Star Lab
Sarasota, FL
What if children actually loved school? Star Lab starts there — bringing tiny, joyful schools directly into public-housing communities and building the day around movement, mastery, curiosity and the science of how children learn.
About
Located in Sarasota’s Newtown community, STAR Lab brings small, tuition-free microschools directly into neighborhoods where families have historically had fewer high-quality options. Its first school was created in a public-housing community; its second operates at the Roy McBean Boys & Girls Club. Inside, students follow individualized learning paths, move frequently throughout the day, take recess every hour, learn through Montessori-inspired materials and mastery-based instruction, and explore subjects ranging from geography to botany and astronomy. Fridays are for projects, field trips and community experiences.
Their Story
After 25 years teaching and leading public, private and charter schools, Alison Rini left the traditional system with a question she could not shake: What would school look like if it were designed around how children actually learn? She was especially interested in proving that children growing up in public housing could achieve at the highest levels when given personalized instruction, movement, strong relationships and the right environment. She found an unused Head Start classroom in a Sarasota public-housing complex and saw possibility where others saw an empty room. And so it began.
Alison Rini
Founder & Head of School
“When we originally wanted to open in public housing, it was because we wanted to provide access to children who were potentially underserved. But what we learned by operating right alongside their grandparents, counselors, and pastors, is that the community itself is an incredible asset.”
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Why they stand out
STAR Lab stands out because the innovation is not only what happens inside the school, but where the school goes. Rather than asking families in underserved communities to travel across town in search of something better, Alison Rini brings the school to them — using existing community spaces, including public housing and Boys & Girls Clubs, to create intimate, high-quality learning environments close to home. That approach removes major barriers of transportation, facilities and cost while preserving what makes the school distinctive: small size, high teacher-student ratios, individualized learning, frequent movement and deep family connection.
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How they STOP for education
STAR Lab is deeply Permissionless in both design and location: it takes underused community spaces and turns them into schools rather than waiting for traditional facilities or systems to appear.
It is Transformational in bringing personalized microschooling directly into public-housing communities.
Florida scholarship funding helps make the model Sustainable for families, while its combination of mastery learning, movement, structured literacy and highly individualized instruction makes the student experience Outstanding.
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Winning their award
The $500,000 finalist award will help STAR Lab move beyond its two Sarasota campuses and bring the model to additional communities. The next planned site is at the North Port Boys & Girls Club, with additional opportunities identified in Arcadia, Venice and other public-housing communities in the region. The goal is not simply to add campuses, but to create a repeatable way to bring extraordinary small schools directly to children and families who otherwise might never have access to them.
