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Why education savings accounts are good for children, families — and society

  1. Education

Why education savings accounts are good for children, families — and society

Step 1: Find the best learning environment for your child. Step 2? Figure out how to pay for it.

Children sitting at a table with crafting materials.

Kayla Rabbich watched as her husband and her son, Owen, carefully lined up 20 toy cars in front of the whiteboard in their living room. “They all need names,” the 5-year-old announced to his dad, picking up a car. “This one’s Spider.”

His dad smiled. “How would you write Spider?”

Owen grabbed a dry-erase marker and wrote “S-P-I-D-E-R” on the whiteboard. He picked up another car.

“We’ve been working on spelling,” said Rabbich. “It just kind of came up because he loves to create games with his cars. He’s learned a lot of spelling by trying to write their names, which has been fun to see.” 

Owen’s family follows a hybrid homeschooling model, blending school and home-based learning. Three days a week, Owen attends Prescott Life School, a K-12 outdoor hybrid school set in a campground that emphasizes personalized learning. On the remaining two days, his parents and grandparents take turns guiding his education at home.

Owen Rabbich attends a hybrid school that blends school and home-based learning.
Owen Rabbich attends a hybrid school that blends school and home-based learning.

This model is working well for their family — his mom calls it “the best of all worlds.” At school, Owen’s education comes to life through hiking, scavenger hunts, pool games, and hands-on science projects. At home, learning is a family effort, with his dad and grandparents turning math and reading into playful lessons using his favorite toys.

The decision to enroll Owen in a hybrid school wasn’t easy. His parents explored every option available in their town, unsure of the best fit. They had never even heard of a hybrid school before, but the moment Rabbich learned what it was, she knew it was exactly what Owen needed. 

Finding the right school was only half the battle, though — they needed to figure out how to pay for it. That’s when Rabbich discovered a state program that would change everything.

‘He gets in trouble every day, and he doesn’t even know why’

Before Prescott Life School, Owen attended preschool for two years, and while his parents had selected one of the most affordable options in town, it still strained their finances.

They weren’t thrilled about paying ongoing tuition, but they also didn’t want to compromise on Owen’s education. Even in his conventional preschool, the large class sizes and the focus on conformity made it easy for Owen to slip into the background.

“His teachers did their best, and it was a positive environment, but it just didn’t have the dynamic energy he needed,” said Rabbich. “It was very structured: ‘Sit down and listen to this. Now, we’re going to play with these toys. Now, we’re going to watch this video. Now, we’re going to go out to the playground. Now, we’re going to have a snack.’ I’m sure that kind of structure is a great foundation for some kids, but I think it made it too easy for Owen to fade into the background and become part of the crowd.”

Rabbich has fond memories of her own public school experience, but the idea of continuing Owen’s education in a traditional classroom just didn’t sit right with her. She didn’t like how much that model had already dampened his individuality.

Her friend’s son, also about Owen’s age, struggled even more in traditional school. “He is just very loud and rambunctious but very sweet,” said Rabbich. “He gets in trouble at school every day, and he doesn’t even know why.”

While homeschooling offered more flexibility, Owen’s parents wanted to make sure he was getting enough social interaction with other kids. They also felt he would benefit from learning from someone other than themselves.

Children petting an animal.
Students at Prescott Life School gather to meet a new furry friend. In the bottom right corner, Owen Rabbich, sporting the truck-patterned hat, is ready for his turn.

The good news is that the Rabbich family lives in Arizona — a game-changer for families seeking alternatives to traditional education. As a trailblazer in education freedom, Arizona launched the Empowerment Scholarship Account program in 2011 and expanded it to all students in 2022. 

The scholarships allow parents to use a portion of state-allocated education funds to customize their child’s learning experience — making an option like Prescott Life School a real possibility for the Rabbich family.

Owen is one of nearly 90,000 Arizona students benefitting from the ESA program.

“I don’t know if he would have been able to go to a school like this if it did cost money out of our pockets,”  Rabbich said about the ESA. ” I don’t know if we would have made that decision.”

As a student at Prescott Life School, Owen’s education is a partnership between his parents and teachers. Owen moves through his core subjects at his own pace each day, but much of his learning is hands on. 

For a lesson on ocean tides and gravity, the teacher pretended to be the moon while the students became the ocean’s water along the shoreline. As she moved, the students had to react, deciding whether to rush toward her or pull away, mimicking the movement of tides. 

“They may not remember exactly how orbiting works,” said Brooke Fremouw, founder of the school. “But I guarantee that you could go to any one of them today and say, ‘What causes high tide and low tide?’ and they’d say, ‘The gravity of the moon’ — because they experienced it, and they played a game, and it was fun.”

Owen’s teacher regularly updates his parents on his progress and offers recommendations for learning at home. If challenges arise at home, Rabbich can reach out for guidance and support.

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ESAs empower parents to tap into their child’s potential

Fremouw has experienced the benefits of ESAs both as a parent and a school leader. She and her husband have 11 adopted children; many of them have specific emotional and educational needs.

Initially, Fremouw relied on public school services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, special education, and mental health support to address her children’s individual requirements. 

However, over time, she began to notice that the peer culture at school was hurting their confidence and ability to thrive. Despite receiving the necessary therapeutic and educational support, her children’s emotional and social well-being began to decline. As they became more aware of their differences, they felt increasingly isolated, especially when they were pulled out of class for extra support.

By the time their child reached second grade, Fremouw and her husband recognized the need for a different approach. They transitioned to homeschooling but found themselves missing the essential services their children required.

“I needed the ability to bring in therapeutic and special education support at home to ensure their needs were being properly addressed,” she explained. Arizona’s ESA program gave her that support.

One of Fremouw’s daughters, now 20, faced particularly daunting challenges. Many questioned whether she would ever be able to live independently or hold a job. This child needed to learn essential social and life skills — such as making eye contact, speaking directly to others, handling money, grocery shopping, and everything that goes along with getting and keeping a job.

Fremouw explained that, as a mother, she couldn’t fully address her needs due to past trauma in her daughter’s life. “That kind of skills training translates very differently coming from her mom versus coming from her tutor,” she said.

Now, her daughter has held a job for six months and is learning to drive — two milestones many once thought unattainable for her.

“She wants to be employed. She wants to be independent. But wanting something and having the necessary skills don’t always align,”  Fremouw said. “The key is figuring out how to tap into each child’s highest potential — right where they are. That’s the entire purpose of an ESA, and it’s a gift — to children, to families, and to society.”

Why this hybrid school doesn’t advertise

Owen’s parents are part of a growing movement of millions across the country seeking alternatives to traditional education. Thirty-one states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, now offer private school choice programs.

In Arizona, ESAs enable families to take the leap and seek out learning environments that truly meet their children’s needs. Prescott Life School’s rapid growth reflects that demand: In its first year, enrollment quickly reached its cap at 81 students, with a steadily growing waitlist. Now, in its second year, Fremouw expects to welcome 191 students.

Children playing outside.
Students enjoy some outdoor adventures at Brooke Fremouw’s hybrid outdoor school — Prescott Life School.

Remarkably, she doesn’t advertise. Families come through word of mouth. Students arrive from public, private, and homeschool backgrounds, many of them searching for a place where they truly belong. 

Homeschoolers gain a sense of community — a place where they feel seen and supported beyond their families. Former traditional school students let go of the pressure of comparison, as there are no grades or grade levels. Students engage in learning that is fun, interest driven, and meaningful. They even learn how to navigate boredom, using it as an opportunity to develop problem-solving and interpersonal skills.

“The school would not exist the way that it does if we didn’t have opportunities like scholarships for students,” Fremouw said. “The feedback we hear is that they are flourishing in ways that are completely unique to them. Without this funding, these kids would either be in a public school where their academic and social-emotional needs aren’t being met, or they’d be isolated at home around a kitchen counter, working on homeschool without the opportunity to learn how to engage socially and succeed.”

 

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