Private school with nontraditional calendar opens in Southlake
Offering one-on-one learning, a nontraditional class schedule and Christian values, this K-10 “microschool” is opening up its second campus on Southlake Boulevard.
A “microschool” is a hybrid between homeschooling and tradition schooling, oftentimes personalized to a small group of students.
ParagonEd opened its first location in Frisco last school year with eight students enrolled. This year, founder Chase Eskelsen said the Frisco location will have about 40 students and he hopes to see between 20 and 30 students enrolled at the Southlake campus. Intentionally small, the schools have a maximum capacity of 60 students.
Teaching the students in groups based on grade level, 10 educators will be split between the campuses and teach along the three pillars: critical life skills, business experience and Kingdom values.
On social media, ParagonEd has marketed itself as Frisco and Southlake’s “best kept secret” and a competitor to the highly-sought-after school districts there.
Last year, ParagonEd had students who lived in the Fort Worth, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Frisco, Celina and Aubrey districts. Eskelsen, who has a school administration and education policy background per the school’s website, said he expects to have more locations represented as the Southlake campus opens up.
Eskelsen, who calls himself a school choice purist, said the goal is to make sure every family has an option for education that fits what they are looking for.
“I think the most important part of this is that we are a part of a larger education community, and while we might look or feel different than the public school system, we definitely do not view ourselves as enemies of it, because we’re education fans, first and foremost,” Eskelsen said. “With that said, there’s a lot of families out there who want something different.”
In Eskelsen’s case, he wanted a school that worked for the demanding club sports schedule and aligned with his family values.
By starting ParagonEd, the three Eskelsen kids got just that.
On Mondays, they study English and history. Tuesdays are for math and science, and on Thursdays, students engage in electives like coding, STEM and culinary arts. Eskelsen said Thursdays use the core components of the Monday and Tuesday curriculum and tie them in with hands-on activities.
“So for instance, if a student’s working on fractions, now they’re going to go to Young Chefs Academy, where we’ve asked them, ‘hey, double or half the recipe,’ so that they are forced to use those fractions in a real-world way, and it sticks, like they understand why they need to know this,” Eskelsen said.
On Wednesdays and Fridays, students work remotely or have the option of coming to school for tutoring or work on projects.
“A micro school looks different on purpose, because we want them applying the learning real time,” Eskelsen said. “So no desks, no rows, lots of learning in lots of different formats, no two days look the same.”
Another reason parents love ParagonEd, Eskelsen said, is because they have immediate access to their child’s curriculum. He said microschooling is growing for lots of reasons, but it really comes down to parents wanting more control of their child’s education experience.
The Rand Corporation, a research organization, estimated in March that “between 1 million and 2 million students attend microschools full time, and many more attend part time.” The Rand study said this number is comparable to that of children in grades K-12 at Catholic schools. A 2024 Pew Research study shows that enrollment in public schools is steadily declining as more familes opt into charter or private schools.
ParagonED Frisco is at 4681 Ohio Drive. The Southlake campus is at 2750 E. Southlake Blvd., where it shares the space with an after-school program.
Tuition for ParagonEd is priced at $12,500 per year for grades K-8 and $15,000 for high school. Eskelsen said the nonprofit will start to offer grades 11 and 12 within the next two years. If homeschool families are only looking for à la carte classes, the cost is $500-$650 depending on grade level.
Starting in the 2026-27 school year, the microschool families will be able to use $10,000 vouchers toward tuition just like any other private school.
ParagonEd is a candidate for accreditation with Cognia, a global accreditation and certification organization.
Jill Hollander, headmaster for ParagonEd, said microschooling allows for each child’s academic needs to be met.
The Rand study found that microschools often make decisions how and if the students will be assessed for academic proficiency and growth on a student-by-student basis. This is possible because microschools are free from the state and federal accountability requirements and reporting.
“We make sure that our lessons are aligned to their interests, that they’re really engaging, that they’re really hands on,” Hollander said. “And then with a microschool, of course, there’s just so much more one-on-one assistance for students. We get to know every parent, every student, every teacher, so well. So we really have a tight knit community, and that’s a beautiful thing. We love it.”