Public school isn’t for everyone.

Local resident Tara Cassidy had this experience while trying to help her oldest daughter navigate the beginning of middle school.

Cassidy said her daughter faced challenges with her ADHD and bullying that the public system wasn’t able to provide solutions for or provide an educational environment that was best suited for her needs.

“Middle school wasn’t working,” she said.

Cassidy said weekly meetings with a therapist were showing her more and more that public school wasn’t working for her daughter, and she didn’t want her child to become a statistic.

“It is our job as parents to help them,” she said.

They began touring every private school in the Kansas City area, but this failed to find any solutions too, she said, especially when the schools found out her daughter has a 504.

504 is the section under the U.S. Rehabilitation Law of 1973 that federally ensures equal rights for citizens with disabilities. said. “The exclusivity and the costs plus all the questions about my daughter’s disabilities.”

Cassidy said a huge group of children are being left behind and underserved educationally in Johnson County.

“Public school doesn’t work for everyone,” she said.

Cassidy said they also looked into co-ops because homeschooling doesn’t provide socialization. Co-ops are meetups for homeschooled children to have socialization skills through group activities with their peers.

“But it doesn’t work for two income families,” she said.

Cassidy said the therapist gave her the push to start her own alternative educational center.

“I always had it on my heart,” she said.

Cassidy started the process in May with the leasing of the former Little Building Blocks space on Lincoln Lane.

She is a former Nike Middle School teacher and has a background in education with 17 years of teaching experience, a Master’s degree in learning curriculum and a degree in special education from the University of Kansas. She runs a second for profit business TutoringbyCassidy.

“I wasn’t ready to give up teaching,” she said.

Cassidy said the Crossroads Trail Educational Center will offer children the ability to experience school differently than a public school format.

“It will have a one room schoolhouse feel,” she said. “And there will be less bullying because I will be right there.”

Mornings will be academic focused with parents choosing their child’s curriculum that can be similar to the Lawrence or Eudora Kansas Virtual School curriculums.

“It provides in person guidance and social engagement,” Cassidy said.

The kids will have lunch together before having an afternoon of enrichment time through activities.

“No afternoon will look the same,” she said. “Kids need something else than the regular public school structure.”

The school is not associated with the State Board of Education, not religious affiliated and is non-accredited.

“It is a place to come and learn, but I’m not making the decisionsparents are,” Cassidy said.

Older students will be able to pursue a high school degree through different avenues with State standards and curriculum programs, she said. Her school is Kindergarten through 12th grade because most alternative education centers and schools stop at grades 6 and 8.

Cassidy has been enrolling students for a month now and rehabbing the space through new paint and construction for a friendlier and calm learning atmosphere. Enrollment plans have three tiers ranging from full-time to three days a week or two days a week. She has teachers lined up to help for every set of ten kids that are enrolled.

“Our story is consistently the same story with other families,” she said. “Public school is sink or swim and many kids are miserable and unhappy. Parents are looking for solutions to make learning better.”

Cassidy said she hopes as a non-profit they can receive donations and grants in the future to offer scholarships. Everything so far has been out of her own pocket and through a small business loan.

“I hope for success,” she said. “I want to change everything for a kid and for them to see the value in education. I want to change kids’ lives. I want them to be happy and see learning is fun and school is good.”

Cassidy said she wants to help the kids who struggle with the traditional public school education setting thrive as functioning citizens.

“There is so much more we can give to them,” she said.

Cassidy said she is not anti public school as she has one child that will stay in public school as they are thriving. She just couldn’t find another solution to help her child who wasn’t succeeding in public schools and only learning how to take tests and not the concepts. She said she will also have the opportunity to form relationships with the students and parents that she feels can be lacking in public schools.

“This has to be better,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be perfect just better.”

Cassidy said she is excited and has blind faith for her school’s future success and there is room for expansion as time goes on.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held August 2, and the first day of class will be August 15.