One of the first questions families ask us is whether their child will be happy at Unbound and whether they’ll be challenged academically. We ask those same questions about our own children. Both matter, and if either one is missing, we want to know.
Why we started Unbound
When Heather, Cassie, and I started Unbound, we kept coming back to one question: What should we teach our children now to prepare them for a world we can barely picture 15 years from now?
AI is making knowledge easier to access and, in many ways, turning it into a commodity. Knowing things still matters. So does knowing what questions to ask, how to tell whether an answer makes sense, and how to use what you know to solve a problem. We wanted to build a school where children practice those skills early and have room to follow their curiosity.
A 2025 report from Brookings and Transcend found that 74% of third graders surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they loved school. By fifth grade, that figure was 55%. By tenth grade, it was 26%. There are many reasons enthusiasm can fade. One thing we can do as a school is give children more say in their learning and time to dig into a question they care about. [Read the Brookings and Transcend report](https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/REPORT_The-Disengagement-Gap_FINAL.pdf).
What learning looks like here
Unbound follows the Acton model. Learners take increasing responsibility for their work, and our Guides help them build the habits that make that independence possible. In a Socratic discussion, a learner might have to explain why they believe something, listen to a classmate who sees it differently, and reconsider their own answer. In a Quest, they might design a game, explain the rules to other learners, and revise it when the first version doesn’t work.
These are opportunities to practice research, writing, math, public speaking, and collaboration in the same project. They also give children a reason to keep working when something gets hard. We see a similar idea in accounts of Finnish education, where play and independence have a place alongside academic instruction. [Read a teacher’s account of Finnish education](https://finland.fi/life-society/the-simple-strength-of-finnish-education/).
How we know children are learning
Curriculum matters tremendously to us. We want learners using materials that challenge them and help them understand what they’re doing. We’ve been trying Khan Academy and are preparing to pilot Beast Academy, which uses illustrated stories, puzzles, and challenging problems to teach math. Being a small school gives us room to try something, look at how learners respond, and change course when we think we can do better.
One area where **we need to get better is assessing academic progress and communicating it clearly to families.** We’re exploring Let’s Go Learn to help us see which concepts a learner has mastered and where they need more instruction or practice. Combined with what Guides see every day, that information should help us answer the questions parents actually have: What can my child do now? Where are they getting stuck? What are we going to work on next?
Is this the right fit for your child?
Your child doesn’t need to arrive as a confident public speaker or an independent learner. Those are skills we want them to develop here. The question is whether your family is drawn to a school where children have a growing say in their work and are expected to take responsibility for it over time.
Some families prefer more teacher-led instruction and a more predictable day. That can be a good choice. If you’re considering Unbound, tell us what has worked for your child, where school has been hard, and what kind of support helps them take on a challenge. Ask us what we’d do when your child is stuck or how we’d tell you if they were falling behind. We’d rather have that conversation openly so you can make a good decision for your family.
We want children to leave Unbound able to say, *I can ask good questions. I can do difficult things. I know how to learn.* That’s what Heather, Cassie, and I set out to build. If it sounds like what you want for your child, we’d love to meet you and show you what a day at Unbound looks like.
Zak Boca
Co-founder, Unbound