What Is It?
MicroSociety is an educational approach in which a portion of the school day becomes a student-run miniature society, enhancing academics with real life application and problem solving. The society sets a foundation for leadership, entrepreneurship, and creativity and provides a context to motivate students to improve their academics in order to succeed.
Proven Model
MSI has a 30-year track record and supports 120 educational sites across the United States and in five countries. It has proven successful with every segment of the population — disadvantaged and advantaged, minority and majority — and has impacted the lives of more than 450,000 children and youth globally.
The Micro ModelStudent & School Diversity
We work with students of diverse backgrounds…
- 33% Hispanic, 31% African American, 29% Caucasian, 7% other
- 68% elementary grades, 32% middle grades
…in all kinds of schools, in all kinds of settings.
- 64% public, 18% charter, 15% magnet, 3% private
- 66% urban, 19% rural, 15% suburban
- 72% implement the whole school model and 28% the after-school curriculum
Impact
MicroSociety lifts student academic achievement, improves attitudes and engagement, and reduces discipline problems. It has a long record of success with at-risk populations, English language learners, and children with special needs. All MicroSociety students develop vital career and social emotional skills as they start and manage their own business ventures, nonprofits, and government agencies. We prepare them to navigate the future workplace, become active citizens, and take on our global challenges.
See the ResultsEpisode 2: Jameson Cohen’s Infectious Passion for Public Service
Adventures With Jaida
In this episode, Jaida interviews Jameson Cohen, the 18-year-old founder of Circle of Friends, about his passion for public service. Jameson launched Circle of Friends in New York City near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic with a plan to connect the children of essential workers with volunteer high school students for online tutoring. Today, Circle of Friends, whose services are entirely free, works with all kinds of families all over the country.Belief Statement
We believe in the power of kids and in their potential to do extraordinary things so much so that we challenge the status quo about who they are, what they can do, and how and from whom they learn. We help young people create their own world inside school and turn over the reins for them to manage it. We encourage them to design and manufacture products, sell them in their own marketplace of ideas, write and enforce their own laws, and along the way to grapple with the moral and ethical challenges that arise. Through the MicroSociety system, students learn the value and utility of their curriculum while making sense of their world.