One-room schoolhouse to take over old Bruce Variety building in Bethesda

The Mysa School, a modern re-imagining of the one-room schoolhouse, is the new tenant at the former home of Bruce Variety at 8011 Woodmont Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Opening this fall, the school will be enrolling boys and girls in Grades 6-9. As it grows, it will eventually go up to Grade 12 - a full high school education.

Mysa calls its new model of the famed American one-room schoolhouse a "micro school." In a hybrid approach, Mysa will combine hands-on, group project work directed at solving the problems of today's world with a customized learning platform tailored to each student, who will select from a menu of options. The result the curriculum is designed to produce is one that draws from around the internet and the world, while helping students develop strong interpersonal relationships with their classmates. A "globally-connected one-room schoolhouse," in their words.

The school won't offer cafeteria meals, but will order in from downtown Bethesda restaurants several times a week. Sure beats cafeteria food.

You can find out more about the Mysa School, and if it is right for your child, by attending an information session at Pizzeria Da Marco (right across the street from the school) on June 12, 2016, from 5:00-7:00 PM. Or visit their website. I have to say, this sounds like a fascinating concept for those seeking an alternative to public or traditional private schools.