Hello!

My name is Rebecca Foley. I was born in rural western NY and moved to Southeastern PA in 2006 to attend graduate school at Lehigh University. In 2009 I graduated with Masters degrees in Economics and Educational Leadership and then got married. In 2010 I had my first baby. Six years later I had two girls and a little boy on the way.

As I researched the options for schooling, I was not pleased with any of my choices. Not many of my friends were either. Private schools were expensive and very traditional in approach, many of us were unhappy with some aspect of the public schools, and homeschooling seemed overwhelming.

Why couldn’t there be a middle ground? Inspired by the preschool model of 9-12 hours per week of class, a friend and I partnered up, did a lot of work and research, and planned a little program for Kindergarten through 2nd grade kids set to open in a small church in fall of 2017. It would meet two days a week for 30 weeks. Tuition was about $2,000 a year. Parents would legally be homeschooling. The schedule and curricula were inspired by Charlotte Mason’s work and featured excellent literature, history, geography, art, music, nature study, reading, handwriting, and math. We had an informational night in the spring and started interviewing teachers. Over the summer, we found used furniture and pulled together training materials. We opened in the fall with 20 kids and two teachers.

Fast forward to 2023 and our program has grown out of three buildings. There are 145 students in K-9, a long wait-list, and 18 part-time staff. Tuition is $2800/yr and we now meet two days a week for 33 weeks a year. We never imagined such growth in 2017 as a couple of moms with an idea and a new baby in one arm!

I firmly believe the Mason hybrid model has had such an enthusiastic response because parents want more involvement in their kids education. They are increasingly skeptical of the heavy academic pressures of conventional schooling. Children are only little once. Providence Hybrid Academy’s tagline is “Honoring God, Family, Childhood” and the schedule, curriculum, and community reflect that belief.

Hybrid programs are an excellent vehicle by which to bring together the community and structure of school with the customization and freedom of homeschool. When we launched in 2017, I found almost no information on how to do any of it! I’d never filed paperwork to open a business, interviewed teachers, or worked out contracts with a building or employees before. I learned bit by bit and, while we are still on the journey, I know a lot more than I did seven years ago! I started this site in an attempt to help others feel more equipped to open their own hybrid programs.

While our program is Charlotte Mason-inspired (and hers is my favorite methodology and I think you should give it a try!), nearly all of the information I have available for launching a program is applicable to any methodology.

-Check it out at: providencehybridacademy.org and watch our interview at LiberatEd HERE!