Fall is one of my favorite times of year at The Innovation School. Students are settling into routines, friendships are forming, and our calendar is filling up with traditions like pumpkin patch visits and our Foliage Fest. But behind the colorful leaves, classroom projects, and fall celebrations is another side of the season that doesn’t always make it into the pictures: the paperwork, reports, schedules, and never-ending to-do lists. All important, all necessary, and all essential to running a school. But if you asked me what I’ll remember most about this fall, I can guarantee it won’t be the compliance reports.
For students, a new school year means reconnecting with friends and settling into routines. For a microschool leader, it means making sure that everything is in place to keep the school running. Enrollment records need updating, student documentation needs collecting, and state compliance reports and government reporting deadlines need to be met. Staffing, payroll, tuition, budgets, and student services all demand attention. In traditional school systems, these responsibilities are often divided among departments. In a microschool, those departments might consist of the same people who are teaching students every day.
Some days, I’m submitting reports during planning time, responding to parent messages after school, and reviewing financial documents after my own kids have gone to bed. None of that work is optional. Every form, deadline, and financial decision helps ensure our school can continue providing the education we believe in. But I don’t think many school leaders look back on a year and say that their favorite memory was submitting a report on time.
Students have their own version of necessary work. They need to learn to read, write, solve equations, and understand scientific concepts, and to develop foundational skills that prepare them for whatever comes next. As educators, we spend the beginning of the year figuring out where each student is academically, socially, and emotionally. In our multiage microschool, grade level doesn’t always tell the whole story. A student may excel in math while needing additional support in reading. Another might understand academic concepts easily but struggle with friendships or confidence. We learn what motivates each child, what frustrates them, and what they need to succeed.
It’s essential work. Just like compliance reports and budgets keep a school functioning, academic instruction gives students the foundation they need to grow. But ask students years from now what they remember most about school. Will it be the Tuesday they practiced multiplication facts, the worksheet they completed in October, or the spelling lesson that finally clicked? Maybe. But I’d be willing to bet that their first answers will look a little different.
They’ll remember the pumpkin patch, dressing up for the Foliage Fest, playing games with their friends, and laughing over something silly that happened during the celebration. They’ll remember outdoor adventures, unexpected classroom moments, and traditions they looked forward to every year. They might remember an older student helping them, a project they were proud of, or the day they finally felt like they belonged. And as a school leader, those are the moments I’ll remember, too.
Of course, these experiences require work behind the scenes. Field trips need permission slips, transportation, and coordination. Celebrations require supplies, schedules, and preparation. But that planning feels different when you see the joy it creates. At The Innovation School, we believe that learning should be about more than completing assignments and mastering standards. Academics matter tremendously, but so do relationships, curiosity, play, and shared experiences. These aren’t competing priorities. They’re connected. A student who feels connected to his or her school is better positioned to engage in learning, and experiences outside the classroom help develop skills that don’t always show up on a worksheet.
One of the challenges of microschool leadership is balancing everything that needs to happen with everything we want students to experience. There’s always another email, report, lesson, or deadline. Those things deserve our attention. Schools can’t operate without structure, accountability, and thoughtful planning, just as students can’t thrive without strong academic foundations. But we can’t become so consumed by the necessary work that we forget to make room for the memorable work.
Years from now, I probably won’t remember which afternoon I finished an immunization report, and my students probably won’t remember which Friday they completed their math practice. What we’ll remember are the experiences we shared, the relationships we built, and the moments that made school feel like more than a place we had to be.
