Colleen Hroncich
With decades of experience helping kids with special needs—both professionally and as a mom—it’s not surprising that Lisa Mitchell created Everything Under The Rainbow, a hybrid homeschooling program for neurodiverse children. Lisa’s two children, now adults, are both neurodiverse and learned very differently from each other. “My daughter is the one that, quite frankly, she’s the one that thought of it. She said, ‘I need this,’” Lisa recalls. “Several years later is when I launched it with $200 to my name and I said, ‘Okay, God, this is what I want.’”
EUTR wasn’t inspired by pandemic school closures, but Lisa happened to be ready to go in 2020. She found a place where they could meet in person at the pastorium home of an old church, and she had 21 kids in the first month. There are currently 15 students ranging from six to 14 years old. Lisa says two of them are neurotypical while the rest are neurodiverse. She notes that, while many of the students have various challenges, they are often quite brilliant in some areas. For example, she has a six-year-old student who is learning to read but can already multiply fractions.
To ensure everyone gets the individualized attention they need, EUTR has a six-to-one staff ratio. The faculty has a diverse background with a lot of experience in special education, behavioral support, and trauma.
In keeping with Lisa’s goal of meeting the individual needs of students, she offers several enrollment options at EUTR. “At first, most people chose the two-day option, but now I’m finding that many are adding the third day,” she says. For next year, she’s already hearing that many families are planning three or four days.
The daily schedule at Everything Under The Rainbow includes several breaks, a long lunch and recess period, and project-based learning. Incorporating active, hands-on learning and breaks is particularly important for the neurodiverse students Lisa specializes in helping. They also follow a shorter school day compared to most conventional schools, meeting from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
While the academic component is very important, Lisa’s mission is much broader than academics. She wants to provide a supportive atmosphere that will allow children who may struggle in other environments to thrive. There is also an emphasis on strong values and morals, such as integrity, compassion, respect, and responsibility.
Her experience with her own children and with helping other families dealing with similar challenges has given Lisa a strong passion to help serve children who have unique learning challenges. “Everything Under The Rainbow is in honor of not just children that learn differently, but it’s in honor of the parents that are riding that ride,” she says.
Lisa doesn’t know where her journey will take her next. Georgia has a new education savings account program that could help more students access Everything Under The Rainbow. Unfortunately, only students enrolled in public school are eligible, so it won’t help her current students—even those whose families have a hard time affording tuition on top of the taxes they’re paying to support the public school system. But, in time, it could give students who aren’t thriving in their assigned schools the chance to benefit from EUTR’s individualized education.