Meet Dezirea Contreras | Founder of DiscoverUAcademy Microschools

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dezirea Contreras and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dezirea, what do you want people to remember about you?
I want to leave a legacy that no matter what life threw at me I was able to get up, dust myself off and march forward with a smile on my face. I want people to remember me that when my name comes up, they will say, ” I knew her! She loved her family. She inspired my kids to follow their passion… she inspired me to follow my passion”. “She had a lot of information to share!”

What should our readers know about your business?
DiscoverUAcademy was 30 years in the making. After kindergarten I was pulled out of school to be homeschooled, along with my sisters. Through that experience I learned how I wanted my children to experience education. To make a very long story shorter, after college and ups and downs of working in the restaurant industry for many years, I was having my 2nd baby we decided it was best for me to be a stay at home mom. I have always worked and that was really hard for me. Once my babies were a little older, I started a personal chef business. It was great because I could still be, mostly, home with my kids but still be able to work. That was my first taste of entrepreneurship.
I learned quickly that it was not easy to run a business and be a mom. When you run a business many times you wear all of the hats. But I pushed on for my family, after all, I learned how to do business taxes when I was in about 6th grade, my mom always ran a business and I was homeschooled remember… When my kids were school aged I was like, “Cool they can go to school and I can grow my business.” God had other plans.
Schools shut down and we were in the midst of a global crisis, we were forcibly homeschooling. I mean that in the best way…
When schools opened again it was chaotic for everyone. the class sizes, the masks, the division. I had many sleepless nights hoping there was another, better, way. I wanted to homeschool but I had to work at this point. I found a sprouting company that had the answers to my questions. Prenda. What’s a microschool?! I asked. Small learning environments that offer an individual education, by a caring adult who is passionate about helping these kids reach their full potential. They are in the driver seat and I guide the path. This was perfect, I could homeschool my kids, invite others to learn with us and earn an income. Easy right!? The Committee was not quite sure what that was, and my Husband was like how does that work?

The first year was difficult, having your children share your attention with other kids was a challenge no one prepared me for. My kids and I had a secret signal that we came up with so they felt seen by me, with other kids around. The things I planned for, didn’t happen… and the things I didn’t plan for, happened. I never knew that educators jobs don’t end on the weekend, or when summer is out. My next hat, grant writer.
I am most proud of the fact that after 1 year of opening my microschool. I was awarded a grant through VELA, they support alternative educational programs. Many microschools continue to pop up around the country and I met many of them at VELA con, people like me with a similar story, but very unique microschools. These are amazing inspiring people.
Also in my first year, I was accepted in the inaugural year of the, ASU Arizona STEM Fellowship, and receive another grant for my school, I had to take professional development classes. That opened many more doors. My new hat was mentor, helping others start microschools.
Now, I continue to find professional development classes out of my own desire to improve on my skills as an educator for my students. I continue to find creative funding options and I’ve become known as, “The Microschool Grant Lady.” I will happily share what I find to improve other microschools.
Although I am no longer using Prenda as a platform for my students, I am very thankful for that chapter in this journey. That was hard to let go of. Simply put, my program outgrew my own expectations, the business side was changing, the program was changing. I’m a figure it out girl and DiscoverUAcademy was moving in a different direction.
If anyone would do it, it would be me.
What sets me apart from other educational options is that parents can decide if it’s a fit for them and I can also decide if they will fit into the ecosystem. My number 1 job is to be a safe space, something I learned through the mentorship of Katie and Adriane, if a child is in fight or flight they absolutely will not feel ready to learn. I offer a foundational individual education, where I meet the student where they are at and help them build language, math, and social emotional skills. Layered with entrepreneurship, real life skills, career exploration, and heart. I ask the students what they want to learn about. We held an end of year round table and I took down notes of their ideas and what they wanted to walk into for the following school year. That list includes but not limited to; a class trip, volcanos, learning more about space, volunteering again, making movies, learning about other countries… and so on. Kids are amazing, you give them tools and they can go build the thing. Figuratively and literally.
I offer summer cooking classes because the Chef in me. It’s truly fun and I have never had a more fulfilling career.
There is no one path for learning, it happens anywhere, anyplace, anytime. If you look for it you will find it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is my jam! Since I live in Chandler and my best friend would of course stay with me. We would go in the morning to Downtown Chandler and get delicious coffee at Peixotto. If it’s a weekend the farmers market is open and we love to go check out the vendors and buy some Noble sourdough, grab some fresh produce for a bruschetta.
The hidden house if we’re staying local for dinner.
For a kid free night I would take her to Zuzu at Hotel Valley Ho for the Chef Roulette dinner. We have our favorite server.
Another night we might go see the bats fly out at dusk at the canal then enjoy some key lime pie from Le Grande Orange.
A really great hangout spot is The Maple House in Downtown Chandler. Their breakfast sandwich is one of a kind. Garlic aioli… yum! The kids can play in the family friendly courtyard.
At least once in your life you have to see the sunset from a private booth at Orange Sky.
If we are staying in, a great quick food is from Gadzook and Thai Chili 2 go- I may or may not order here for lunch often…
We would get refreshing drinks from the best boba spot Tea Bliss – Creme brûlée foam top,
and go to Burst of Butterflies to paint some pottery or a canvas.
For a Brewery we would go to Arizona Wilderness for the duck fat fries.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Thank God for my health and strength, daily. Shout out to my family: My Husband for being a huge part of my success, he is on the crazy train of life with me, he’s a good listener for all the ideas I throw out there, I couldn’t do this without him.
The Committee, you know who you are! This group of amazing women who encourage each other and cheer successes and encourage through the failures. My children for being the reason I do what I do, they were the inspiration for this Microschool. My parents for raising strong independent women, their work ethic was unmatched.

Website: https://discovermicroschools.com

Instagram: @discoveru_academy

Facebook: DiscoveruAcademy

Image Credits
Raising kids with purpose

Dezirea Contreras