Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennie Jones
Hi Jennie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a mom of four, passionate homeschooler, and education entrepreneur. I have always enjoyed teaching. I have taught dance for over 25 years, starting as a teaching assistant when I was 14 years old. I taught in both private and public schools, as well as higher education at Utah Tech
University. When I started raising my own children, even though I loved teaching them and seeing them learn, I hadn’t really planned on transferring my dance teaching skills to homeschooling. However, at the time my oldest would have started kindergarten, we were living in Arizona, and they only had full-day kindergarten in the schools. I didn’t see that schedule being a good fit for my active 5 year old boy. I also was observing families around me who said that their kids behaved well at school all day, and then came home to fight with their families, letting loose all of their pent-up frustrations, impulses, and energy. I had two homeschooling friends who encouraged me to give it a try, telling me that “you can’t mess up kindergarten.”
With that vote of confidence, I jumped into the homeschooling world. True to my form, I took a pretty deep dive into all things homeschooling at this point. My passion for teaching actually led me to reading all about our current school system, different methodologies and modalities, educational philosophies, parenting and child development.
At this time, I learned about a fairly new concept: microschooling. Microschools bridge the gap between homeschooling and traditional/public schooling by bringing together the best of both worlds. They offer small class sizes with the individualized learning paths and attention of homeschooling, while still creating a community in which students can collaborate with and inspire one another, share resources to increase opportunities, and provide the practice ground for those all-important social skills. I say that the concept was new because the term “microschooling” was new, but the truth is, microschools very much embody the old one-room schoolhouse practices of the past, where a community would come together to hire one teacher, and create a space where the local kids could learn. In a similar fashion, microschools today allow parents to choose teachers who meet the needs and values of their families. They can offer flexible schedules, a variety of educational philosophies and teaching methods, and unique learning environments.
I dreamed of starting my own microschool, but it took several years, and some changing laws, to get me to where I am today, opening The Treehouse Agile Learning Community. In 2023, Utah passed two important school choice laws. One created The Utah Fits All Scholarship, which essentially gives parents a scholarship to use to find the right educational fit for their kids. They can use these funds for private school, microschools, homeschooling, tutors, community classes, and even a la carte public school classes. The second law defined microschools–where they can be held, how many students they can have, and created specific provisions for hosting them in residential areas or your own home. I took the leap of opening my home up to our community and the community responded! In our first year, we have 12 students enrolled. We also were just awarded a grant from VELA Education to help us offer scholarships for Fall 2025!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have definitely had to learn how to navigate our local and state laws, and how to advocate for myself within those laws. Even though Utah had passed Senate Bill 13 which allowed for microschools in private residences, I learned that our city didn’t yet have an ordinance adopted to align with the new bill. I had to learn about the process of moving things along in my city, how to speak up for my rights and follow up with city officials. I’m not usually the squeaky wheel so this was all new territory for me. I needed to learn about the normal business things like insurance, city regulations, fire code, business licenses–although I would prefer to be working on school project ideas and leaning into my students’ learning, I discovered that the business side can’t be ignored. Fortunately, it was mostly a matter of phone calls, office visits, and emails, and I found that people are pretty helpful. Also, the microschool community is really active and supportive of one another!
We also decided to open the school in our home right when we were in the middle of a renovation. We decided to buckle down and knock out all the most necessary projects so we could open our doors in time for fall 2024. It was a wild summer! Our first families were so patient to wait for our open house, and we were so grateful they settled for photos and zoom calls for 6-8 weeks before we could officially enroll them and show them around!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The majority of my career has been in dance, so some might not readily see how that could lead me to educational entrepreneurship. However, I think that dance taught me to be an entrepreneur. The thing about being an artist is that you need to create work for yourself. Sure, there are still some dance companies out there that can hire dancers for a salary and benefits, but they are getting fewer and fewer. Most dancers learn to market themselves as teachers and choreographers; they pick up work where they can find it. And when I got into directing a dance company, I learned even more about staying relevant, and adapting to the needs and demands of a community.
In The Treehouse Agile Learning Community, we focus on self-directed learning. In many ways, I feel like I am teaching all of them to be creators. Agile learning is based on the cyclical process of growth that involves intention, action, sharing and reflection. This process is not always linear, and being agile means that we regularly reflect, and pivot as often as necessary to work toward our goals. The students know that their lives will be what they make of it, and at school, we learn skills as we try to create the community we want. The students gather together over common interests, they find ways to share their interests with one another, with their fellow students, with the local community, or online with a larger, even worldwide community. They are makers in the kitchen, the woodshop, the sewing room, the music room, with legos and magnatiles, or with digital tools.
I think I’m probably most known for my love of interest-led learning. One of my students’ moms once said that I must be very grounded because she couldn’t imagine having so many kids around me, each following their own ideas and starting so many projects. I think it’s just that seeing them excited to create, to try new things, and to build feeds me. When I taught dance at a public school, I struggled with teaching kids who were required to be there but didn’t love dance. I once told a friend that it sometimes felt like I was shoving my favorite thing down their throats. I feel pretty passionate now that kids are naturally motivated and can learn a lot when they are given space to try their ideas. I have no desire to compel kids to learn things for a grade or some other reward, or to avoid a punishment. I love seeing them work hard because they love something, or because they see its relevance in their real life!
How do you think about happiness?
What makes me most happy right now is seeing my own kids and my bonus kids thriving in the school. Seeing my own kids thriving in the school. I love what The Treehouse has done for my own kids in terms of giving them a community to grow with. We were happy doing our own interest-led learning, but I see how this has given them opportunities to try new things, take on some leadership, share their own talents and skills, and be inspired by those of others.
Additionally, I feel like I’ve adopted all these bonus kids, and I love seeing them grow. One night after we had first opened, I started talking to my husband about our own kids and things I wanted to try with them. Then I started moving on to our students, and all the ways I was excited to help them pursue their interests. He started teasing me that we were going to be up all night now that I had more than doubled my kids to talk about!
I also love that I get to do the school with my husband. We used to own a bakery and I loved having a business that we were growing together. Now, I not only get to grow a business with him, but it’s also a business that involves teaching, which is so fulfilling for me.
Pricing:
- 6000 per year
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thetreehousealc.wixsite.com/the-treehouse-alc/general-5
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetreehousealc/profilecard/?igsh=Mmp6b3NudnRtdGln
