In this episode of Innovating Education, Dr. Riley Williams talks with Dr. Sandra Breece—CEO of School Founders Academy and founder of Telesis Center for Learning—about how one mother’s determination to support her son grew into a K–12 charter movement for hands-on, inclusive learning. Dr. Breece shares stories from founding a school in her duplex to racing fire codes with 10 days to spare, naming the resilience, flexibility, and community support it takes to build a school from the ground up.​

They dig into the most common mistake new founders make, what no one tells you to prepare for, and why “community” is not a buzzword but the engine that sustains schools over decades. This conversation offers a candid, behind-the-scenes look at the journey featured in the anthology The Power of Community: Courage, Compassion, Collaboration.​ ...