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When Learning Looks Like Digging Ponds: Rethinking Education with Ryanne Plaisance | Childcare Series · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of Inspired Stories where leaders
0:07
share their experiences so we can learn from their successes,
0:10
how they've overcome adversity, and explore current challenges
0:13
they're facing. Welcome to another edition of
0:18
the Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their
0:21
experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired
0:25
by how they've overcome adversity.
0:27
My name is Anthony Cotespotti and today's guest is Ryan
0:31
Plisance, Co founder and Head of School of the Argo Navas School,
0:36
an Education Center with locations in Playa Vista, Los
0:39
Angeles and Mid City, California.
0:42
They service grades from preschool through middle school
0:45
and they invite you to imagine a learning experience unlike
0:48
anything you had as a child. One that has swing chairs and
0:52
study blocks instead of desks. One where you travel to
0:55
locations throughout the city to learn by experience and not just
0:58
from a book. One where emotional aptitude was
1:01
as highly regarded as academic excellence, 1 where math is
1:05
equally important to entrepreneurship, and one where
1:08
a course on human happiness is available.
1:11
They place a big importance on nutrition and offer a vegetarian
1:15
diet in line with USDA standards.
1:17
They value diversity and actively celebrate individuality
1:21
and self-expression. Ryan herself started her career
1:25
working with homeless families in Chicago before becoming
1:28
interested in our education system.
1:30
Now before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is
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2:01
Now back to our guest today, the head of School and Co founder of
2:04
the Argos Argo Novice School. Ryan, I appreciate you making
2:08
the time to Share your story today.
2:10
Hi, thanks for inviting me out. OK, so tell me about how this
2:14
transition came from working with homeless people in Chicago
2:18
to working in education. I started working with homeless
2:24
families and kids in Chicago and continued that work in Los
2:28
Angeles and really became interested in their educational
2:33
journey. So many of these kids were so
2:36
many years behind academically that emotionally we're giving
2:40
them the skill set to become healthy, stable adults.
2:45
But without giving them the academic resources, they
2:48
wouldn't have the skills to reach their dreams, and our
2:51
school system was not providing them the support that these kids
2:56
needed. As I got deeper into that work
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and education, there were so many areas that were not aligned
3:04
with current research in how our kids learn.
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We're still teaching so much to an outdated methodology and
3:13
needs that are not the the focus that our kids and students
3:19
should be focused on today. So that started to really change
3:24
what area I was going to go into, which is specializing in
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education. I believe when I started a
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program with homeless kids in LA and then traveled to Africa, I
3:37
worked with homeless kids in Malawi.
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That was probably the biggest turning point for me in my
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interest in in education. What happened there that was
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such a big turning point for you?
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As I was with our kids in Malawi, there was so many
3:56
material items that were lacking for those students, but there
4:00
was such a great love and a deep commitment in the community for
4:05
the kids and the families. And it was something not only
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that our homeless kids struggle with here in America, but that
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we as a population and as communities struggle with where
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we, there was such a connection that I found in Africa that
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wasn't, wasn't here. And when you look at how that
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impacts our most vulnerable populations, which, you know, I
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was working with homeless kids and, and youth, there's such a
4:29
disconnect from the greater community and who these kids
4:33
are. And you travel down into our
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education system and these kids are still looked at not for
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their individuality or their passions.
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We're still so focused with all of our kids and getting it right
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and teaching everyone the same thing at the same time, despite
4:52
what the needs are for our kids. So it was just a really
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wonderfully insightful time for me to understand the importance
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of something that wasn't tangible, like material,
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material things. And so, So what did you learn
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from the time in Malawi that you were able to bring back to the
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experience that you now apply here in the States?
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What was interesting because our kids in the states that I was
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working with had so much, so many needs.
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And then when they started helping and working with kids in
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Malawi, something transformed with them where they were
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surprised that they didn't have lunch every day or they didn't
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have shoes or 10 kids were sleeping on a mattress.
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And so in, in the process of the program, this, the students here
5:51
that were and are homeless were saving their allowance so they
5:55
can help these kids in Malawi. And, and the fact that the kids
6:00
in Malawi couldn't just go to school like the kids in LA,
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We're so jealous of the kids in LA of how easy education was
6:08
here, at least the ability to attend school.
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The kids in LA started looking at their lives very differently
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and it almost empowered them because they were able to be
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helpful to somebody else. It empowered them to be helpful
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to themselves. And so for one major take away I
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had is the the power of philanthropy and the power of
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and connections and relationship with people maybe outside of our
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bubble or outside of our world and how powerful that can be.
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And how were you able to sort of share with the kids in LA what
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it was like for the kids in Malawi?
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Are we able to convey what that life experience was?
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So there's a big time difference between Malawi and LA, but we
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would do these late night zoom meetings with the kids and the
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kids would also have pen pail letters, which they complained
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about in the beginning and then really got into because they
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would start to send each other, you know, small trinkets and,
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and, and things. So that relationship really
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blossomed. The greater part of that project
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which didn't come to petition it would be if they could travel
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and then meet each other and and and do that.
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But we weren't able to to get around that red tape at that.
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Point And so who were the kids in LA that you were sort of
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connecting with the kids in Malawi?
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Were you working in two different schools at the time?
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I was the director of development for a nonprofit
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agency in LA for several years that worked with homeless and
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foster care youth. And so it was.
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It was the students in the group homes and the the transitional
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living programs that I was working.
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With and so your experience working with homeless kids in
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Chicago and LA and the children that you worked with in Malawi,
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this helped to kind of inform a philosophy of yours on how
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education should be approached. It developed a deep interest in
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how our kids learn and what is needed for our world to grow to
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be better than we are today. I was tackling so many of these
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problems with our nonprofit leaders, from homelessness to
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hunger to water, the issues and how do we answer those huge
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problems? You know, we have agriculture
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problems and, and we need leaders that care about those
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things, but also that are problem solvers and that are OK
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and feel OK to fail and have the grit to carry on once their
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ideas don't work. In my work with our kids, there
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was such a lack of confidence that was happening with them
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because and not just kids that are homeless and are vulnerable
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population. Our kids all over America in
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education, they didn't feel like they were good enough.
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And they were trying so hard to get an A and it's studied so
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hard to regurgitate information for a test that was supposed to
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show them if they were going to be successful in this world or
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not. And all for, for, for what it
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doesn't. It's not connecting anymore in
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in the needs that we have. And so when you really dig down
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into the research, we have it now of how kids learn best and
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the skills that we need for our world, but we're not able to
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implement that fast enough in our school systems.
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And so that became a passion, I guess, of mine that developed
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because our kids deserve and our world needs an education system
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that has caught up with the times that we are living.
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In And So what does that look like?
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What do kids need to be successful in today's world and
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how can that be delivered from an educational standpoint?
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I think that the first thing is to get out of a mold that
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everyone is learning the same thing at the same time.
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We don't live like that at any other time in any other place in
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our in our life. You know, you're not just
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friends with 30 year olds or just friends with 41 year olds.
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You don't function like that in the world.
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There's so much learning that can happen between ages.
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We know that Maria Montessori taught us that many, many years
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ago in the benefits of being with a multi mixed age class and
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how that helps students become both teachers and students
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organically in an environment. So it's not just the teacher
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who's teaching. You know, their kids are
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learning from from all places and and each other.
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You also have a sense that some kids get material very fast,
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whether that's in math or language or science, and should
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be allowed to continue to move fast through that subject
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matter. And it doesn't mean they're
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going to move fast through all subject matter.
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Maybe in math they're just getting it and connecting with
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that subject, but in English they need more support.
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And so as that child moves through schools, those are very
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different needs that child has. And if our job as an educator is
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to see each child as the individual person that they are
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and to help them grow, we have to change the system in which
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our kids are working through school, which which really comes
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down to just having smaller class sizes.
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Smaller class sizes and allowing the kids to sort of progress at
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a pace that's more comfortable to them.
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Yeah, and where there's no getting it right, you know, I
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think in in school, there's so much of trying to get it right
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versus the love of solving a problem.
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Like lifelong learners, mastery of a subject matter.
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There's always more subject, there's always more ideas and
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problems to solve and curiosities to, you know, open,
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you're never finished, right? And I don't know.
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So that thinking for teachers and students and families that
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there's an end goal versus life being a lifelong process of
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developing learners is a shift in our mindset.
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And how do you teach that in a practical sense?
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Because I think you're really on to something and something that
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I try to teach my own kids. Couple of points I think you're
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touching on here. You know, one, this idea that
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you're never finished learning, right?
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My kids look at me. They see an old man who, you
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know, he knows it all. He's probably known it all for a
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long time. Far from it.
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You know, I tell them if I'm doing it right, every day I am
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learning something new and right.
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And I, and I also try to instill in them this idea of, you know,
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rather than trying to promote and coach them on how smart they
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are and, you know, pat them on the back for that.
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I, you know, hey, you're such a hard worker.
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You're a good learner and you know, you love figuring things
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out. So these are things that I'm
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trying to instill in my kids because I think that it's a much
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better approach. It's a much better, a much
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better mindset to to go through life with.
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And I'm curious for somebody in the education space, how do you
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teach that to kids, like on a practical level?
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I think you hit on something very important.
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The the power of language instead of focusing on this
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picture is the best picture ever, right?
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You're focusing on, I'd love the choice of colors that you use or
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I'd love these, the character traits you made in in your story
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and and in your characters. I love that you're a hard
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worker. Not that this was you got it.
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All right. Doesn't matter to me that you
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get it all right. Just matters that you try your
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best. Like that language shows our
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kids what we value. And that happens at home as much
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as in the classroom. Yeah.
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A program we have that I, I think is really important is our
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design and engineering program. That's because so, so much a
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design thinking becomes very tangible in that space.
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The plans that we have often don't work out the first time
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around. And what do we do with that?
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And so when our students are imagining a toy that they want
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to build or a robot that they're coding, they imagine it, they
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plan it, they design it, they build it, and then it falls
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apart or something doesn't work and they have to go back.
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And so that process in the design and engineering room is
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done very applicable to many other times and places, you
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know, in our kids life that we build on.
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I think it's great. I'm looking at your website here
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and there's a picture. I don't know what this is design
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engineering room, but it certainly looks like it.
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There's a bunch of big butcher block tables.
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There's a lot of creative craft tools in the background.
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It seems like this would be a great place for kids to bring
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their imagination into the the real world and, and create that
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thing that they're they're seeing.
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I don't know about you when you went to school, but I think I
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had one. I was lucky enough to have one
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shop class in fifth grade. But then as we got older, the
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shop classes were for students that were not going to
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academically thrive, in which I don't know who dictated that,
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but somebody did. And it was called alternative
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education. And so I remember being in these
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honors and AP courses and looking out the window and
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watching these kids in shop class fixing cars or building
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chebuchets or doing these really interesting things that were
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considered a backup to the academics of of the world.
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And what a disservice we do to all of us when I still can
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barely hang a picture frame, you know, on my wall.
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But to not understand that the academics go hand in hand with
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the inventions and the building and the making is is just a huge
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disservice that we've done with our kids.
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Taking them away from the world that they live in to learn
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doesn't make sense. So let's talk about the story of
16:30
how Argo Novice actually got started.
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You're working with homeless kids in different locations.
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You're working with children in Malawi at some point.
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How did you come up with this idea to start your own school?
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Yeah, and I had this crazy dream about starting a school way, way
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back in that time in my early career.
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You could see the need as I talked to more schools
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nationally and internationally, the research was there and
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educators were really frustrated they couldn't bring that to the
17:01
table for their kids. And so I dreamed about opening a
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school and I got really excited about it.
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And 100% that's where it would have stayed is, you know, a
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dream in my head. And then something, you know,
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happened that really changed my whole trajectory in in life.
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And I contacted a real rare illness called Transverse, my
17:25
latest, and it paralyzed me for the waist down.
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So it took me about two years to learn to walk again.
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And that just changed my whole way of approaching the world and
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how I wanted to live in the world in the time that I was
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given to do so. How old were you when this
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happened? Gosh, it was 24.
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And so one day you woke up and just from the waist down you
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couldn't move. There wasn't any warning signs,
18:07
anything leading up to this. Well, I I was coming off of a
18:11
bad case of food poisoning. And then then I woke up and was
18:16
feeling better and my hands and feet were tingly like almost as
18:21
if they had fallen asleep. And I was supposed to get on a
18:23
plane to see my best friend. We were having a girls weekend,
18:27
very excited. And my boyfriend was driving me
18:30
to the airport and I remember telling him, gosh, I can't get
18:35
this tinkling to leave my hands, you know, and my feet.
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And we both just chalked it up to, you know, me having been ill
18:43
over the past, you know, few days and it would go away.
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And then I was on the plane and we had a layover in Texas.
18:52
And as we were landing, that feeling started going up my
18:57
whole body and, and that's the last thing I remember before
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waking up on the ground outside of the plane.
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And at first I thought for sure we had crashed.
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And and then when I tried to get up, I realized I couldn't feel
19:13
my legs or move them at all. And so so that was confusing
19:17
because we hadn't crashed. And then I said, well, someone
19:20
must have dropped me because you just don't wake up not being
19:23
able to move your body. And then it didn't make sense to
19:26
the paramedics. They were like that.
19:28
You walked on this plane. And so on the way to the
19:33
hospital, it almost felt like someone was pouring cement on
19:37
me. The rest of my body started to
19:40
go numb and I lost feeling as well.
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So. So by the time I was, you know,
19:47
at the hospital, I was only able to blink and was struggling to
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breathe. And so that, that was really,
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that was scary, really scary. And I thought that was, this
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could be it. And I still wasn't sure what it
20:06
actually happened. But I was really lucky that I, I
20:10
passed out while the plane was landing.
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So I got to the hospital very fast.
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You know, sometimes you, you only 1400 people a year get this
20:19
illness. So it's very rare, but.
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I've met people whose kids have woken up in the middle of the
20:25
night and they wake up and they they, you know, can't move a
20:29
part of their body. Or there was a girl who came
20:31
home from soccer practice and then feel well and then lay down
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and then wake her for the whole night.
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And so nobody knew what was wrong.
20:39
So for me, it was lucky that I passed out in a public place
20:44
because I was able to get to the hospital quick.
20:45
And within 24 hours I got my waist up and I was able to move
20:49
my arms and talk again. But it it took about two years,
20:55
a little under for me to be able to walk again.
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And I think 6 months for me to get any feeling in my feet or
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anything like that. So that changes that changes
21:06
you. The depression was extreme the
21:16
because you're depressed that because you, you have such
21:19
means, right? You need help making food and
21:22
you need help with routine stuff like using the restroom and
21:28
you're not fun to be around. And so you really start to know
21:34
who the people in your life are that are fun friends and the
21:39
people in your life that are, you know, true blue friends.
21:43
And that's a hard process too, to go through sometimes if the
21:48
people that you didn't think we're going to show up and show
21:50
up and you know the people that. You got people surprising you on
21:55
both ends. Right, right.
21:57
So it's a hard process to go through when you're going
21:59
through something hard. It's hard to be a friend to
22:02
someone who's going through something that hard.
22:04
I think a lot of times people are afraid.
22:09
So you found some strength through some friends and family
22:12
who are around to support you. Yeah, incredible people.
22:17
And, and mostly my boyfriend who's now my husband who and we
22:23
had just moved in together. We had only been dating for
22:26
maybe eight months. So so who knows, but I don't
22:32
think I would have ended up with him and I definitely wouldn't
22:38
have started school had that not have happened.
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And why? How did this extreme hardship,
22:45
this near death experience, I'll call it, how did that fuel you
22:50
to want to start a school? The fear that don't come from
22:58
money, so I don't easily have access to investors and
23:03
financial backings to do something like this.
23:06
And so the fear of trying something that seems impossible,
23:10
right? How do you start a school when
23:11
you don't have hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars
23:16
to back that project? The fear is that if you fail,
23:21
you will lose everything. And when you go through a
23:27
traumatic event where you've almost lost your life, all of a
23:31
sudden those other things that you are afraid of losing don't
23:34
seem as important or they seem workable.
23:40
So, so before I would have said, well, if we save our money and
23:45
we start the school and we put all of our savings and
23:48
everything into it and we fail, but then I'm bankrupt and takes
23:51
seven years to get the credit back and who, where am I going
23:55
to live? And this time around it was if
23:58
we fail and I'm bankrupt and I don't have a job, I will get
24:04
another job. I have friends and a support
24:08
system that will and a family that will make sure that, you
24:12
know, I, I'm not on the streets for a little bit and how lucky
24:15
that I have that, that vision. I won't go hungry.
24:20
And so if I lose everything and have to start over, I can, I
24:24
have the ability to start over. And that was the, that was the
24:29
change. It's and you only have one.
24:31
Life, it's a completely fresh perspective, right?
24:33
And I think this is really helpful for people to hear and I
24:35
know it's a great lesson for me to hear.
24:37
Again, there's so many times as business leaders or people who
24:41
want to start their own business, you know, there's the
24:45
fear of what happens if it's not successful, what happens if I
24:47
fail? And I think when you can go
24:50
through those absolute worst case scenarios and see that
24:54
coming out the other side, you are, you have still the most
24:57
important thing, which is your health and your life.
25:01
All the other things seem rather small and and I think that the
25:06
beauty of the difficult experience that you went through
25:09
is that you were given that shift in perspective to see what
25:14
is truly important. Bankruptcy, not fun, right?
25:19
Having to having to liquidate everything, you know, having to
25:22
start all over again. If it came to that, that would
25:24
not be fun, but you know, you'll be all right because you you've
25:28
got your health and you've got your life.
25:29
So OK, so that's super helpful. I love that story.
25:32
And so now you're like, OK, I'm going to do this.
25:35
I came through the other side of this difficult situation.
25:37
I've had this dream to start a school.
25:39
So tell me about the first steps.
25:43
So I had to convince my partner that this was his dream too.
25:48
Is this your life partner, your husband, or a business partner?
25:51
Yes, this is my husband. Yeah, and my husband works in
25:53
business. He's a developer and he said no
25:59
way because because we're saving for a house and you know, all
26:04
these, we're not risking at all and all these things.
26:08
And I said, well, let's save money.
26:11
You'll save for a house and I'll save for a school and we'll see
26:15
how things pan out. So our goal together was to to
26:22
really see how we could because I had been out of work because I
26:26
had been paralyzed, right. I had been on disability.
26:28
So it was getting back on our feet that that way.
26:32
And also looking at what options we had with our money, with our
26:36
four O1 KS were, were different things.
26:39
And so we moved into a really tiny apartment.
26:44
Yeah. In the process of this time,
26:48
right when I got the braces off my legs, the doctors had said it
26:51
would be highly unlikely that I could have children.
26:55
And then I became pregnant right when the braces came off my
27:00
legs. So that was unexpected.
27:02
And so we, one baby in tow and two dogs, we moved into this
27:06
tiny apartment in the city and saved every penny that we could
27:13
almost for the next, I don't know, 10 years.
27:16
And, and that, that, that became how we invested into our first
27:24
preschool. So we started in a, in a home.
27:26
It was this beautiful house. And on the top of the house was
27:30
a weather vane and it was the argon novice ship.
27:34
And so this house felt like it was a little castle, you know,
27:42
it had the greenery and the lights in the middle of the
27:44
city. And so we opened our first place
27:48
and started taking our kids all around the city and all these
27:52
different experiences. And I was teaching there at
27:56
first. And it's hard because you're
27:59
doing everything at first in the business and for this type of
28:02
business, right? So I'm cooking and I'm doing the
28:04
cleaning and the curriculum development and, and all of it.
28:10
And that was hard, but I loved it.
28:13
I, I don't think, I think I'm too old right now to, to have
28:16
the energy for that today. But when we opened, I, I was
28:20
still there and my kids were in the program.
28:23
And so that was wonderful to be with them every day.
28:25
And yeah, so sorry that I, I went on and tangent, but that's
28:30
how, that's how we did it. And then we grew from there.
28:33
And so was it successful right out of the gate?
28:36
I mean, I'm going to guess things are pretty lean early on,
28:39
right? You got to reach a certain scale
28:41
before you're able to actually, you know, take some money out of
28:45
the business and maybe think about those growth steps.
28:48
But did you feel like pretty early on we've got something
28:52
here like this is working? The first six months were slow,
28:59
and then it really started to pick up.
29:01
I was, I had already been working in a school in that
29:04
community, so I was very lucky to have a lot of community
29:08
support in spreading the word about our school, who knew me as
29:11
an educator and a teacher. And we're also excited about the
29:13
work we were doing. So that word of mouth really
29:18
died was what made her break up broke made her it's.
29:22
What made you? Thank you.
29:24
Yes, in the beginning, things got harder as time went on
29:31
because we grew and there's always that question with the
29:33
business of how fast to grow and the fear of growing too fast too
29:39
soon. And so we struggled with that.
29:43
You know, we opened our first building in 2015.
29:46
We opened our second preschool in 2016.
29:51
Then with the funding from those two smaller in home schools, we
29:55
opened up our center school, which is a big jump for us.
29:59
And with that came all the permitting and building and
30:02
zoning, which you don't know until you've been through that
30:08
what what that is. You know, I was paralyzed and
30:13
that was hard. But that year with building.
30:16
This trumped that, huh? I mean, it was rough, you know,
30:23
'cause people would come in and they would inspect something and
30:27
say you need, you know, to be ADA qualified, you need to have
30:29
a ramp here and here's what you need.
30:31
And then you hire contractors who would get the plans
30:34
approved. They would do the thing and then
30:36
some new inspector would come in and then say, oh, well, I want
30:40
this to be two inches higher or two inches over.
30:43
That's going to cost another $25,000.
30:45
And there's nothing that you can do but but be nice and kind and
30:51
pay the money and find the money.
30:53
And so at a certain point we're like, we're, we're, we're going
30:58
to be in trouble because it's, you know, every store you ever
31:00
heard the building plans are delayed and the construction is
31:04
delayed, which means you can't open, which means you're not
31:06
making money. And so that that was a hard
31:09
time. And again, you have to go back
31:10
to that place, which was harder this time because we had built
31:13
something that was working. So losing everything before
31:16
you've built The thing is hard. Losing everything after you've
31:20
built The thing is even harder. And so that that was the come to
31:26
Jesus moments of, OK, if this is where we're, we stop, then it
31:33
was a run. This is where we stop, but we'll
31:35
go until we can't go anymore. And luckily we made it through
31:40
that. Time you were able to get to the
31:41
finish line of being able to get all the permits checked and open
31:46
the new facility. Yes, and I think this is, this
31:52
is a hard, a hard thing to to realize anybody who's who's I
31:59
think done anything unless you have the the wealth of resources
32:03
and the wealth of money to just easily go through those time
32:06
periods. You have to be creative and you
32:10
have to to figure out ways to keep going that may not be
32:18
traditional, traditional routes. And I think if we didn't do
32:26
that, we wouldn't have gotten, we wouldn't have gotten by.
32:28
What were some of the creative things that you were able to
32:30
employ to get you through that? Well, so you you have to have a
32:35
license to be a preschool in the state of California.
32:41
My kids and one of my teachers kids are in the class.
32:44
So for temporarily we became like a parent Co-op and followed
32:48
the rules with a parent Co-op so that we could keep, so that one,
32:52
parents wouldn't lose their places at the school and, and
32:57
two, we could keep having some income while we were waiting for
32:59
all these other things to, to come into place.
33:05
But that was hard because I went back in the classroom then to,
33:08
to make sure we met the rules of what a parent was.
33:10
And in the midst of everything that, but that was something
33:15
that kept our clientele that didn't have us lose our
33:17
families. And we were really transparent
33:19
with our families about what was happening.
33:21
So they all got it and they all understood, but parent co-ops
33:26
don't have the same jurisdiction as licensing and we're being
33:28
scrutinized with licensing going through that process.
33:31
And so, you know, that was a little you want to make sure
33:34
that you are doing everything right and then nobody is helping
33:39
you along the way with figuring out some of these pieces.
33:43
So there are lots of things where people are just don't seem
33:45
to know. So you're like, oh, that's not
33:47
our jurisdiction. And so it's, I don't, I don't
33:52
know what my point is other than it takes a community and
33:58
creativity and a willingness to to try new things.
34:04
Tell me about what's behind the name.
34:06
How did you choose the name of the school?
34:07
What does it mean? We were first City Kids
34:12
preschool. We opened a city Kids preschool.
34:14
We were going to be City School for elementary middle, and then
34:17
somebody else opened up called City School right before we
34:22
expanded. So Argo Novice, Jeff, I
34:26
mentioned was the weathervane on the top of our first location.
34:29
But Argo Novice is also the first ship according to Greek
34:33
mythology, the first ship to set sail to the seas.
34:37
And we really love the concept of who we are being about
34:41
helping our kids navigate their world.
34:44
I'm not here to tell them who they are or to make them into
34:48
something that they're not. I'm here to support them and see
34:51
them and give them a voice and tools and experiences to find
34:55
their own passions to help them navigate the choices that are
35:00
best for them and in service of their community.
35:04
So that ship really was a symbol of of the foundation and the
35:11
core of who we are. I'm.
35:13
Going to go back to what you were talking about, going
35:16
through the difficult time opening up the new facility and,
35:18
you know, having to get creative, That's something that
35:21
I think is discounted or undervalued in entrepreneurs is,
35:26
yeah, when you're scrapping and you're, you know, you were in
35:29
startup mode and you're trying to figure things out, you need
35:31
to get real creative. I'm curious, in a very tight
35:34
labor market like we have now where it's hard to retain and
35:38
recruit good staff, what are some creative things that you've
35:42
done and found success with to hold on to as well as fine good
35:47
folks to join your team? My answer to this is my answer
35:53
to to the same as retaining constituents and getting
35:57
funding. And it's it comes down to
36:00
relationships with people and relationships with staff.
36:08
The community that was based or built in our staff and teaching
36:13
team has become so much beyond just work for our staff.
36:20
Our teachers are really there for each other.
36:24
You know, in the beginning we made it a big priority to do
36:26
things that were just fun with each other.
36:28
I think. Well, I learned what I think is
36:31
fun is not always fun for everybody.
36:33
So like we used to do these amazing race things where I take
36:38
everyone around the city and the guide would we'd be tracking up
36:42
these hills and finding these clues.
36:45
I loved it, but not everybody did.
36:47
So we changed it up to sometimes we'd go out to dinner or a
36:50
comedy show or we would, you know, just have happy hour or
36:55
treat them to massages, go to a pool for the day and just treat
37:00
everyone to lunch and just enjoy each other.
37:02
Because you know what happens when you see each other as
37:06
people, when you have a conflict, you in your mind, you
37:10
do, you know that person's not out to get you.
37:12
You know that person cares about you.
37:14
There's a level of forgiveness and grace we offer one another
37:17
when we have a positive relationship before the thing
37:21
happens. So, so that's been instrumental
37:24
in our team being so strong as we've grown.
37:29
We have also found though, because our school travels a
37:31
lot, so it really takes a teacher to be with us for a year
37:36
to know if this is the right place for them.
37:40
It can seem fun to teach outside and then some teachers teach
37:44
outside and they hate it. They don't like the sun on them
37:48
that much. They don't like the different
37:50
variables that they encounter outside.
37:54
But if you've been with our school for a year, then you tend
37:59
to be with our school for a long duration, which usually that
38:02
first year that it it takes people to to understand what's a
38:05
good thing. Yeah, I understand what you're
38:07
saying, You know, about building those team bonds.
38:10
If you've experienced somebody and had a personal connection
38:13
with them outside of work, right, you've seen that that
38:17
human side to them, like you said, you, you know that they're
38:19
not out to get you like something just happened.
38:22
And so let's talk it through. I I think those kinds of things
38:25
can be really helpful and beneficial.
38:29
Well, and I think a lot of times, especially in the
38:30
workplace, we can be upset about things and we don't talk about
38:34
them. And in goodness, it's not just
38:36
in the workplace. This happens, right?
38:37
In many relationships. We can hold on to those things
38:41
and then we harbor those resentments, and then they build
38:44
to something that is then harder to deal with because all that
38:47
anger through all that time has been building.
38:50
But when you're going out with people and meeting them as
38:53
friends, it's easy to resolve conflict.
38:58
So I want to talk about the decision to go from preschool,
39:02
kindergarten all the way up to middle school.
39:04
That's not a trajectory that I hear happen a lot.
39:08
That's a big jump. I mean, for a lot of people, if
39:11
they want to expand, they're going to add more of the same
39:15
age groups that they're already accustomed to serving.
39:19
It's easier because you've got a curriculum already set for that
39:22
age bracket. Now you've got to build a
39:25
curriculum for different age groups.
39:27
There's a just a lot more to manage.
39:29
What was kind of behind that thinking You.
39:33
Know it's a good question because all of those age groups
39:35
have very different needs and teaching those students.
39:39
You need a different set of skills for all of those
39:42
developmental, you know, times and areas.
39:45
I would have opened a high school to start high school was
39:50
what I was most excited about changing in our educational
39:53
system before our kids go into whether it's college or trade
39:58
school there, there's so much work there that I wanted to
40:01
support our kids in business wise, business model wise, just
40:06
opening a high school was so difficult.
40:10
I don't think we would have been successful.
40:12
The need for preschool was was there.
40:16
And growing with our kids from preschool up seemed seemed much
40:20
more doable from a business model, which is why we started
40:24
in preschool but always had the the wants and the direction to
40:30
move up with our kids. Where does the school go from
40:35
here? Are you feeling good about where
40:37
you are with the curriculum, with the size?
40:39
Are there growth plans? Are there new things that you
40:41
want to introduce? I would love to go to high
40:45
school, but every time we've taken that jump, we've really
40:48
talked to the parents, you know, when they were leaving
40:52
preschool, we talked to that graduating class and said, do
40:55
you want to come with us? Do you want this education?
40:59
And if the community said yes, then we grow.
41:02
So will the community say that now?
41:03
I don't know. High school is a very different
41:06
beast and we have been growing fast curriculum wise because we
41:15
stay with kids where they are academically.
41:17
I already have kids in high school curriculum, so we are
41:20
already curriculum mapped through high school.
41:22
So that's not a concern for me in terms of meeting those kids
41:27
needs. You know, we're accredited and
41:29
part of that process of being accredited was so that our kids
41:32
could get college credit in high school.
41:37
And so we're already working with two colleges to implement
41:40
that for high school. But the the question for me as
41:48
part of the high school program really involves longer term
41:51
internships and apprenticeships. And so the work that that is in
41:56
partnering with communities is a lot to do.
42:00
It just depends on what our community wants and how many,
42:03
how many people want to come on board to support that for their
42:06
kids and if this is the time to do it.
42:09
My oldest daughter is going into eighth grade, so she's kind of
42:15
been the upper class. So.
42:19
So we'll have to see what we do there 'cause.
42:23
Next year she may go to a non mom school for the first time.
42:28
Yes, which, which she doesn't she, she says to me, how could
42:34
she says, how could you do that to me?
42:36
Showing me what education could be?
42:38
And then you're going to stick me in a desk.
42:41
And I, I, I joke that it might be good for her to really
42:45
understand what, what the system is.
42:49
We take the kids to Costa Rica every year because part of our
42:51
Spanish immersion program is that they learn in Costa Rica
42:54
for three weeks and study in in a traditional school.
42:57
Sorry, you take your own children, your biological
43:00
children, or your students as well.
43:02
The students as well. And so she's gotten a taste of
43:09
it's a wonderful school. I love this school.
43:11
And they, they only speak Spanish.
43:13
So it really enhances our kids Spanish and living a life in the
43:17
shoes of somebody else is so important for our kids with
43:20
empathy and, and all, all of those good things.
43:22
But she's had a taste then of what a traditional, you know,
43:26
school is. And it's a shorter day.
43:28
You know, our day is long, it's 830.
43:30
Our school is open from 8:00 to 6:00.
43:32
And so a lot of kids are there that time and most schools close
43:36
at 2:30 and the school in Costa Rica closes at 2:30.
43:40
And she, you know, and her friends have said it's so much
43:43
shorter, but it, it feels so much longer.
43:46
And our, our butts hurt. So, you know, sitting in the
43:49
chair. And I think our kids used to
43:52
that system have just gotten so used to it that it's, it's just
43:57
the way of life. And should it be?
44:02
And are we serving our kids? The best should be the questions
44:04
we're asking. And so this is a good time to
44:07
sort of dive into a little bit more about how that daily school
44:11
experience is different for children going to your school
44:14
than a traditional one. We kind of touched on it a
44:16
little bit, some of the stuff we went over in the intro and early
44:18
on, but I'd like for you to paint a little bit more of a
44:20
picture. So our classes are, are 90
44:29
minutes long and usually there's a 15 minute break in that class
44:33
period. But we do that to, to enable the
44:36
real project work that happens in each class.
44:38
So our kids do tests, they test a lot.
44:40
They're assessed a lot because remind you we're, we're
44:42
following our kids and where they are academically.
44:45
So in order to do that, we really have to know if they've
44:47
mastered a subject matter or not.
44:50
The thing is, they're not taking the same test as everybody else
44:53
is. They might be doing the same
44:54
thing as another two or three kids in the class, but it's very
44:58
rare for a whole class to be on the same study subject matter.
45:03
So they're taking a test just for them to know how they've
45:07
done and for the teacher to be able to assess they've mastered
45:10
this or we need more time in this area.
45:13
And then the other part of that class is project based, whether
45:17
that is like one of our Spanish classes is Stuart Little class.
45:22
So they're reading Stuart Little in Spanish.
45:25
They're in the end, they watch the movie in Spanish and and
45:30
tell the difference between the book and the movie.
45:32
But they're also in groups, and their goal is to do, they
45:35
studied Rube Goldberg. You know, the machines, the
45:39
dominoes. Crazy contraptions to get
45:41
something. It's very simple done, yeah.
45:43
And so they have to get their certain criteria for the machine
45:46
they have to build, but it's getting their little Stuart
45:48
little mouse from one side of the room to the other.
45:50
And they're using Spanish as the way that they need to
45:53
communicate in order to work together to build this
45:57
contraption. So they're also learning
45:59
engineering and design, which gets brought into that class.
46:02
So our teachers really communicate and partner with
46:04
each other on different projects.
46:07
And so they're not sitting in a desk regurgitating information
46:11
from the teacher the whole class period.
46:14
There may be 20 minutes of a class period where the teacher
46:18
is in front of the room having a discussion or something like
46:22
that. But then they break up into
46:24
groups and they have one-on-one time with the teacher for a
46:27
small group with the teacher. So they get that time, which
46:32
which isn't a normal thing in a traditional classroom.
46:35
Our classes in elementary school are only 8 to 9 kids in the
46:38
class and 10 or 11 in middle school.
46:43
You know, in our design and engineering room, our kids are
46:45
using real toys, not toys, real tools.
46:47
They are not toys. It should not be treated as
46:50
such. But in order to do that, they
46:53
need the teacher to be very closely monitoring, you know,
46:58
how they're using those, those tools to, to build real things,
47:02
whether it's a go Kart that they're going to be racing in.
47:06
Our kids this past year built a submarine to go down underwater
47:11
with them in their scuba classes.
47:13
So our kids take scuba diving as part of their math and science
47:16
curriculum, and they can only go to 40 feet at this age.
47:21
And so they built this submarine to take down with them that
47:25
could go farther than them in the water and collect data and
47:28
samples for them to be able to take up.
47:31
And so that was the real world, you know, activities they were
47:35
doing and that's what their class was.
47:38
And so. That's pretty cool.
47:40
How would you describe a good fit for your school, whether
47:44
you're thinking about the individual student or the family
47:48
all together? That's a good question.
47:54
I would say our school is a good fit for almost any child or any
48:00
student right now. We are not a special needs
48:06
school so I would love to add that support to the school, but
48:14
we travel a lot so we need students that are able to follow
48:17
directions and get on and off the bus and self regulate
48:23
appropriately as we as we travel, you know the world.
48:28
So outside of that, any, any child would do well at our
48:34
school. We, we have kids that are
48:35
logical and linguistic learners, which is more how we grew up and
48:38
were taught. We have kids that are more
48:40
aesthetic or auditory or visually.
48:43
All of us are all of those things, by the way, But we tend
48:46
to lean into some of those areas more easier than others, right?
48:51
So it's our job to help our kids figure out how they learn best
48:56
and support that. Now families, families if they
49:02
know education and research, they want us.
49:05
But a lot of families are uncomfortable with with things
49:12
changing. I think people we are
49:14
uncomfortable with change. And so if you want a really
49:21
traditional, if you feel really comfortable in a traditional
49:25
setting where your child is learning the same way you did in
49:28
a desk in a classroom with a teacher in the front, you're
49:32
going to struggle with not seeing that.
49:36
You know, IA lot, not a lot, but I've had families come in who
49:40
know the research and know we need to do something different.
49:44
But then then they'll come to me and said, say something fishy is
49:48
going on. My child is loving school And,
49:52
and I'll say, oh, that's great. And they'll say they've never
49:57
loved school. They're talking to the kids down
49:59
the street about how they love their school.
50:02
They there, they must not be learning, you know and and prove
50:07
to me. Because learning is painful,
50:08
right? That's, that's how we all came
50:11
up. Sorry.
50:12
Sorry to interrupt. Yeah.
50:13
Go ahead. What what a terrible thing to
50:15
hear your kids say. I I love my school.
50:18
And the concern was so, you know, real and are we had kids
50:23
building a pond for a bit and studying perimeter and area.
50:26
They were messing it up and then had to rebuild it.
50:28
And I've learned a lot of math and, and how to do those
50:32
dimensions. And the parents are like, all
50:34
we're seeing is pictures of our kids digging a pond is when does
50:41
the learning happen? And so, so the hardest part is
50:45
there's such a big education component to what learning is
50:48
and what it looks like. That almost needs to happen
50:52
first before we can do the work that I've realized more and more
50:57
as we've gone through this process.
50:59
Because if I ask you, what does learning look like?
51:03
There's probably some image that comes to your mind.
51:05
I mean, you're an entrepreneur and some of them that's assuming
51:09
there are some different things that that you might have in mind
51:11
then. Very much so, yeah.
51:13
I've got I'm taking notes here in our conversation, the follow
51:16
up questions and and to me, this is what learning looks like.
51:19
It is sitting down. There's pen and paper.
51:22
Maybe today it's a it's a tablet or a computer.
51:24
That's that's my visual of what learning looks like, yeah.
51:29
Yeah. And so when we define what that
51:31
looks like and that is learning, that is learning, right?
51:34
We're taking notes and we're hearing and listening.
51:38
But is learning also building upon and is learning also a kid
51:44
figuring out how to how to work a robot?
51:47
And is that the same and equal to a kid memorizing different
51:53
equations? Is 1 better than the other?
51:55
And and how much time do we give to each?
52:00
And what's the goal? And that that that becomes the
52:03
questions, right? Is our goal and should our goal
52:09
be anymore for our kids to be memorizing all this information
52:16
to pass certain tests? That's the question.
52:22
Do you remember all those tests you took growing up?
52:29
No, you know, if looking back, I have some awareness and some
52:33
realization that the the best things I learned were a little
52:39
bit more of what I would call the the soft skills.
52:42
Like I took a speech class in high school, which was so
52:46
beneficial for so many things I would do later on.
52:50
I took a typing class in middle school, which continues to serve
52:53
me well to this day. And I, I don't want to say that
52:58
social studies or well, I will say that calculus was useless
53:02
for me, but you know, not that social studies was useless
53:07
helpful to understand what's going on in the world and where
53:09
we came from. But those are the things that
53:12
were sort of less applicable to me as I got out of school and
53:17
started to sort of live my real life.
53:20
What I wish I would have gotten better at was and, and that I
53:25
continue to work on today is just better at the process of
53:28
learning new things, whatever that may be, and learning it so
53:33
that I can apply it and use it. Not just learning it so that I
53:38
can retain it for the next 60 minutes to pass the test.
53:42
And there's, there's the difference, right?
53:46
I mean, you look at some, some core things.
53:48
Are multiplication tables important for us to know?
53:52
Really memorization is the best way for our kids to do that.
53:55
So we're not saying all or nothing.
53:57
I think there are very few things that are all one thing or
53:59
all another. But things need to change for
54:05
those skills you're talking about to to be essential and for
54:09
our kids to get as they become adults in our world.
54:12
Yeah, I like that. Ryan, I just have one more
54:15
question for you, but before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
54:18
If you're listening today and you like today's content, please
54:21
hit the subscribe, like or share button on your favorite podcast
54:24
app. Ryan, I also want to tell people
54:27
the best way to get in touch with you.
54:28
You've shared a lot of really interesting ideas, whether
54:31
somebody's interested in maybe getting on the wait list for
54:33
your school or they just want to talk to you about some of your
54:36
approaches to education. What's the best way for them to
54:39
connect with you? Our website has has my e-mail
54:44
and our teachers e-mail and staff, so it's probably.
54:47
The best way theargoschool.com and we'll put it in the show
54:51
notes. OK, last question for you, Ryan.
54:54
I'm curious, how do you see your industry evolving in the next
54:58
five years? I've talked with several
55:01
preschools and education centers in California.
55:03
I know that there's a lot of challenges in place now.
55:06
How do you see things evolving and changing?
55:12
Education is changing. It has to.
55:16
The system is broken in many ways and we have no choice but
55:22
to embark on that change. How we change is is the
55:25
question. COVID really shined a light, I
55:29
think for many about about the system and caused a lot of
55:34
distrust between the education system and families.
55:36
And I think we have more distrust than we have in a long
55:43
time between parents and teachers and families in the
55:47
school system. And a part of that is good
55:50
because our kids need more in the classroom and and we're not
55:53
delivering what we should be to our kids.
55:56
So that's good. The hard part is we all need to
55:59
work together in pursuit of our students success in order for us
56:03
to be successful in changing the system.
56:05
And we're struggling with that right now.
56:07
I, I hope it's depending on, you know, swings all the way one way
56:11
and all the way, you know, the next that we, we come to a point
56:15
where we're able to work together and provide our kids
56:18
what we already know they need. It's not research we have to
56:22
uncover, you know more about neuroscience than ever before
56:25
because of technology. We know how brains work and how
56:30
our kids learn better than we ever have before.
56:33
So it becomes a question about when, when we're going to
56:36
implement that and when we're going to make that a priority
56:40
over anything else. That's terrific, Ryan.
56:44
I want to be the first one for thanking you, sharing both your
56:48
time and your story today. I really appreciate it.
56:51
It was so nice talking with you, Anthony.
56:53
Thank you for having me. Folks, that's a wrap on another
56:56
episode of the Inspired Stories podcast.
56:58
Thanks for learning with us today.