We recently connected with Kristyn Bray and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristyn , thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I was born to be a teacher. It is the thing I have done all through my life, from the early years of putting my little brother in his high chair to teach him to count with cheerios as a kindergartener, to the college students from Spain and Korea who I sat down in front of the chalkboard in elementary school. Teaching is the thing that is most in my blood. When I had my own young children I couldn’t figure out how to send them to someone else to teach while I taught other people’s chilcren and thus I began to look for a way to do both. The traditional classroom environment does not suit every learner. One of my favorite quotes, from Ignacio Estrada, “If a a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn,” has become my guiding principle. Why are we demanding that children adapt to us as teachers rather than learning how a child learns?

From this idea, Mosaic Academy was born. I created a hybrid model where students come two to three days per week for academic instruction and the parents are provided with curated, structured assignments for the days at home. This way, our professinal teachers are able to carry the burden of “what do we do?” and the parents are turned loose to be engaged and hands on with their own child’s learning and are well supported along the way.

This is a place where students come to be welcomed as they are. A place where students press toward the same academic content, but teachers understand that students may arrive at the learning goals from different directions. Our heart here at Mosaic is to connect with teachers who are passionate about learning, who are willing to do the work to figure out the child in front of them and who are willing to partner with a child’s parents to create the best learning path for each student as the unique individual they are.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

One of the things that I am most proud of here at Mosaic Academy is that when students graduate they know who they are and what they excel at, because they have been seen and honored for years. We provide classes for students ages 18 months through eighth grade. Our classes are small, with our highest teacher to student ratio being 1:12. This creates an environment of connection, of being seen and of being known by your teacher and by the other students. Because we have the expectation that no two students are exactly alike, our teachers bring a unique form of welcome to their students: “Just be who you are.”

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Parents who come stay. Teachers who come stay. Happy parents and happy teachers invite their friends and then we find ourselves- not only with community- but growth.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Hope dies hard in me. I started this school with a mission to cherish the value and cultivate the individual strengths in each child- no small task. And yet, we have been doing it for 26 years. We have faced 5 moves, economic instability, a pandemic and here we still are caring for the child in front of us. I don’t just hire any teacher. I look for teachers who bring a passion for their subject matter, who teach because it is the “thing” they must do” and this creates a powerhouse of a staff who pour themselves into their classes. THIS is what creates students who know who they are. Students who are welcomed. Students who unfold into all of their greatness.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mosaicacademy.org
• Instagram: mosaicacademyfw
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mosaicacademy.org

Image Credits

Photographer credit Sophie Rushing