In this week's episode of the LiberatED Podcast, Kerry McDonald interviews Ali Ghaffari, founder of Divine Mercy Academy, a K–8 classical Catholic school in Pasadena, Maryland, and now Executive Director of the St. John Henry Newman Institute, an organization dedicated to accelerating the renewal of Catholic education worldwide.

Ali's path to school founding is anything but ordinary. After graduating from Colby College, he spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy as an F/A-18 fighter pilot before teaching leadership and ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy. Raised without religious belief, Ali experienced a dramatic conversion sparked by reading the Great Books—an encounter that convinced him of the importance of deep intellectual and moral formation. When he couldn't find a classical Catholic school nearby for his children, he joined with other families to start one.

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Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at edentrepreneur.org.

Kerry's latest book, Joyful Learning: How to Find Freedom, Happiness, and Success Beyond Conventional Schooling, is available now wherever books are sold!

This week on the LiberatED Podcast, Kerry McDonald speaks with Tara Famularo-Del Bianco, a former attorney who spent nearly 15 years representing abused and neglected children in New York City before making a dramatic shift into education entrepreneurship. Today, she is the founder of The Magnolia Schoolhouse, a thriving Montessori-inspired microschool in Vero Beach, Florida, that serves 75+ students through 8th grade and blends homeschooling with flexible, part-time, in-person learning.

Her founder path was not easy, as she encountered numerous regulatory roadblocks, and ultimately decided to start a church to run her school.

Kerry's latest Forbes.com article detailing Tara's full story is here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerrymcdonald/2025/12/01/meet-the-founder-who-started-a-church-to-run-her-microschool/

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Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at edentrepreneur.org.

Kerry's latest book, Joyful Learning: How to Find Freedom, Happiness, and Success Beyond Conventional Schooling, is available now wherever books are sold!

This week on the LiberatED Podcast, Kerry McDonald talks with Susan Yao, founder of Vermont Village School in Brattleboro, Vermont, about her inspiring journey from progressive educator to microschool creator.

After earning an undergraduate degree from Harvard College, Susan worked for several years as a teacher and school administrator in a variety of educational settings. The pandemic led her family to move from Massachusetts to Vermont to begin homesteading and homeschooling. It also led the way for Susan to launch Vermont Village School.

This is a powerful conversation for anyone considering launching a microschool—or anyone curious about how thoughtful, community-centered education takes shape.

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Sign up for Kerry's free, weekly email newsletter on education trends at edentrepreneur.org.

Kerry's latest book, Joyful Learning: How to Find Freedom, Happiness, and Success Beyond Conventional Schooling, is available now wherever books are sold!