About Us

At Wild Flower, we nurture kind, creative, compassionate, critical-thinking humans.

Here at Wild Flower Community School, we believe that every brain is a good brain. We strive to meet each learner where they are at in their own educational journey, regardless of their neurotype. We view our learners holistically and provide a supportive and collaborative community to engage them, their families, and the greater community in a whole-hearted and whole-person way. We celebrate our differences as our superpowers and help our learners uncover what makes their brain unique and how it learns best. 

We provide a highly individualized learning experience, emphasizing hands-on and project-based learning and innovative research-based interventions for core academic skill support. We focus on opportunities to develop critical thinking and real-world skills. We prioritize relationships before rigor–focusing on cultivating safety and trust in our school community and supporting learners’ mental and emotional well-being.

Our core values: 

  • Relationships Before Rigor

  • All Brains are Good Brains 

  • Real-World Life Skills 

  • Autonomous, Interest-Based Learning 

  • Critical Thinking and Analysis 

  • Project-Based Learning

  • Wholehearted, whole-person development 

  • Time in the outdoors, and bringing nature into our classrooms

  • Intentional Inclusion–our differences make us stronger!

Our Philosophy Statement

Our program’s philosophy is to provide our learners with the foundation they need to become successful individuals on a holistic level.

Our goal is to provide an accessible, positive, innovative, and highly personalized learning environment, rooted in a nurturing community that celebrates the uniqueness of each learner. Through hands-on project-based learning, our learners are provided support in developing their autonomous interests and goals as well as the opportunity to creatively collaborate within our blended age learning community. 

Utilizing current neuroscience research and best practice guidance from mental health professionals, our learners are given highly personalized instruction as well as skill and resilience-building programming specific to their unique brain differences. We regard brain-based learning differences as latent superpowers that learners are encouraged to embrace, hone, master, and celebrate. We wholeheartedly believe that all brains are fantastic brains.

Our organization seeks to address the educational disparities that exist among learners not currently served well by our public school system, especially learners who are neurodiverse or have learning challenges. We believe that by providing learners with individualized, hands-on, project-based learning we can foster self-determination and help them achieve their version of success; for themselves, their families, and their communities. Many types of brain-based differences, including but not limited to ADHD, dyslexia, and sensory integration challenges are poorly served and stigmatized in many traditional classroom settings. This stigma can be perceived as behavior problems, laziness, or other negative connotations being ascribed to a learner whose brain simply does not thrive within our current classroom framework. The stigma puts learners at risk for mental health challenges, poor academic achievement, and juvenile legal system involvement.

Our organization believes that our differences make us stronger and that each person, whether it be a learner, their family, or a staff member, has unique strengths to bring to the table. Our organization highly values community and the impact it can have on each of our learners, and we understand that you cannot have a healthy community without diversity, equity, and inclusion. In our organization, learners are welcomed and celebrated for their true selves. We welcome families and learners regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, family structure, religion, or spiritual beliefs. 

 

Our Model

We provide a 4 day school week for learners aged 10 and up with optional tutoring and project time on Fridays. For students needing additional math or reading help, transitioning teens, and learners wanting to dive deep into extra projects we will have Fridays available as an add-on.

Like most private schools in Kansas we have been operating under the Non-Accredited Private School umbrella. We are now pursuing accreditation via Middle States Association, a worldwide leader in accreditation and school improvement. Middle States was founded in 1887 and is the premier non-profit accreditation organization in the US and are pioneers in peer review, collaboration, and school improvement. We believe that accountability ensures quality surrounding our program and we value that quality being recognized by a certifying body. This process is long, but we expect it to be complete before our graduation in 2027.

Next year’s curriculum centers around Socratic Discussion, Project-based Learning, and Social Emotional Learning. Math and reading instruction will continue to be provided in a way that couples tailored, systematic instruction with student responsibility for learning. Alphabetic Phonics, Stern Math, and other instructional tools will be provided to students requiring interventions, along with additional work on Bright Thinker, ACT Work Keys, and other platforms encouraging students to complete tasks that are targeted and meaningful.

Bright Thinker is a fully accommodated and standards aligned program that allows us to build custom diagnostics, learning programs, and individual classes based on a specific student. This will allow them to utilize concepts they have already mastered and offers a wide range of classes to choose from, including foreign languages, art, music, automotive, child care, and many more. This program can be done online or on paper and is available for all students.

Our student portfolios coupled with mastery transcripts ensure that our students will leave WFCS not only academically ready to move on, but with practical life skills and experiences that will help them be successful in their adult lives. These measures are more robust than traditional environments and are meant to give our students insight into their own strengths and build future-proof skills.