{"id":888165,"date":"2026-01-27T22:13:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/27\/the-rise-of-an-outdoor-school-network-educating-nearly-1000-students\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T22:13:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:13:48","slug":"the-rise-of-an-outdoor-school-network-educating-nearly-1000-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/27\/the-rise-of-an-outdoor-school-network-educating-nearly-1000-students\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise Of An Outdoor School Network Educating Nearly 1,000 Students"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"An<\/picture><\/div>\n
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Students at Carolina Kids Co-op<\/span><\/p>\n

Jess Alfreds<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

At Carolina Kids Co-Op<\/u><\/a>, school is out\u2014outside, that is. <\/p>\n

At its flagship location in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, more than 150 students in preschool through high school gather daily for school in a local public park, taught by experienced educators while immersed in the natural world. Separated by ability level, the students spread out across the greenspace, a ringing bell signaling the shift from one class period to another. This location is one of 17 across four states, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Kentucky, that together serve nearly 1,000 students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks very much like you took a private school and took the roof and the walls off,\u201d said Jess Alfreds, who founded Carolina Kids Co-Op, or CKC, in 2022. Alfreds began homeschooling her daughter in 2020 when schools shut down and she and her husband began working remotely from their home in Connecticut. The family soon decided to move to Myrtle Beach and continue homeschooling, but when they arrived, Alfreds was surprised that there weren\u2019t any secular, academic-focused homeschool programs in her area. Like so many of today\u2019s education entrepreneurs, Alfreds built what she couldn\u2019t find. <\/p>\n

What began with 12 kids, including Alfreds\u2019s then-first grader, grew quickly to dozens of students doing school on the beach. \u201cWe hired 14 teachers in two weeks. We put a program together and for the next two years, we really perfected this program in Myrtle Beach. Our kids were doing better than they had ever done before,\u201d said Alfreds. All of CKC\u2019s Myrtle Beach students are homeschoolers, with about half of them attending the full-day, drop-off program five days a week. The remaining students come part-time, typically at least three days each week. <\/p>\n

CKC is part of a diverse ecosystem of emerging K-12 schools<\/u><\/a>, built by entrepreneurial parents and teachers and driven by families looking for entirely different learning models that prioritize both academic success and social-emotional well-being. This educational ecosystem was developing before 2020, but it has gained significant traction in the years since the pandemic. Frustrated by Chromebook-centric classrooms, cookie-cutter curriculum and testing and rising youth mental health concerns, some parents are seeking\u2014and building\u2014alternatives<\/u><\/a> to conventional schooling. <\/p>\n

\u201cLife saving\u201d is how Stephanie Webster described the impact of enrolling her daughter Brynleigh in CKC\u2019s Myrtle Beach program three years ago. Webster explained that remote learning during the pandemic was difficult for her daughter. Then, when Brynleigh\u2019s public school eventually reopened for in-person learning, there seemed to be heavy reliance on technology-centered curriculum. \u201cIt was like a different strategy of learning at that point, where they continued the remote learning in the classroom. She didn\u2019t learn that way. That was a struggle for her,\u201d said Webster. \u201cIt just got worse and worse for Brynleigh in traditional public school,\u201d she added, explaining that her daughter\u2019s anxiety spiked, bullying became an issue and concerns rose about self-harm. <\/p>\n

Webster knew she needed to act. She withdrew Brynleigh from public school in the middle of sixth grade and enrolled her full-time at CKC. \u201cAlmost immediately, I saw a shift in my child and just could not believe the difference,\u201d said Webster. She insists it was the individualized, outdoor learning environment that prompted such a positive change in Brynleigh. CKC is entirely screen-free and the curriculum is tailored to each student\u2019s academic needs, determined by intake assessments. \u201cHonestly, I think she felt loved,\u201d said Webster. \u201cIn public school, she felt like a burden. When she started CKC, she really felt like part of the family. They took her under their wings and made sure she was succeeding.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Jess Alfreds founded CKC in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jess Alfreds<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

While Myrtle Beach is CKC\u2019s original location, the network\u2019s momentum is increasingly coming from entrepreneurial educators who are bringing this distinctive model to their own communities. In Gainesville, Florida, Trish Way, a former public school teacher and reading specialist, launched a CKC program after realizing her neurodiverse son\u2014who has ADHD and sensory processing disorder\u2014was unlikely to thrive in a conventional classroom. \u201cIt was obvious he wasn\u2019t going to fit,\u201d she said. \u201cThe kindergarten teachers were honest that he was most likely going to get sent home.\u201d As a single mom at the time, she began homeschooling while searching for an in-between option that blended structure, flexibility and community.<\/p>\n

When she heard about the CKC network in a local homeschooling Facebook group, it instantly resonated. Way launched a pilot program in a public park in the spring of 2025 with 12 families. Today, CKC Gainesville has 53 students, most of whom attend tuition-free using Florida\u2019s school-choice programs that enable education funding to follow students to their preferred learning environment\u2014including programs like CKC. <\/p>\n

All CKC locations are independently owned and operated, with site directors gaining access to CKC\u2019s full curriculum, coaching, marketing tools and support in identifying ideal outside spaces to run their programs. While there is no upfront fee to join the network, there is a 20 percent annual revenue-share agreement. <\/p>\n

What distinguishes CKC Gainesville, Way says, is that it has become an inclusive haven for families whose children have struggled in a conventional classroom. \u201cMore than half of our population is neurodiverse or has ADHD or a learning disability,\u201d she said. Parents often approach cautiously, worried they\u2019ll be told their child can\u2019t be accommodated. \u201cAnd we\u2019re like, \u2018Come on in. Please join us!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s making this kind of inclusive, innovative schooling more attainable for more families is not just entrepreneurial ambition\u2014but policy change. In states like Florida that have robust school-choice programs<\/u><\/a>, funding is beginning to follow students to a much wider assortment of learning environments.<\/p>\n

South Carolina is following Florida\u2019s lead. It is among the more than a dozen states that have enacted sweeping school-choice policies since 2020. This month, most of CKC\u2019s Myrtle Beach families applied for the Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF), a new school-choice program that includes students schooling at home and in programs like CKC. Webster is one of them. \u201cI am a single mom on one household income,\u201d she said. \u201cIt will definitely help if we get it,\u201d she added, explaining that right now the $5,000 annual full-time tuition for CKC Myrtle Beach is a huge financial stretch.<\/p>\n

Wendy Damron, President and CEO of South Carolina\u2019s Palmetto Promise Institute<\/u><\/a>, says that the ESTF program gives more parents the opportunity to find or curate the right educational fit for their children. \u201cThrough ESTF, families can choose the option that best meets their child\u2019s unique needs, whether that\u2019s a private school, charter school, out of district public school, a microschool, schooling at home or a hybrid approach,\u201d said Damron. <\/p>\n

Greater interest in, and access to, unconventional education options helps to explain why programs like CKC are growing rapidly\u2014and making a big impact. Webster is in awe of her daughter\u2019s academic progress and emotional resilience, as Brynleigh, now 15, continues to thrive at CKC. She urges other families to consider new and different schooling options. \u201cJust give it a try and see how your child responds,\u201d said Webster. \u201cI think you\u2019ll see a difference in your student immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Kerry McDonald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students at Carolina Kids Co-op Jess Alfreds At Carolina Kids Co-Op , school is out\u2014outside, that is. At its flagship location in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, more than 150 students in preschool through high school gather daily for school in a local public park, taught by experienced educators while immersed in the natural world. Separated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":888166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25396,868],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-888165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-outdoor","8":"category-school"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}