We dig into what parents actually want from schools: strong reading and math, safety and belonging, and communication that treats families like partners. Texas’s EFA, new accreditation pathways for microschools, and the rise of homeschooling point toward a more plural system grounded in trust and transparency.

• basics as survival skills in modern life
• safety, belonging, and being seen
• the black box problem and real-time updates
• drop-off and pickup as engagement signals
• growth of homeschooling, hybrid, and microschools
• Texas EFA scale, caps, and prioritization
• accreditation as a quality floor, not a barrier
• building a TEA-aligned microschool accreditor
• vision for plural, calm, human-scale schools
• gratitude for mentors who spark learning

About our guest
Colleen Dippel began her career as a public-school teacher. Colleen is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Families Empowered, a Texas based not for profit parent service organization. Families Empowered has provided K-12 school navigation services to over 105K low-income families in Texas. Colleen was a 2013 LEE Emerging Political Leadership Fellow and a 2017 Pahara-Aspen Fellowship recipient. She served on the Advisory Board of the Rice Educational Entrepreneurship Program at the Jones School of Business. She is a member of the John Cooper School Booster Club Board and the Dyslexia School of Houston Board. Additionally, she serves on the Advisory Board of the Thrive with Autism Charter School. She and her daughter are active participants in The Woodlands TX chapter of the National Charity League. She considers being a mother to her two children her greatest accomplishment. 

Connect with Colleen
Families Empowered
Texas Education Freedom Accounts Program
TX Microschool Accreditation Service

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About the podcast
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments.

Powered by Prenda Microschools, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle young learners' curiosity, motivation, and well-being.

Got a burning question?
We're all ears! If you have a question or topic you'd love our hosts to tackle, please send it to podcast@prenda.com. Let's dive into the conversation together!

Important links:
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• Get our free literacy curriculum

Interested in starting a microschool?
Prenda provides all the tools and support you need to start and run an amazing microschool. Create a free Prenda World account to start designing your future microschool today. More info at ➡️ Prenda.com or if you're ready to get going ➡️ Start My Microschool