reach out to BCMS. 

Because it is a private school, it comes with a price tag. To attend BCMS, tuition is $2,700 annually or $300 per month. Newly implemented school vouchers can be used at BCMS, Waltower said. 

Students who have been accepted into BCMS will start on Monday, Jan. 6. At this time, BCMS will accept between five and six students per year. It is located at 601 E. 11th Street in Washington.