Friday Feature: Achieve Academy

Colleen Hroncich

“It can’t be about money,” says Achieve Academy founder Tara Pvel when people ask for advice about starting a microschool. “You have to love doing this.”

Tara had no intention of starting a school when she moved from England to Georgia nearly 30 years ago; she had a background in business. But after watching her son, an early reader, spend his kindergarten days coloring without making any progress, she knew something had to change.

“That’s when I said, ‘Let me try homeschooling,’” she recalls. “And people were gradually asking me to add their child.” What began with just her son at home eventually became Achieve Academy, a full-time K‑12 microschool in Warner Robins, GA, that officially opened in 2017. As a former homeschooler, Tara also offers a part-time option from Tuesday through Thursday to support homeschooling families. 

For years, the school grew steadily through word of mouth. Families were drawn to small classes, hands-on instruction, and a learning environment where teachers knew every student well. “The teachers are happy. They can address the needs of each student without feeling overwhelmed,” says Tara.

In 2025, Georgia launched an education savings account program, which allows eligible families to use state funds for a variety of educational options. “The Promise Scholarship really changed everything,” Tara explains. Enrollment jumped from 40 students to 70 in a single year, prompting the school to hire additional teachers and begin searching for a larger campus.

The rapid growth has changed the makeup of the student body. “It’s made us about half and half, maybe even three-quarters public school students,” says Tara. This shift has come with some interesting challenges as families adjust to Achieve Academy’s culture. Parents have gotten used to a hands-off “I drop them off at school and pick them up, and that’s it” approach to education, Tara notes. Achieve Academy doesn’t work that way. 

“It’s really for the parent who really wants to be involved,” explains Tara. “If you like being at the school and you like getting involved in the events, it’s perfect for you. It’s not so great if you’re used to just having no part in it.” Teachers communicate with parents almost daily, and families are encouraged to volunteer and participate in school life. “The teacher becomes like a member of the family,” she adds.

That partnership supports a learning environment that looks very different from a conventional classroom. “Students don’t have to sit in one space. They can move around. We have a library. They can pull up a stool. They can sit on the floor,” says Tara. Rather than relying heavily on screens, teachers rotate through small instructional groups while students discover “how to be self-starting learners.”

Outside the classroom, students cultivate raised-bed gardens, work with master gardeners, and even sell produce to a local restaurant. Every student also participates in the school’s entrepreneurship program, launching or expanding a business each year through its “Kid Boss Market.”

The projects range from 3D-printed products to sensory bottles (“like a lava lamp equivalent but with little things inside”) to bath bombs designed for people with eczema. “I like the part of solving problems because it gets them to look at their environment a little different,” she says. Along the way, students learn pricing, profit, and reinvestment by running real businesses with real customers. 

Success hasn’t eliminated the challenges that independent schools often encounter. Achieve Academy has already had to move seven times and is moving to another larger location for the new school year. While the Georgia Promise Scholarship has helped more families attend, payments can be delayed, so schools need to have reserves. In short, Tara’s business background comes in handy—and she can easily relate to the difficulties her student entrepreneurs face.

Tara tells prospective founders to prepare for years of steady work, unexpected expenses, and a mission that has to come first. “It is a long road,” she says. “It’s not overnight.” It’s taken her almost 30 years of constant work and outreach to get to where people say, “Oh, you’re the lady from Achieve Academy!”

Despite the demands, Tara isn’t slowing down or stepping back. Even though her youngest daughter just graduated from Achieve, Tara continues to grow the school while pursuing a PhD in the psychology of education. “My goal in my head has always been 300 students,” she says. “I know for some microschools, it’s the micro part that is important. For me, I want to have a microschool, same model, but just be able to serve a lot of students.”

Source: https://www.cato.org/blog/friday-feature-achieve-academy