We are thriving educators who are pioneering a new way of teaching & learning that meets the needs of our students & ourselves as well.
The Ivy’s Story began with an early love of teaching.
While studying Elementary Education and learning about all of the mandates & rules, I decided it wasn’t for me.
I taught preschool for years and loved being able to plan & implement fun into everything I taught!
I started my own family and embraced homeschooling for over ten years with that in mind. I could have fun planning & teaching all the fun things for my children, and no one could stop me! We didn’t have pacing guides or testing to hold us back.
We faced learning challenges like any family would. I had to discover different ways to teach each of my four children, because they all learn differently, but that’s the beauty of it all!
In 2022, we opened a Homeschool Co-op in our area underneath the umbrella of Glowbug’s Playhouse, a facility that offerered play opportunities & an After-School Program.
In 2023, I realized we didn’t have to be exclusive in our educational opportunities. We could make it available to families in our area, and thus - this business & micro-school was born! The Ivy Micro-School took over the Homeschool Co-op as well, and we’ve continued to run these two programs ever since.
The idea is to keep our class-sizes and teacher-to-student ratios small so that we can truly focus on the individual students we’re teaching We adapt whenever we need to, without restriction. There are no hoops to jump through and no red tape. Working one-on-one with students allows us to see their exact needs, and we’re able to quickly and easily make changes on the fly (if needed) to meet those needs.
We hear stories all the time of families being unable to get their students what they truly need for their educational experience.
Problem #1: The mainstream educational system is asking too much of students at an early age.
We believe PLAY is a child’s work. The moment it stops being fun is the moment it’s too much for these little ones.
Problem #2: The mainstream education system is required to keep an incessant amount of documentation, meet certain requirements, receive diagnoses, have IEP meetings, etc. in order to be able to offer accommodations to students that need them.
At The Ivy, we don’t have to worry about any of that. You know your child best out of anyone, and we figure out how they learn best really fast when they’re in our care as well. It’s really a lot simpler this way.
Meet the team
Laney Barrett
Founder & Micro-School Teacher
Micro-School Teacher