WILLIAMSBURG — This fall, Krista John, owner of The Wordsmith Mobile Bookshop, plans to open the Williamsburg School for the Arts & Innovation — a private, secular school.
This project-based institution will reflect aspects of John’s Montessori history, having worked at Desert Garden Montessori since 2018 and being a homeschooling parent.
The Williamsburg School for the Arts & Innovation is one of the few of its kind to be offered in Williamsburg. A unique aspect of the school is that it allows homeschooling students to attend part-time, picking and choosing the classes that they need. Students may also attend full-time, and the school will be in session during regular school hours.
John’s microschool will serve grades 3 through 8, but plans are to expand to the high school level soon. Courses will be based on projects instead of typical lectures or worksheets. According to John, the curriculum will be composed of core skill blocks and interdisciplinary subjects. The core subjects include reading, writing and math, which will be led by “guides,” or teachers, in independent or small groups of students. The interdisciplinary blocks will allow for children to dive into the arts and innovation aspect of this unique institution with classes such as STEM, design, entrepreneurship, theatre and visual arts.
“We’re guiding the kids in their academic journeys, really focusing on individualized learning, and then the rest of the day is all project-based, interdisciplinary work.”
One factor that makes the Williamsburg School for the Arts & Innovation stand out is its focus on using professionals as educators. Jessica Weber, an experienced entrepreneur, is planning to teach the entrepreneurship and leadership course in the fall.
According to Weber, the school will also offer a mentorship program that links children to an adult mentor in the career field in which they are interested.
“They will be thinking outside the box. They’re going to have more of a growth mindset versus a mindset that, ‘I’m going to school so I can go to college and I can get a job, ’” Weber said. “I want them to think, ‘How can I put time into building myself and maybe even building my product or my own business?’”
Besides being secular, private and project-based, John notes the importance of financial accessibility at her new school. The school’s full-time five-day week enrollment tuition is $6,950 per year.
“I know that that number is not something everyone can afford, but it is still significantly less than what the other private schools are asking,” John said.
John hopes grants and donations, along with fundraising, will eventually allow the school to offer scholarships and financial aid to prospective students.
The school promises to meet students where they’re at and allows them to learn at their own pace. Weber notes that her son, a current third-grader who is studying math at the pre-algebra level, will be given opportunities at Williamsburg School for the Arts & Innovation which he would not be able to receive in public school.
“There might be another third-grader in [his] class that is still working on his fractions and decimals, and then my son can be next to him, working on his pre-algebra. They don’t have to be held to other children’s standards, they can go at their own pace.” Weber said.
Annie VanSkiver, another prospective educator, has a background working at Oceanside Evaluations as a licensed clinical and school psychologist. According to VanSkiver, she will help facilitate core academic subjects and will have a role in the student’s enrollment process.
“The thing with project based learning is that it really gets the children accessing education in a way that really is meaningful for them and that keeps them engaged, but also gives them the skills that they need in the American education system in order to be successful and get to college, if that’s their choice,” VanSkiver said.
VanSkiver believes that Williamsburg School for the Arts & Innovation is a good choice for students who are “not into” school, providing the “meaningfulness” factor. But additionally, she says that it is a good option for academically-oriented children, too, as she says they succeed in many settings.
Though the school currently doesn’t have a special education professional, John says the school would be a good option for students who are creative, self-motivated and have strong interests. According to John, the school will have small teacher-student ratios of 12-to-1. Additionally, she adds that the school is great for students interested in the arts and theatre, as theatre will be incorporated into the daily activities.
This past spring, John and her husband started a year-round theatre school in Williamsburg called Page to Stage. The success of this program was due in part to the outpouring of support from the community, according to John.
“So [Page to Stage] was kind of like my test group to see, like, are there people out there that want to support something like this?” John said.
One of the main challenges, according to John, is finding a building to host the school. Williamsburg School for the Arts & Innovation does not currently have an address. According to John, there are two possible options for next year, however, they would prefer their location to eventually be in downtown Williamsburg.
Despite those difficulties, Williamsburg School for the Arts & Innovation has not halted its progress, and is hosting a Parent Informational meeting on June 1 and opening enrollment on June 15.
“Our ability to allow kids to take the time that they need to develop their core skills is really important,” John said.
