Who prepares the teachers of microschools, classical schools and Christian schools? Mostly organizations that publish no counts.
We found twelve organizations preparing educators for the schools portable funding pays for. Three publish a number of people prepared. One reports to a state.
Our Florida supply data counts only people who finish a state-approved program. Teachers in private schools and microschools usually need no state certificate, so their preparation is invisible to the state, to Title II and to IPEDS. We went looking for it directly.
Microschools. The Micro Schools Network sells a $3,500 leadership certificate that bundles Harvard's general Instructional Leadership Certificate with its own microschool course. ASU Prep runs a Microschool Entrepreneur Fellowship. KaiPod Catalyst's first founder cohort had 17 people from 13 states, 80% of them former classroom teachers. The National Microschooling Center launched a training institute in 2026. Prenda said in 2021 that about 30% of its guides were certified teachers; its Florida page now says about half. Acton Academy reported 250+ affiliate schools in 2021 and publishes no guide-training figures.
Classical schools. Hillsdale College's Graduate School of Classical Education opened in 2022 with 11 master's students and aimed for 15–20 a year. Great Hearts runs an Academy for Classical Teachers and publishes no counts.
Christian and Montessori schools. ACSI certifies Christian-school teachers with a bachelor's degree in any field plus Bible and philosophy-of-education requirements; it publishes no count of holders. Florida's FACCS certification “stands alongside” state certification. The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector now has 11 affiliated teacher education programs.
Only one provider appears in a state count: Noble Education Initiative, whose online program finished 116 Florida teachers in 2023–24 because it is state-approved.
The limit, first. This is a list, not a census. Absence of a published count is not absence of training. The finding is narrower: the preparation that serves this sector is real, scattered, mostly outside universities, and mostly uncounted.
Sources
- Micro Schools Network — Certificate in Micro School Leadership
- Business Wire — KaiPod Catalyst starts with 17 founders (2023)
- Step Up For Students — Prenda guides (2021)
- National Microschooling Center — Training (Dec 2025)
- Hillsdale Collegian — Classical education master's begins with 11 students (2022)
- ACSI — Certification
- NCMPS — Teacher education programs jump to 11 (Apr 2026)
- Acton Academy (Wikipedia)
- Prenda — Florida
- FACCS — Certification program
Cite as: When Money Follows the Child. Who prepares the teachers of microschools, classical schools and Christian schools? Mostly organizations that publish no counts Field Note 16, October 2026. https://www.whenmoneyfollowsthechild.org/notes/16/ Accessed [date].