Fourth Generation Educator Brings Vision to Life With Bloom Beautiful Academy Microschool

A microschool is a modern take on a one-room schoolhouse

BREVARD COUNTY • TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA – Lori Rubel is no stranger to bringing a creative vision to life. As a child, one of her favorite activities was to transform her room into a school, complete with a library.

She enjoyed putting envelopes and index cards into her books, which she then encouraged her friends to check out.

“I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher from a very young age,” said Rubel.

“My mom, who was a teacher, would bring me home leftover workbook pages from her classroom. I would be the teacher, and my friends or stuffed animals would have to be the students. Some friends played alon,g and some didn’t!”

In fact, Rubel is a fourth-generation educator, with the women on her mother’s side teaching all the way back to her great-great-grandmother, leading a one-room schoolhouse.

There was never any question that she would become a teacher, and she went on from those early days of playing school with her friends to earn both her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Education and Curriculum and Instruction.

She was enjoying a very successful teaching career in the public school system in Scott City, Missouri, when her husband took a chance and applied for his dream job with SpaceX in 2021. He scored the position, and the whole Rubel family moved to Cocoa, Florida, in July of that year. It was time for a change, in more than just location.

“We homeschooled that first year, and that was good, but my daughter Nora is super social, and she needed more of a community,” said Rubel.

“I would listen to people at our homeschool enrichment program talk about how teaching certain subjects, like reading, was so hard. Hearing what people needed help with got me thinking that I could do that! I could create a different type of school to serve the homeschooling community.”

Her dream was to create a microschool where children would be seen, known, and loved. She hoped to blend strong academics with joyful learning, creativity, and Christ-centered values. In June of 2022, Bloom Beautiful Academy was born.

You may be asking yourself, what is a microschool? The short answer is that it is a modern take on a one-room schoolhouse.

Microschools are innovative, small-scale learning environments that offer personalized education tailored to each student’s needs. Unlike traditional schools, this educational alternative emphasizes individualized learning plans that foster creativity, critical thinking, and a love of learning.

For many families unhappy with the one-size-fits-all public school model or seeking something more structured than homeschooling, microschools offer a compelling alternative. Students in this educational model benefit from smaller class sizes, more individual attention from instructors, flexible schedules, and a strong sense of community and connection, among other advantages.

“At public school, my daughter struggled trying to fit into their small, restrictive ‘box’ of expectations. But at Bloom Beautiful Academy, she has done just that: bloom,” said Kristin Alvarado, whose daughter has been a student there for three years.

“Being able to work at her level and her pace, having the structure and support of a classroom setting, and enjoying all of the experiences of school life with her peers has allowed her to grow in confidence.”

In the state of Florida, microschools have become more accessible through the growth of scholarship and choice programs like the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities and the Personalized Education Program. FES-UA is funded through the Florida Education Finance Program, while PEP is funded through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

Two organizations administer these scholarships: Step Up For Students and the AAA Scholarship Foundation.

BBA is a direct pay provider for both the FES-UA and PEP scholarships administered by SUFS. As of recent counts, SUFS has awarded more than 455,000 scholarships across the programs it oversees statewide.

According to district calculations, in the 2024-2025 school year, out of approximately 81,576 total students in Brevard, only about 68,999 were educated in a brick-and-mortar setting, while students using FES scholarships increased dramatically to about 12,054.

Hundreds of thousands of Florida students are using these scholarships to opt out of traditional public schools for various reasons. When their families choose microschools as their educational alternative, they have access to personalized, small-group instruction, often at a cost far lower than typical private school tuition.

“My family moved to Brevard County from North Carolina in 2024, and homeschoolers there had no access to scholarship programs,” said Crystal Castaner, whose sons attend BBA part-time.

“These funds have been a game-changer for my children’s education. In addition to taking classes at BBA, we also use them for music lessons, curriculum, and other things that would have traditionally been paid for out of pocket by homeschoolers. The scholarships really level the playing field between homeschool and public school students.”

From its inaugural year to today, BBA has grown from 12 students to more than 60. They offer both full-time (4 days a week), and a variety of part-time, homeschool-hybrid options at their Titusville campus. Class offerings include everything from traditional reading, math, history, and science to a multitude of engaging enrichment classes. Just a few examples of these are martial arts, dance, woodworking, drama, community service class, and choir.

In her 21st year of teaching, Rubel is leading a team of eight classroom teachers, plus one resource teacher for pull-outs, and one teacher’s aide.

Together, they offer a balance, combining the flexibility and customization of homeschooling with the structure, community, and educator support of traditional schooling. Small class sizes, supportive teachers, and an individualized education model are proving to be a recipe for success at this microschool.

“Individualized education is central to Bloom Beautiful Academy’s school culture because it aligns with the belief that every child learns differently and deserves to be seen, heard, and supported in a way that nurtures their unique strengths, interests, and needs,” said Rubel. “Student success is more than just grades. If a child loves to learn and feels confident in themselves, that is as much of a success as demonstrating the content that they have learned. That is so satisfying to me.”

BBA is currently accepting limited enrollment for the second semester. For more information or to schedule a tour, call 321-385-7076 or email admin@bloombeautifulacademy.com.

Similar Stories