We were lucky to catch up with Morgan Honeycutt recently and have shared our conversation below.

Morgan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The most important risk that started it all was the risk of MHA’s first year. Magnolia Heritage Academy was a thought for me for about 2 years prior to an actual opening. I just couldn’t get it off the ground because God’s timing wasn’t aligned yet. 1st year there was a church ready to house us but then the following year the pastor took a call and I lost the location. It was a scary place to be not knowing if MHA would ever become “real”.

I took to God in prayer over what he had put on my heart. He then spoke in whispers and asked me to trust in his plan. I was approached by a group who wanted me to start my school on their campus. I knew our educational philosophies didn’t align, but this was what I had been praying for, an opportunity. I opened MHA’s doors in the fall of 2017. I was on this other campus in New Magnolia till a friend reached out about Magnolia Church of Christ and how they had a heart to serve their local community (Old Magnolia). I was connected with the church and was able to move with my first teacher and 5 students over Thanksgiving Break in the Fall 0f 2017. We finished the year out with 7 students! Our next year we grew to 6 teachers and 28 students! Fast forward almost 6 years and we have over 20 on staff and around 125 students on campus!

Trusting in God is a fundamental aspect of what we do at Magnolia Heritage Academy. God is the cornerstone who has paved our path and allowed us to serve the families we do. We have the confidence to do things differently because we know we are in his hands.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

When I taught in public school over 10 years ago, homeschooling was never on my radar. My husband and I are both from the North Houston area. We attended Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball. We both went to the University of Houston and then lived on the southside of town. I taught in Pasadena ISD, and after completing my master’s in Educational Leadership, I became a testing coordinator at a high school in Pasadena. When it came time to move back to the north side of town, we were shocked at how BIG little Tomball had gotten. Our realtor recommended looking in a town further north called Magnolia. Before we purchased a lot and began the process of building our home, I researched schools in the area and felt comfortable to settle in.

When we moved to Magnolia in 2011, we had a 2 year old and an infant. I stayed home with the kiddos while my husband traveled quite a bit for business. During the next few years, my kids attended mother’s day out, and I became a team leader in a direct sales company, managing over 50 team members. I enjoyed getting out and meeting ladies through networking, and through that process I learned more about how some families homeschooled their children and what it looked like. I had to be honest; I was intrigued. I met women from different walks of life who had kiddos who were just starting the homeschool journey as well as those who had graduated their students into colleges! I was ready to start considering homeschooling, but we decided to enroll our daughter in kindergarten in public school. After her first year, we were ready to try homeschooling.

At this time, I was still running a business with a toddler at home. I really just wanted a part time school she could attend where I could do work with her on the other days. It was so hard to find any balance. That first year, there were a lot of tears! During that time, my niece was enrolled in a school in Pearland that went three days a week and used Abeka curriculum. I thought, “That’s exactly what I need!” I scoured all over the local area looking for that model, but the only ones here were way out of our price range. I reached out to the director at that school and asked if they had any interest in expanding this direction. She told me, “Absolutely not, but I’ll give you some tips.” Then and there, the idea of Magnolia Heritage Academy was born!

Our school was born of the desire to let kids be kids, help families gain a better balance of family and school life, and to focus on helping students where they are, not requiring all students to function identically to those they are grouped with.

We are different at MHA because we make it our goal campus wide to expand beyond traditional learning experiences with inspirational learning opportunities. We believe in a partnership between teachers, parents and students for a well rounded educational experience.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When Covid happened we were affected the same as many schools across the country. My teachers worked so hard over their spring breaks to have packets at the ready for students to keep a normal activity going. We then functioned the remainder of that semester virtually. I believe it was a slightly easier transition for our families who are already used to partnering with their student’s teachers.

When summer of 2020 was coming to a close and many districts were preparing to go back with masks we made the decision (our parents and staff) to come back to campus without masks. We wanted students to feel normal and we asked our parents to be vigilant on their end with communication of any illness with us. As a school we amped up our cleaning procedures and made some changes in our daily structure but we continued on! We made the the whole of 2020-2021 with NO covid transmission on campus. What a wonderful blessing that year was! We were able to give our staff and students the opportunity for a normal school year in the middle of a chaotic time.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Our teachers are the key to our success at Magnolia Heritage Academy. We have amazing, caring, God loving women and men who invest in the well being emotionally and academically of our students.

We have been wait listed the last few years and I know this is because of the word of mouth of what our teachers are willing to do for our students and how they help our students feel successful on our campus.

I am so grateful for the past and present staff that God has blessed MHA with. We would not be where we are without every person who has worked with us on this journey!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.magnoliaheritageacademy.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magnoliaheritageacademy