Creative Minds Microschool
Wendell, NC
This joyful microschool is built for children who learn by wondering, making and doing — blending personalized academics, hands-on STEAM projects and real-world problem-solving with a teacher apprenticeship that grows the next generation of educators.
About
Creative Minds seeks to reignite learning in children for whom the fire has begun to fade — and to keep that spark alive for those who still have it. Through discovery, engaged learning, meaningful connection and opportunities to create, students are encouraged to follow their curiosity, explore their ideas and build confidence in their own abilities. The goal is not simply to help children master content, but to awaken the creative mind and help them rediscover the joy of learning.
Their Story
When demand began outpacing available seats, Dr. Lisa Swinson did not wait for a traditional teacher pipeline to catch up. She built one. Creative Minds created its own apprenticeship pathway so future teachers could learn the craft inside the kind of student-centered environment they would eventually lead. That decision turned a local microschool into something larger: a model for simultaneously expanding schools and the talent needed to sustain them.
Lisa Swinson
Founder & Principal
“I had spent years helping other leaders improve schools and launch new ones. Eventually, I asked myself a difficult question: “If I know what children need and what is broken, what responsibility do I have to build something better?” I did not start Creative Minds because opening a school was easy. I started it because staying silent had become harder.”
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Why they stand out
Creative Minds did not stop at creating a different experience for students. When growth created the need for more educators who understood that model, Dr. Lisa Swinson built a “build your own” teacher apprenticeship to prepare them from within it. Aspiring teachers learn through hands-on classroom experience, mentorship and coaching, creating a talent pipeline that grows alongside the school itself. It is a practical answer to one of the hardest questions facing personalized schools: how do you expand without losing the people and culture that make the model work?
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How they STOP for education
Creative Minds is Outstanding in the individualized, project-based education it provides students and the joyful culture it creates around learning.
Its teacher apprenticeship is Transformational, changing how future educators are prepared for personalized schools.
North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship helps make the model Sustainable for families, while Swinson’s decision to build both a new kind of school and her own educator pipeline is distinctly Permissionless.
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Winning their award
The $500,000 finalist award will help Creative Minds expand beyond Wendell, where its current facility will expand to serve up to 120 students, and move forward with planned Durham and Goldsboro locations. With leaders already identified for both communities, Creative Minds projects serving approximately 540 students across its locations by fall 2028.
