The COVID-19 pandemic boosted the microschool movement across the country, as families sought alternatives during shutdowns and remote schooling. The trend has continued post-pandemic, as part of a broader desire for educational choice.

Olivia Sumner’s glass-walled classroom inside the Learning Lab space in downtown Wichita is an experiment in learning — a K-6 microschool developed and operated by Wichita public schools.

Last summer, the district reached out to several families who had planned to pull their kids out of Wichita schools. Some were headed to private or religious schools, others to homeschool.

They changed their minds and instead enrolled at Creative Minds Academy .

“We know that a traditional classroom is not the best environment for every student,” said Rob D

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