The Treehouse
Agile Learning Community
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a full-time school or a homeschool enrichment program?
The Treehouse is a full-time private microschool program that provides required instruction and educational oversight through a structured three-day instructional model. Families may support students at home with teacher-assigned work, but instruction, planning, oversight, and educational direction are provided by the school.
How often do students attend?
Students participate in required school programming three instructional days each week.
Who provides instruction?
Instruction is provided by school staff, mentors, and instructors through workshops, projects, discussions, collaborative learning, and guided academic experiences.
How does a mixed-age classroom environment work?
At The Treehouse, we work together as a community of adult mentors and learners in two cohorts, ages 5-10 and 9-15. Our showcases are all together in order to build community and reap the many benefits of mixed ages including:
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Enhanced Social Skills and Emotional Development:
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Interacting with peers of different ages encourages children to develop stronger social skills. Younger students learn from older ones, who often model more advanced social behaviors and empathy. Older students, in turn, can practice leadership and mentorship, fostering a sense of responsibility and empathy.
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Increased Academic Achievement:
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Mixed-age classrooms allow for more personalized learning experiences. Teachers can adapt instruction to meet individual students' needs, rather than teaching to a single grade level. This flexibility often results in better academic outcomes as students can progress at their own pace and receive targeted support.
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Promotion of Collaboration and Cooperation:
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Collaborative learning is a key feature of mixed-age classrooms. Students learn to work together regardless of age differences, promoting teamwork and cooperative skills. Peer teaching and learning become natural, where older students help younger ones grasp concepts, reinforcing their own understanding in the process.
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Broader Perspective and Understanding:
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Exposure to peers of different ages exposes students to diverse perspectives and experiences. This broader perspective can enhance critical thinking skills and empathy as students learn to appreciate different viewpoints and backgrounds.
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Reduced Competition, Increased Support:
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Mixed-age classrooms tend to reduce the competitive atmosphere often found in single-age settings. Older students are less likely to see younger peers as direct competitors, fostering a more supportive and nurturing environment where collaboration and mutual encouragement thrive.
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Development of Leadership and Mentoring Skills:
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Older students naturally assume leadership roles in mixed-age classrooms. They learn to mentor younger peers, which develops their leadership skills, boosts their confidence, and reinforces their own knowledge through teaching.
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Long-term Positive Impact on Personal Growth:
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Research suggests that students who experience mixed-age classrooms often demonstrate greater emotional resilience, adaptability, and self-confidence. These qualities contribute to their overall personal growth and preparedness for future challenges.
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Is financial aid available?
The Treehouse is funded by tuition. The tuition is $6000 per child per year. However, Utah has a few program options that can help or even fully cover this cost.
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Utah Fits All Scholarship program opens applications once a year and offers $8000 education scholarships to K-12 students. We are approved Utah Fits All vendors which means that families can pay directly from their Class Wallet account. Visit here for more information.
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Open Ed and Harmony Education are both education reimbursement programs in Utah that can cover up to $2000 of tuition. Learn more about them at opened.co and harmonyed.com.
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Email thetreehouse.alc@gmail.com if you are interested in sponsoring a learner at The Treehouse.
Is The Treehouse accredited?
What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a voluntary process where schools are reviewed by outside organizations to ensure they meet certain academic and operational standards—typically those used by large public or private institutions. It’s often important for high schools looking to award diplomas or for schools that need access to federal funding.
Why Our Microschool is Not Accredited
As a small, independent microschool, we’ve chosen not to pursue traditional accreditation. This gives us the flexibility to create a learning experience that is deeply personalized, hands-on, and responsive to our students—free from the one-size-fits-all requirements that often come with accreditation.
We prioritize student growth, creativity, mastery of skills, and a supportive community, which many families find more meaningful than standardized benchmarks. That said, we do keep records of student projects, regularly reflect with them on growth, and can provide records for transition into other school settings if needed.
However, we do have a partnership which allows us to build an accredited high school diploma pathway for those who desire it. This is an additional cost, but builds a complete, accredited high school diploma using project-based and interest-led work.
Where do students go after completing the program?
One of the great benefits of self-directed learning is that students have the time and space to get to know themselves, their strengths and interests. Given all the exploring, many start to get a clear idea of their "career" interest around age 14 or 15, and thus it is a great time to start considering educational paths that will lead them in those directions. For some, it will be a technical college or vocational school. Others may enroll in University classes--there are many options for this, and Open Ed and Harmony Education are great resources for such programs. Others find internships or mentorships, online school, or other microschools. There are many ways to homeschool high school and many ways to get into college without a high school diploma. This website has many great resources. However, if your plan is to return to public school for high school, it is simplest to transition your child before 9th grade. Here is a great blog post about transitioning kids from homeschool/microschool to public school. The culture at The Treehouse is intentionally designed to foster lifelong self-driven learning and a growth mindset, all of which will greatly contribute to their future success no matter which path they take.
What does a typical day at The Treehouse look like?
Learners can begin arriving at 9:30am. There is no bell. We ease into the morning, greeting one another and checking in with learners. Learners can jump right into their personal projects, they can catch up with friends, or they can sit on the porch swing and finish their breakfast. We also have a morning invitation set out on the table each day with a mind exercise or hands-on challenge including puzzles, building materials, riddles, or art supplies.
At 10:00am we are "officially" starting the school day. We begin the morning with a quick sync-up to see who will be where, who needs help or teammates, and who needs extra guidance. By 10:15 we aim to be in our morning work block. Students are able to build and track their personal projects on our shared digital platform. They can jump right into work on personal or group projects. These can include learning a new software like GarageBand, making soap, baking a recipe, a Minecraft build challenge or creating a play.
Lunch is also self-directed. Students may bring a lunch and eat it when they feel hungry. Other times, with prior planning and approval, students may choose to try their hand at cooking with a mentor. Learners have access to the kitchen according to certain community rules to govern safety and cleanliness.
The afternoons are spent in mostly group work. After our morning work block, and some play at lunch, we are usually ready for offerings. These are usually facilitator-led (or student-led with facilitator help) opportunities to work on new skills, be introduced to new tools, or simply practice the steps of seeing a structured project through to completion. In the past, this has looked like rocket building, soap-making, play creation, slime, group film projects, or following an art tutorial.
Toward the end of the day, learners clean up their projects and store Works in Progress in their personal bins. At the end of each session (6-8 weeks), we practice sharing our growth by celebrating earned pins or presenting our Masterpieces and Works In Progress at our pinning party.
What does interest-led learning look like at The Treehouse?
Interest-led learning at our school combines student curiosity with teacher guidance, skill development, collaboration, and meaningful learning goals. Students are not simply “left to do whatever they want.” Instead, instructors help students connect their interests to projects, challenges, academic practice, and real-world learning experiences.
Our program includes:
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Themed showcases and events where students prepare projects, performances, displays, films, inventions, artwork, or presentations connected to a shared theme
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Optio learning quests — customized task lists designed by instructors around each student’s interests while supporting skill development and learning goals
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Curated classroom exploration with hands-on materials, creative spaces, books, STEM tools, games, art supplies, and collaborative opportunities that expose students to new ideas and skills
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Portfolio documentation that tracks student growth, projects, reflections, and progress in:
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Wellness
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STEM
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Creative Expression
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Communication
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Civics & Community
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How this looks in ages and stages
Non-Reader or Early Reader (Approx. Ages 5-7)
At this stage, many students are still developing the ability to sustain focus for long periods of time. Their day is often made up of shorter bursts of curiosity, movement, play, conversation, exploration, and hands-on learning tied together by foundational skill-building.
A student interested in animals during a showcase cycle may rotate through facilitator-led offerings like animal storytelling, habitat building, sensory play, counting activities, drawing, dramatic play, and cooperative games. Along the way, teachers intentionally support early reading skills, vocabulary, writing readiness, emotional regulation, collaboration, and basic math concepts.
As the showcase approaches, students gradually work toward sustaining attention and effort through small group projects, rehearsals, and shared responsibilities connected to the event.
Emerging Reader/Emerging Self-Direction (Approx. Ages 7–10)
Students in this stage are continuing to strengthen focus, independence, and follow-through while building confidence in reading, writing, math, communication, and collaboration.
A student excited about a Tiny Film Festival showcase may participate in short facilitator-led workshops on storytelling, script writing, set design, filming, editing, and presentation skills throughout the month. Daily learning experiences may vary between creative exploration, guided academic practice, collaborative work, and movement-based activities.
Teachers help students connect these experiences into longer-term projects by scaffolding planning, teamwork, revision, and sustained effort over time in preparation for the showcase.
Confident Reader/Developing Self-Direction(Approx. Ages 10–14)
Older students are increasingly ready for sustained focus, deeper collaboration, and more complex project development. Students participate in teacher-guided projects that require brainstorming, research, troubleshooting, revision, leadership, and real-world problem-solving.
For example, a student interested in sustainability and engineering may work with peers to design and present a community improvement project for a showcase event. Their Optio quests may include research, persuasive writing, budgeting, project planning, leadership responsibilities, peer feedback, and iterative design work.