Vision for a Classical School

Summary

Hillsdale College K-12 Classical Education Podcast Episode: Vision for a Classical School Release Date: April 6, 2026 Host: Scott Bertram Guest: Kayla Crothers, Head of School at Ivywood Classical Academy, Plymouth, Michigan

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the journey and vision behind the founding and growth of Ivywood Classical Academy, as shared by its Head of School, Kayla Crothers. The discussion explores what makes classical education distinct and enduring, the practical realities of leading a rapidly growing K-12 school, strategies for fostering a thriving school culture, and the role of leadership development within the Hillsdale College K-12 network.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. Kayla Crothers’ Journey into Classical Education

• Unique Path to Education: Kayla shares that she struggled in traditional schools as a child until her parents enrolled her in a private Christian school, which changed her educational trajectory (02:00).

• Career Shift: She initially considered law enforcement, worked as a drill instructor at a juvenile boot camp, and became invested in classical methods while homeschooling her own children (02:20).

• Founding Ivywood: Upon learning of a classical charter school opening in her area, she and her family eagerly became involved (02:54).

  “Classical education matters. And although I didn't originally see myself as the leader, I was uniquely equipped, having worn many hats at the school and loving its mission so deeply.” – Kayla Crothers (04:00)

2. Leadership at Ivywood

• Role Evolution: Started as Director of Operations, managing everything from emergency plans to filling classroom needs, developing systems ensuring teachers could focus on teaching (03:16).
• Stepping into School Leadership: Kayla describes her transition to Head of School as both a civic duty and personal mission, especially as a parent whose children attend Ivywood (04:21, 04:26):

  “To uphold this mission and have a small part in reclaiming education in our nation means everything to me and to this community.” – Kayla Crothers (04:26)

3. Defining and Deepening the Vision for Classical Education

• Mentoring & Growth: The Hillsdale network’s Year 0 Boot Camp and conferences have been instrumental for learning and connection with other classical school leaders (05:05).
• Visits to Peer Schools: Kayla describes taking a team to observe Seven Oaks Classical Academy for inspiration and best practices (05:40).

4. Leadership Style & Community Presence

• Leading Authentically: Kayla strives to maintain authenticity and accessibility with students, faculty, and parents alike (06:19).

• Team Reliance & Delegation: Growth in role necessitated learning to delegate and ask for help, but her goal is to stay the approachable public face of Ivywood (06:45).

  “I think I am who I am. And I think that that's one of the things that makes me confident as a leader is the fact that I don't have to change hats between the students and the faculty and the parent community.” – Kayla Crothers (06:22)

5. Ivywood Classical Academy: Origins and Growth

• School Profile: Opened in 2018 (K-5, 130 students) in a repurposed AT&T facility (07:37). Now K-11 with over 800 students across two campuses, with a brand-new building and plans for further expansion (07:37–09:00).

• Vision for Space: Designed new campus with classical features (colonnade, courtyard, Socratic circle) to support mission and foster community (13:32).

  “With the great opportunity to build came the great responsibility to steward our resources well. And so every decision was made with the mission in mind.” – Kayla Crothers (08:28)

6. Managing Two Campuses & School Culture

• Staffing & Structure: Relies on strong leadership partners at both campuses (09:31).

• Intentional Community Building: Events, orientations, and mixed-age student activities to connect lower and upper schools (10:35).

  “When you're moving into a brand new building that's kind of void of any original culture, you have to intentionally and kind of manufacture some of those aspects…until it can take root and flourish on its own.” – Kayla Crothers (10:51)

7. Rapid Student Population Growth & Integration

• Bottom-Up Growth: Most growth occurs in kindergarten, ensuring students are shaped in the classical tradition early (12:03).

• Onboarding New Students: “Ivywood 101” summer boot camp helps incoming students assimilate academic expectations and school culture (12:45).

  “[At] Ivywood 101…they not only had a crash course in literacy essentials and well ordered language and Singapore math, but they also learned kind of the Ivywood traditions and common language that we use across both campuses...” – Kayla Crothers (12:55)

8. Classical Principles Reflected in Campus Design

• Physical Environment: Grand colonnade, central courtyard with a Socratic circle, wide hallways for conversation, flexible classroom layouts, “Eyrie” student corridor—each element designed with both utility and classical philosophy in mind (13:32–15:56).

  “Our courtyard…features a large Socratic circle. And so as soon as Michigan weather turns…that courtyard will be filled…with students and teachers in great discussion.” – Kayla Crothers (13:40)

9. Leadership Development & the Hillsdale Fellowship Program

• Training Future Leaders: Ivywood hosts School Leader Fellows to train and mentor the next generation of leaders in classical education, emphasizing passion and willingness to learn (16:07–18:06).

  “Building a classical school is larger than any one person, and so it's really important that you find people who are passionate about the work and willing to learn.” – Kayla Crothers (16:52)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the mission of classical education:

  “Classical education matters. And although I didn't originally see myself as the leader, I was uniquely equipped, having worn many hats at the school and loving its mission so deeply.” (04:00)

• On authenticity in leadership:

  “I think I am who I am. And I think that that's one of the things that makes me confident as a leader is the fact that I don't have to change hats between the students and the faculty and the parent community.” (06:22)

• On building school culture:

  “When you're moving into a brand new building that's kind of void of any original culture, you have to intentionally and kind of manufacture some of those aspects…until it can take root and flourish on its own.” (10:51)

• On the physical embodiment of classical ideals:

  “Our courtyard…features a large Socratic circle. And so as soon as Michigan weather turns…that courtyard will be filled…with students and teachers in great discussion.” (13:40)

• On forming and mentoring new leaders:

  “Building a classical school is larger than any one person, and so it’s really important that you find people who are passionate about the work and willing to learn.” (16:52)

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Recommended Timestamps

• Kayla’s background & entry into classical education: 01:54–03:02
• Early leadership and motivations: 03:16–04:53
• Classical education vision & Hillsdale support: 05:05–06:02
• Leadership style and authenticity: 06:19–07:19
• Ivywood Academy overview and growth: 07:37–09:12
• Managing two campuses & building culture: 09:31–11:43
• Student onboarding (“Ivywood 101”): 12:03–13:19
• Campus architecture & classical design: 13:32–16:07
• Leadership Fellow program: 16:07–18:06

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Summary

This episode offers an engaging, personal look into what it means to build and lead a classical school. Kayla Crothers articulates both the philosophical underpinnings and practical challenges of translating classical ideals into a living, growing school community. From her own unlikely journey into education to the architectural choices in Ivywood’s new campus, the conversation is filled with thoughtful reflections and actionable insights for educators, parents, and school leaders inspired by the promise of classical education.

Transcript

[A]

Great books, great people, great ideas. Learning about these things is critical to being a well educated human being and we can help with the Hillsdale Dialogues. Each week, Hillsdale College President Larry Arne joins radio veteran Hugh Hewitt to discuss topics of enduring relevance. And from time to time they also talk about current events, but always with an eye toward more fundamental truths. And they want you to tune in to a conversation like no other. The Hillsdale Dialogues are posted every Monday on the Hillsdale College Podcast Network at Paw podcast hillsdale.edu. that's podcast hillsdale edu or listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your audio. Welcome to The Hillsdale College K12 classical education podcast, bringing you insight into classical education and its unique emphasis on human virtue and moral character, responsible citizenship, content, rich curricula and teacher led classrooms. Now your host, Scott Bertram.

[B]

Thanks for listening. The Hillsdale College K12 Classical Education Podcast is part of the Hillsdale College Podcast Network. More episodes at podcast hillsdale.edu or wherever you get your audio. You also can find more information on topics and ideas discussed on this show and at our website, k12 hillsdale.edu. thanks for listening. We're joined today by Kayla Crothers. She's Head of School at Ivywood Classical Academy in Plymouth, Michigan. Kayla, thanks so much for joining us.

[A]

Thank you for having me discussing today

[B]

a little bit of your journey to classical education and also your role and work as Head of school at Ivywood Classical Academy. Tell us a bit about your background. How did you get involved in the classical education movement?

[A]

So my educational journey and path to school leadership is unique. I did not like school growing up and was often frustrated and unable to keep up with the changing curriculum and unfortunately that manifested behaviorally and my parents decided ultimately to make a sacrifice and send my sister and I to a private Christian school where we were educated in the liberal arts. And that really changed the trajectory of my life. Fast forward I graduated and received a Fulbright scholarship to Oakland University. I had a desire to pursue a career in law enforcement, but God had other plans for me and I ended up working as a drill instructor at a juvenile boot camp facility. It was there that I met my husband and together we had three beautiful children and I became steeped in classical education philosophy as we considered education for our own children. I ultimately ended up homeschooling them and being involved in a classical homeschool co op. And it was a few years after that that we heard a classical charter school was going to be opening in our community and we knew at that time we had to be involved.

[B]

Now, you have been at Ivywood since it opened up. First as director of operations, now moving into the head of school role. That director of operations role, what's that like? What did it entail? What goes on during a day as director of operations?

[A]

Yeah. So probably not unlike the early years of any school, people who are involved in the founding of an institution wear many hats, myself and the other team included. So it was a lot of quick, kind of on the job training in every facet the school, from emergency operations plans to pupil accounting, to stepping into classrooms and filling in where there was a need. So a lot of my role as the operations director consisted of making systems and processes for the school so that teachers could teach and not have to worry about all the extra things.

[B]

And from there, moving to head of school role at Ivywood. What steps did you take to make that transition? What drew you into a leadership role at the school?

[A]

I once heard it said that on earth, things that matter will fall unless someone holds them up. Classical education matters. And although I didn't originally see myself as the leader, I was uniquely equipped, having worn many hats at the school and loving its mission so deeply. And the team around me and my family were a huge encouragement and support to me as I stepped into the leader role.

[B]

What drew you into leadership? How did you know that leadership was right for you?

[A]

I ultimately see the role of a school leader as my civic duty. To uphold this mission and have a small part in reclaiming education in our nation means everything to me and to this community. I have my own skin in the game. My own three children attend school here, and I want them to love learning and I want them to learn about good things. And so ultimately that was why I decided that this is what I wanted to do.

[B]

How did you begin to deepen your understanding of classical education? How did you form your vision of what a classical school should look and how a classical school should be running?

[A]

Being part of the Hillsdale member school network has been invaluable to me. As a new leader and a young leader. I've been able to Attend the Year 0 Boot Camp training for new school leaders, where I not only was steeped in classical education philosophy and the curriculum, but I also made deep friendships with other classical leaders in the network who are literally a phone call away. I love seeing them at leaders conferences in February and at the Hillsdale summer conference in June, but I've also had the opportunity to visit them at their own schools. And so just last year, I took a team of eight teachers from Ivy Wood down to Seven Oaks Classical Academy to visit the headmaster, Dr. Shipp, there and his team. And we were able to see classical education, excellent classical education, in action in the classroom and in the hallways. And so having that network of support and mentorship has been just a great asset to me as a leader, but also to our extended team here at Ivy Wood.

[B]

I'm wondering, when you are acting as head of school at Ivy Wood, when you are that leader, do you feel you're a different person in front of the staff and faculty and a different person in front of students? Do you have to put on sort of different hats when you're addressing different types of people in that leader role?

[A]

I don't. I think I am who I am. And I think that that's one of the things that makes me confident as a leader is the fact that I don't have to change hats between the students and the faculty and the parent community. I think it's also because of my journey, having started out just as a very accessible person, being at the front desk, often in the office and in the community, as a fellow parent, that I've been a very approachable and accessible leader. And I hope that doesn't have to change. As my role has grown and increased and I've taken on more responsibility, I've had to learn to ask for help and had to learn to delegate roles and responsibilities. But ultimately, my hope is to be that person, to be that public face of our school and to be the person who people can come to and ask questions. And, you know, whether it's supporting a teacher or having a conversation with a parent or even an appointment with a

[B]

student, we've gone this far. We haven't actually said a lot or described a lot about Ivywood itself. So let's do that. How many students at Ivywood? You know exactly where is the school located? How would you describe Ivywood Classical Academy for someone who had no idea what it was all about?

[A]

Ivywood is located in Plymouth, Michigan. We opened in 2018 kindergarten through fifth grade with about 130 students. We opened in an AT&T training facility that was quickly converted to classroom use in order for us to launch our academic program. We quickly outgrew that space and we're able to secure bond financing, $24.4 million bond financing to build a brand new campus. And so this is the first year. Ivywood is now kindergarten through 11th grade. We welcome just over 800 students this school year. And we're split in two campuses for the first time. So our lower school still occupies our rented facility. And then just about a mile away is our brand new building nestled on 22 acres of land. And we were able to build this building from the ground up as a home for our mission. And so with the great opportunity to build came the great responsibility to steward our resources well. And so every decision was made with the mission in mind. And so we currently occupy phase one for our upper school. 7th through 11th grade, will graduate our first class next year. We'll hopefully start clearing ground soon to build our athletics complex, which will be as our big capital campaign project right now. And then in about three to four years, we will recall and refinance our bond and be able to build phase two of the building to be able to bring our entire K12 program back under one roof. I can't wait for that day.

[B]

Yes, but for the moment, you're working across two campuses separated by about a mile, as you said. So where are the challenges in that? How do you bridge those two student communities? What does, even from a very literal standpoint, your day look like when dealing with two different campuses that are not next door to each other?

[A]

I don't know if I've quite figured out my day just yet, but I'm settling more and more each week. I often spend time in both buildings every day. I'm thankful that they're very close in proximity to each other. I do have a wonderful partner here, an assistant head of school, Mr. Merlot, who has been just an excellent partner in education serving as the assistant head of upper school. He's a careful shepherd of our upper school faculty and students, and then leaning into a leader fellow from the Hillsdale K12 office at the lower school, Ms. Grace Hambleton, who will be staying on with us next year as our assistant head of lower school. So part of it takes a team, and I'm really grateful for the team that we have built. I think as far as planning and preparing for two campuses, we tried to anticipate as much of a cultural change for the students as we could. And so that went into really, intentionally planning student life aspects of the new campus. When you're moving into a brand new building that's kind of void of any original culture, you have to intentionally and kind of manufacture some of those aspects to begin with until it can take root and flourish on its own. We did new teacher and new student orientations, tours of the building. We also intentionally planned events, concerts, literacy nights, curriculum opportunities where the lower school has an opportunity to be at the upper school so that they can experience our forever home and get excited about what's to come as far as the faculty is concerned. In our cadence of meetings, we are together often. I think it's really important that we continue to identify as a K 12 school. Sometimes that looks like, you know, all staff meetings or all staff professional development, but sometimes it looks like just some leisure time together in community and conversation. And so that's going to be something that we continue to plan for going forward is just intentional times to be a K12 school all together in community as we look forward to being together again in a few years.

[B]

Now that's managing the campuses where. What about managing your growth in student population? You know, expanding up into 9 through 12 and also adding students year after year. It's been a pretty significant growth curve for Ivywood since the founding. So how do you manage that growth in student population?

[A]

So most of our growth we see at the kindergarten level, which is great. So we're definitely committed to kind of growing from the bottom up so that our students are kind of steeped in the classical tradition and also have the foundational skills needed to really take root and explore then what's to come in the upper school. We did, however, get quite an influx of students this year as we opened the second campus. And so we offered an Ivywood 101 this summer. Our sixth grade teachers took on that initiative and I'm very grateful for that. But they welcomed just over 70 students for a three day kind of Ivywood boot camp experience where they not only had a crash course in literacy essentials and well ordered language and Singapore math, but they also learned kind of the Ivywood traditions and common language that we use across both campuses as part of our culture plan. And they were taught those things by the teachers, but also by student ambassadors. So we had about 70 students attend that Ivywood 101. We had about 30 student ambassadors here that showed up during the summer in their uniforms to welcome these new families and new students and to kind of show them the Ivy Wood way so that they had an instant connection and an instant confidence. I think coming in on the first

[B]

day of school, the new building that's already built, that's already in use, are there features of that new building at Ivywood that were inspired or are particularly in line with classical education principles?

[A]

Definitely there are. Our new campus is set a little bit back on the property and you enter the front office through a grand robust colonnade, classical colonnade. It's absolutely beautiful. And as you Enter in the building, you're greeted by our beautiful courtyard. It was one of my passion projects during the build. We worked with an excellent architectural designer who really, I think, understood our desire to have a central feature that supported our mission. So our courtyard not only serves practical purposes of allowing natural light into every classroom and hallway space, but it also features a large Socratic circle. And so as soon as Michigan weather turns here, it was blizzarding yesterday. But as soon as Michigan weather turns, that courtyard will be filled on a daily basis of students and teachers in great discussion, reading, eating lunch. It's also a great spot for school celebrations and community events as you continue kind of down the classroom corridors. Our hallways are wide. They allow for ease of transition between classes, but also the ability for students to stop and have a conversation. It's filled with such a joy and friendship that I'm really thankful for. The classrooms are thoughtfully arranged for serious study and discussion. The desks are able to be moved about into different arrangements to support the learning. The hallways feature wood plank flooring, kind of a welcoming color palette. Our back corridor is one of my favorite places in the building. We are the Ivywood Eagles. Our back corridor, they have lovingly named the Eyrie. An Eyrie is where eagles gather. It is our student corridor. So unlike the grand entrance, which kind of serves as a serious and welcoming but thoughtful space, the black back corridor, the Erie, is the hub of student life. And so it's where our house banners hang and there's kind of booth style furniture for students to gather and collaborate. Ivywood doesn't offer transportation yet. And so we serve students from 32 local districts. And so we have students coming from, you know, some of them from an hour away. And so we wanted that back corridor to be a place where they could gather and be together in community. And so it has served that purpose. It stays open for about an hour, hour and a half after school every day, so that as students are waiting for practice or waiting for pickup, they can be with each other in that back corridor.

[B]

And something I wanted to make sure we discussed before we concluded the conversation, and you alluded to this earlier, the School Leader Fellowship program that Hillsdale's K12 office runs. We've talked often on the show about the difficulty in finding the right leader, finding a leader for K12 schools, and the School Leader Fellow program helps to train and identify those who can succeed in those situations. Why is Ivywood taking part in the School Leader Fellow program? And what have you seen so far from your fellow?

[A]

Yeah, so we've been just so thankful to have the opportunity to host a fellow this year. I joke that Ms. Hambleton got a little more than she bargained for stepping into the Ivywood role. We had anticipated hiring an assistant head of school for the lower school and unfortunately just didn't find the right fit. It is hard to find the right people to serve in our schools and so Ms. Hambleton ended up kind of stepping into that role for us this year and has accepted that role for next year. I think building a classical school is larger than any one person, and so it's really important that you find people who are passionate about the work and willing to learn. Those are kind of our two core values here at Ivywood that we love learning and we love rightly. Essentially, we are excited to continue hosting leader Fellows, hopefully to come so that we can help support the mission of Classical education around the country by giving these leaders a training ground here at Ivywood to learn all facets of school leadership. I think Ivywood's uniquely positioned for that right now because we have so much growth and so much happening, the opportunity to be part of a building project or an athletics complex or, you know, the scope and sequence and graduation requirements and even planning for our first commencement. There's a lot of opportunity here to learn and to grow. And so we're excited to continue to support the effort to support future leaders in classical education.

[B]

Kayla Crothers is Head of School at Ivywood Classical Academy in Plymouth, Michigan, talking about her journey to classical education and her work as head of school. Kayla, thanks so much for joining us here on the Hillsdale College K12 classical education podcast.

[A]

Thank you so much for having me, Scott.

[B]

I'm Scott Bertram. We invite you to like us on Facebook search for Hillsdale College K12 classical education. You also can follow us on Instagram hillsdalek12. That's hillsdalek12 on Instagram. Thank you for listening to The Hillsdale College K12 classical education podcast, part of the Hillsdale College Podcast Network. More at Podcast Hillsdale Edu or wherever you get your audio.