“You just need a table, some time, and the willingness to say, ‘Hey, let’s get together.'”
Jennifer Kempin | June 2025
Last month we had our biggest education entrepreneur meet up yet! What started with just 3 attendees a few months ago grew to 11 this time!
A group of us microschool founders gathered in Ambler, just north of Philadelphia, for our latest in-person meetup. This one grew down to the wire, with RSVPs rolling in until the last minute… and it turned out to be our biggest group yet!
We met at a local restaurant (as we always do—no structure, no formal agenda, just good food and better company). What made this gathering especially sweet was the mix of familiar names and brand-new faces. Some of these “new” faces were people I’ve known online for over a year. Meeting them in person felt like catching up with old friends.
We shared stories, strategies, and struggles. We offered each other resources, recommendations, and lots of encouragement. We also ran into a very real “problem”: the group was too big to all talk to each other!
Our spontaneous solution? We walked across the street to Current Education, one of our local microschools. Their cozy space—right on Ambler’s main street—gave us the perfect landing place to continue our conversation as one big group.
These meetups remind me just how important it is to be in community. Microschooling can be lonely. Many of us are doing work that feels invisible or misunderstood, often without coworkers, mentors, or local peers. But when we come together, the room buzzes with recognition. And more than that—when we link arms, we build momentum and become more of a presence in the community.
What did I learn? So much.
- I learned about Bramblewood, a school with yurts on their property (yes—yurts!), now bursting at the seams.
- I got to hear about Quest Microschool, their incredible location and program, and their growing partnership with a local Quaker Meeting.
- I learned how A Fuller Education has transformed their non-school days into vibrant activity days, offering a variety of enriching experiences for local homeschool families right on their property.
- We swapped insights about finding and funding new spaces, insurance hurdles, programming ideas, growing pains, managing parent relationships, and what our schools might look like five years from now.
- We also talked about regular life—kids, food, and what we’re watching on Netflix.
It was fantastic.
These are the conversations that sustain us—and the relationships that will help shape the future of education in Pennsylvania.
If you haven’t come to a meetup yet, I hope you will. We’ll keep creating spaces for this kind of connection. Until then, know that you’re not alone.
We’re out here with you—building, dreaming, and doing it together.
Want This Where You Live? Here’s How to Start.
If you’re reading this and thinking, I wish we had something like that near me… you can make it happen. Here’s how I got this started—and how you can, too:
Step 1: Find Your People
Start looking for other microschool or hybrid school founders in your area. I found most of mine through Facebook, but you can also try Google or even Google Maps by searching for terms like “microschool,” “homeschool hybrid,” or “alternative education.”
Step 2: Create a Connection Point
I added the people I found to our Facebook group, PA EDUpreneur Network. Joining a space like this isn’t required, but it does help. It gives everyone a place to land, connect, and keep the momentum going between meetups.
Step 3: Pick a Date
This one tripped me up for a while. At first, I tried asking people what days worked best for them. It was too much back-and-forth, and nothing ever got scheduled. What worked better? Just pick a date. Then send personal messages or emails to the other founders and invite them—with a note about why you’d love for them to come.
Step 4: See What Happens
Don’t worry if only one or two people show up. Our first meetup had just two people! But we stuck with it.
Step 5: Do It Again
And again. And again.
Each time we met, the group grew. The connections got deeper. It started to feel like something real.
One more tip? Take a photo and share it. That small act builds trust and shows others that something is happening—even if they couldn’t make it this time. If you are a part of the Facebook group, tag the attendees and keep the momentum going.
You don’t need a formal structure or a perfect plan. You just need a table, some time, and the willingness to say, “Hey, let’s get together.”
You never know what might come from it.