Welcome to Kindling Academy. The Healthiest School in America.
We’re building something bold: a school designed for wellness, real-world learning, and future-ready kids.
NOW ACCEPTING PILOT YEAR FAMILIES!
Our first year is one small, mixed-age classroom from ages 4–8. A founding group, kept intentionally small.
Kindle The Spark. Ignite The Future.
Every kid has a spark. Our job is to help it catch.
We want kids who can think for themselves, solve real problems, and stay grounded while they do it.
We mix Montessori structure with project-based learning to build the things that actually carry kids through life, like adapting when plans change, understanding their own emotions, and thinking clearly. Instead of memorizing facts for a test, kids here do real work that gets them ready for a world that’s going to ask a lot of them.
Where Most Schools Get It Wrong
Before we talk about what makes Kindling different, let’s be honest about what’s not working- across public, private, and even alternative models.
Plenty of schools call themselves "personalized" but lean on tablets and apps to do it. That's efficient, but it isn't human. Kids need to talk, work together, and learn with their hands, not rack up more screen time.
Most schools want full-year attendance and treat every missed day like you've fallen behind. We see it differently. Learning doesn't stop when you leave the building. Because our work is self-paced, kids can travel with their families and pick up where they left off, and we'll put together learning to take along.
Even schools that say they're different often have an unspoken goal: get ahead, do more, impress someone. The families we work with want something else. They want their kids to grow into grounded, decent people.
Some private schools feel more like a club than a community. The families we're for, the builders, the creatives, the wellness-minded ones, aren't after polish or prestige. They want to belong somewhere that shares their values and where their kid is actually known.
Kids need to be kids. There's no good reason to keep them inside all day, away from fresh air. Most schools cut recess short and keep kids in sealed rooms, which is the opposite of what growing bodies and minds need.
When one kid gets sick, it hits the whole family. Parents get sick, work gets missed, the week falls apart. And the costs add up beyond just a sick day. Harsh lighting that messes with sleep, cleaning products and air "fresheners" full of chemicals, stale air with no fresh oxygen. It's no wonder kids are tired and run down so often.
What We're Doing Differently
Kindling is built for families who care more about purpose than prestige, who want connection over competition, and who want their kids ready for real life, not just good at school.
Our program is hands-on and driven by curiosity, and it’s grounded in a few things we care about: independence, health, creativity, and community. Kids build the skills that matter, because the early years set up everything after them.
From a young age, kids here make decisions, solve their own problems, and take care of their space. That builds real independence, in life and not just in school.
Kids work in teams, share ideas, and practice listening and speaking. It's how they get comfortable communicating and collaborating.
Kids don't just take in information. They ask questions, think it through, and take initiative. They learn to handle not knowing the answer yet, stick with hard things, and solve problems that actually matter.
Kids learn in a mixed-age room where the younger ones look up to the older ones and the older ones grow into leaders. It builds empathy and confidence, and everyone learns from each other.
Our outdoor spaces are part of the classroom. Kids spend time outside every day, rain or shine, exploring and moving.
We care about thinking more than memorizing. Kids learn to analyze, make things, and reflect. In a world drowning in information, that matters a lot more than knowing the "right" answer for a test.
We pay attention to clean air, calm design, and natural materials, because they help kids settle and focus. Healthy bodies make for focused minds.
Our Pilot Year Programs
We're starting with a single classroom of kids ages 4 to 8, and we call them our Kindlers. This is the age when kids really start to own their learning. They figure out what they're into and take pride in doing things for themselves. Keeping the class size small means we actually get to know every child, and we get to build the culture of the school the way we want it from the start.
Age : 4 years – 8 years
The Healthiest School in America.
We want to build the healthiest school in America. Kids learn best in a space that’s good for their mood and their health.
Clean air, filtered water, non-toxic classrooms, and lighting that works with their natural rhythm. We’ve put the same care into this school that you’d put into your own home.
Jaspr air scrubbers in every room
Circadian rhythm lighting system
Non-toxic cleaning products
Purified, chemical-free drinking water
A School That's Evolving
Kindling is growing, and we’re not stopping here. We’re starting small with one pilot classroom for kids ages 4 to 8. From there, we want to build a full path through elementary and beyond. Here’s some of what’s coming:
A chef-led, whole-food meal program
Featuring local, organic, and grass-fed ingredients.
After-school enrichment programs
Hosted right on campus-partnering with local creatives, nature guides, movement instructors, and more.
Growing with your family
We’re starting with ages 4 to 8 and plan to expand. The goal is to grow Kindling into a full journey through middle and high school.
Ongoing renovations
Turning the campus into a real wellness space, from air quality to lighting to outdoor learning areas.
Wellness consulting from leading experts
We’re working with environmental health experts to make sure the space meets a high bar.
Something for parents too
More than a workshop. A community of like-minded families growing together and shaping this thing with us.
Letter From The Founders
We didn’t set out to start a school. We set out to find one that matched what we wanted for our own kids. We looked everywhere, public and private, and kept hitting the same wall. Schools were either too rigid or too loose. Strong on academics but disconnected from real life. Charming but not challenging. And not one of them put health first, which is the thing we care about most.
So we decided to build the school we couldn’t find.
Kindling is still young, but we’re clear on what it is. A school where kids are treated as capable. Where the learning is both joyful and real. Where reading, math, and actual academic skills are taught with purpose instead of worksheets. And where health, nature, and emotional intelligence are part of the foundation, not an afterthought. We’re building a school that gets kids ready for life, not just for tests, and that protects their curiosity instead of grinding it down.
I (Rachel) come to this as a parent, not as a career educator, and honestly that’s part of what makes it work. I’ve got skin in the game. I’m building the school I want for my own daughters, because I think every kid deserves to love learning, to be known, and to be challenged in the right ways.
Mike spent over a decade as a wellness entrepreneur and founded Jaspr.co, an air purification company trusted by top hospitals and health leaders. He’s been on a lot of the big wellness podcasts and knows environmental health inside out. More than that, he knows how to build something that lasts.
We’re not here to play school. We want to run this like a serious organization, which means hiring the best educators instead of trying to do everything ourselves. It means making bold calls, spending on the things that matter, and making sure this school doesn’t just open but actually works.
We’re not just dreaming about it. We’re doing it, and we’d love for families like yours to build it with us. If this sounds like you, it probably is.
We’re really glad you’re here.
Rachel & Mike Feldstein
