💙💚💛The crème de la crème.💛💚💙
We got to breathe the same air as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and Messenger of Peace that we’ve been learning about, @janegoodallinst .
#onceinalifetime #unlessyouaremrspethe #reallifehero #inspiration @rootsandshoots #youthenvironmentalsummit #drjanegoodall
🚨It’s finally here!🚨
Check out Mrs. Laurenzi’s 2nd and Bella, Eva, Grace, Khloe, Leila, Quinn, and Zoey’s 1st @ted talk! 👏
Middle schoolers with a variety of skills, interests, learning differences, and public speaking experience executed the entire thing collaboratively in three and a half weeks!!!
Proof that when they have the option to choose to go after something they want and are supported, they put in the work and the results follow! So #proud !
Share your thoughts about their talk in the comments. 💭 #linkinstories↖️ #yestheycan /watch?v=BOuHiaMJYJc
📚 Experiential learning isn’t a catch phrase here and doesn’t only happen at the end of the year as a reward.
⏰ Grateful for teachers who put in the work to allow for opportunities to engage all of the time!
#inthelastweek #wedontpostafractionofit
Thank you Colleen and @haddylife for the tour.
Getting to see large scale innovation in action provided a ton of inspiration for next years’ engineering and 3D printing unit and beyond. #communitypartnership #innovation #inourbackyard
Our students put on their big end of the year Showcase last week performing Alice in Wonderland. 🎩 🐰 🧚♂️
All of them stretched and took smart, creative risks.
Take a look at the collage in our stories of some of their final bow faces, to see if they enjoyed it. ❤️
This week was our annual assessments.
Normal nerves but no pushback.
When your weekly learning includes things that you’ve vocalized enjoying like volleyball, parks, play practice, and art classes, you don’t overdo testing all year long, and they know that their learning and who they are minimally depends on the results, the energy is that of truly doing your best.
We’ll all encounter things we don’t enjoy, but when it’s balanced and not all encompassing, the stress often melts away.
4 years ago marked a milestone, we celebrated our first graduates.
Since then, we’ve moved to serve K-8 students and get asked, “How do your students do after Indi-ED?”
Unfortunately, most places aren’t as engaging as Indi-ED, but our students still find ways to thrive.
Our students have transitioned into private, magnet, IB, and arts programs across local and national high schools and succeed in every environment.
We’ve had students graduate as valedictorians, finish early, dual enroll, and earn their high school diploma and associate degree at the same time.
They’re captains of sports teams, succeed in FBLA clubs, acquire internships, are working for themselves, and go on to be accepted into and earn scholarships at colleges and universities locally, across the U.S., and internationally.
We’re proud of our students beyond their accomplishments and know their drive and their families' support play major roles in their success, but they sure do rack them up.
#Canterbury #Shorecrest #Osceola #Gibbs #Hollins #SPCollegiate #PTech #IndianRocksChristian #Northeast #JacobsonTech #StPeteChristian #SolidRock #SPHS #Lakewood
#UniversityofFlorida #USF #BerkleeCollegeofMusic #UniversityofChicago #WentworthInstituteofTechnology #SiennaUniversity #WarrenWilsonCollege #UniversityofSouthCarolina #OccidentalCollege #SPC #UniversityofTampa #Stetson #WashingtonCollege #UniversityofNCSchooloftheArts #andmore
Wherever They Want!
🚨One spot in our middle school cohort available for the 2026-27 school year. 🚨
The middle school years don’t have to be painful.
Reach out if interested: [email protected].
Check out Jessica Barnett’s, one of our Standout mentors’, perspective on the event.
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This past weekend I volunteered at St. Pete Standout, a youth leadership event created by Christine Laurenzi, founder of Indi-ED.
The event brought together students aged 11 to 17 years old, from 4th through 12th grade, for a full day of leadership challenges, communication practice, and competition.
Christine was inspired by other student leadership events she’d seen before, but she wanted to create something different in tone: more positive, encouraging, and growth-oriented. Still challenging, but not cutthroat. Designed to help students stretch and shine rather than just get stressed out.
A few moments I’m still thinking about...
One student had mapped out this huge path from the Marines to medicine to NASA, and was already thinking in terms of physical and mental conditioning.
Another was building an AI-powered alternative to Bloomberg Terminal and already had a daily iteration rhythm with multiple tools. As a high school sophomore!
Another was trying to get environmental legislation passed.
Another wanted to create a manga and already had a title, a concept, and a process for developing the characters.
Another simply wanted to stop taking anger out on other people.
That mix of ambition, self-awareness, creativity, and heart was honestly kind of incredible to witness. Kids are so much more insightful than adults often give them credit for.
St. Pete Standout was a huge success, and they are already planning to do it again next year. If you know a young person who would benefit from something like this, keep it on your radar!
And if you ever get the chance to support an event like this, do it. It was energizing, thoughtful, and honestly pretty moving to spend a day with so many bright young people trying hard, reflecting in real time, and showing courage in front of rooms full of adults.
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Link to the rest in stories.
