Class is in session at Carolina Kids Co-op, but there are no desks, no walls, and no screens. Students spend their school day outdoors, learning in nature instead of a traditional classroom.
For Patricia Way, director of Carolina Kids Co-op Gainesville and a former elementary school teacher, the outdoor model began as a solution for her own child. She launched the Gainesville chapter after searching for a different option that would better support her son’s neurodivergent needs.
The Gainesville chapter started last year with just 15 students and enrollment has grown to 55.
“Why outside? I mean, science says outside,” Way said. “The average child gets about an hour of outdoor time a day, and we’re changing that.”
She discovered the original Carolina Kids Co-op, or CKC, through a Facebook group. It started in South Carolina in 2022. The outdoor school network has since grown to 20 chapters across four states, with Gainesville among them.
As a former elementary school she knew the challenges of students in traditional education.
“I realized that’s not where I wanted him to be, It wasn’t going to be a place where he was going to thrive,” she said.
According to the National Institutes of Health, neurodiversity describes the idea that people interact, learn, think and behave in many ways with no one “right” way. Often including autism spectrum disorder and other disorders such as ADHD or dyslexia.
Her experience reflects a broader shift among some Florida families who are seeking alternatives to traditional classrooms.
“Being a teacher didn’t really prepare me for teaching neurodiverse learners or considering whole child education,” Way said.
Hailey Hilman, a parent that enrolled her daughter in the program, faced a similar choice. She was a single mother when her young daughter was diagnosed with autism and she had to decide where to send her to school. Now her family is part of the program.
“Every child deserves to be able to go to school, but we don’t have a lot of schools that are the right fit for neurodivergent learners.” Hillman said.
Nontraditional Education in Florida on the Rise
According to Florida Department of Education data, homeschool enrollment has increased nearly 46% since 2019–2020. New data for the 2024–25 school year show the same trend, with a slight decrease.
In Alachua County, in the 2024–2025 school year, 1,969 students were homeschooled.
Carolina Kids Co-op’s director defines the program as a hybrid approach between homeschooling and traditional school, combining outdoor education with group learning.
“They needed something more than just homeschool at home,” Way said.
Many attend at no cost through Florida school-choice scholarships and the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, such as the Step Up For Students program.
For Hilman, the outdoor program offers her daughter experiences she believes she would otherwise miss.
“If we didn't have CKC, we would probably just be homeschooling, but we'd be missing such a big piece of, in my opinion, what it is to be a child” Hilman said.