Parents turn to hybrid school for many reasons, some very personal and family-specific. But as we’ve polled families who return to a hybrid school model year after year, there are some common reasons many families choose hybrid school for their children.
1. They choose hybrid school because it fits their family’s need for breathing room.
We like to call this “intentional margin,” which is one of Learnwell’s core values. Our hybrid school was designed around this foundation and a belief that families should have time to explore, rest, and enjoy favorite rhythms together that don’t revolve around limited school breaks, such as summer and Spring Break vacations. Learnwell was designed with this in mind.
There are five intentional breaks each year, and even if a family travels outside of those breaks, teachers work with them to ensure their child’s education doesn’t suffer. In fact, many families incorporate their traveling into student learning goals.
2. Parents want smaller class sizes for their children.
Whether you have a kindergartener, middle school student or a high schooler, you’ve probably had a few moments where your child gets overwhelmed by the sheer volume of a classroom. When a school allows 20- to 30-something students in each class, it can sometimes be loud.
However, it can also be a difficult learning environment for students who learn better in small groups or one-on-one. Learnwell’s hybrid school has a student-to-teacher ratio of 1 to 10 in elementary school and 1 to 15 in middle school.
These ratios mean the class roster is lower. This allows for greater depth of learning, too.
3. Parents want faith to be integrated into their child’s education.
Not every family at Learnwell subscribes to the same faith, but Learnwell is a Christian school. As hybrid schools go, many are either exclusive — meaning a family must sign a covenant saying they believe the same thing that the school believes — or they’re all-inclusive, meaning the school doesn’t subscribe to a faith background and avoids teaching from any faith perspective because of it.
Learnwell is different. Our school is founded in the Bible and God’s great love for humankind, and we teach students that God is love and that He wants them to know His love personally. But all are welcome at Learnwell. We don’t want anyone to counteract what we’re teaching, but we don’t ask families to commit to a faith that mirrors another family’s faith.
Our hybrid school supports what Christian families teach at home, and we leave many specifics to each family. Faith is important and integrated into classroom discussions, discipleship classes, and policies and procedures. But we keep the goal in mind: God created each human being for love and, through love, providing a way for every person to relate to Him through the salvation of Jesus Christ.
4. Families want an excellent education that includes opportunities for deep friendships to be formed for their students and themselves.
At many schools, students will make a friend at lunch or on the bus, but families have little opportunity to interact with the families of other students. Learnwell wants to provide whole families the opportunity to meet each other, provide support wherever needed, and form authentic community — another core value — while also seeking excellence in education (another core value).
We are a school, so of course, we pursue the best educational materials, curriculum and experienced and certified teachers. A strong foundation for students beyond “doing well in school” is one of the distinctive factors of Learnwell’s hybrid school model.
Learnwell believes that a student who graduates without knowing himself and how God made him or her is a student who has learned to “do school well” but has not truly learned what can set him or her up for a lifetime of success and direction.
Families come to Learnwell because they want more than a rigorous class; they want their students to know themselves, live by their faith, support other students, and have the foundations to understand how they learn best for the rest of their lives.
Why One Hybrid School Works and Another May Not
Some assume that one hybrid school is similar to all hybrid schools, and that is simply not true. Every hybrid school has different operational procedures, various values, and learning/teaching preferences.
Learnwell is a hybrid school that supports strong mental health in students and partners with parents to provide an excellent education for their child. Learnwell is not a school that takes educational ownership 100% off a parent’s proverbial plate.
When a hybrid school operates with little parent partnership, it usually also asks:
- Parents to operate within specific educational boundaries that are set by the teacher with little opportunity for individualization.
- Students to master concepts in a certain way, without accommodating student preferences or their natural wiring.
- Families to let the “experts” move a child’s education forward rather than helping a family evaluate what will work best for their season in life, their current needs, etc.
Thankfully, Learnwell wants to be a true educational partner in every way. While group education does require some systemization of curricula and pacing, it does not mean students can’t individualize their learning or that parents can’t participate in that process.
We welcome parent input, so much so that teacher-parent conferences don’t really exist. A parent can conference with a teacher at any time; simply scheduling a meeting after school or sending an email — at any time of the year as much as is needed — provides parents the peace of mind they need to ensure their child’s doing well academically, socially and emotionally.
Learnwell cares about the whole child and the whole family. Join us for a tour or a Discover Learnwell parent information night if you’re looking for a hybrid school that operates differently. We can’t wait to meet you!
What if you don’t have a hybrid school nearby? We have a solution for you; you can still homeschool 100% with a partner leading you for the tricky aspects of it — pacing, scope and sequence, what to do when you hit a roadblock, and how to handle it when something is too easy or too tough, to name a few. The Learnwell Navigator Program offers the same support that you would get from a Learnwell hybrid school education, including a dedicated teacher to provide your lesson plans and serve as your guide for needs along the way. Discover the Learnwell Navigator Program — used by families all over the world — so you can homeschool with more confidence.