Our Tuition Model & Philosophy

Heartwood is primarily supported through the tuition paid by its families. As a part of our mission to provide self-directed education for liberation and empowerment, we offer tiered tuition to make sure we’re a fit for families not just philosophically but financially as well. Our goal is to have a community with a diverse socioeconomic makeup.

In determining our tuition process, we’ve focused on a few important ideas — trust, access, and responsibility. The culture of an Agile Learning Center (ALC) is rooted in trust. We are committed to developing relationships of trust with students, among the facilitators, and with our families. By trusting families to be generous and reasonable we increase our accessibility. As we grow, we try to balance accessibility with sustainability. We are always looking at our tuition process to make sure we’re being responsible to our current families and to the future health of the school.

The tools below help determine the recommended annual tuition per child based on a family’s total annual income. Total family income refers to all gross income sources including but not limited to: salary, child support, support from family, trusts, etc. Families propose a tuition level that is responsible to both their family’s finances as well as the school’s sustainability. If a family can’t afford the recommendation, they can choose a lower tier and give us more information about their situation. If a family can pay more, they can apply at a higher tier than the recommendation, or make a tax-deductible donation. These practices of trust and responsibility to mutual health keep our school socioeconomically accessible and healthy.