What One-to-One Schooling Looks Like: A Day at Brightmont Academy

Barbara Farland • September 3, 2025

It’s 8:15 a.m. on a Monday morning, and Teresa makes her way into her classroom at Brightmont Academy in Phoenix. The school is one of 20 campuses located throughout the country.

 

Unlike teachers in other school systems, Teresa will only have to manage one student during each hour of her day. Boring? Repetitive? Hardly! A day in the life of Teresa proves her time at Brightmont is just as dynamic and interesting—if not more so—for teachers and students alike…


8:30 a.m. - English 12 with Natalie

Teresa’s first class of the morning is English 12 with a high schooler named Natalie. Natalie is a full-time student at Brightmont who has been attending since seventh grade. Large groups and noise trigger Natalie’s anxiety, so Brightmont is the perfect solution to help her demonstrate her full potential. A straight-A student, Natalie is enjoying her current English unit on Frankenstein through which she and Teresa are discussing the characteristics of sympathetic characters and the nuances of what makes a monster. Natalie is so engaged in the curriculum that she is using Frankenstein as inspiration for penning some poetry outside of class. 

9:30 a.m. - Social Studies 7 with Noah

Noah is Teresa’s next student. Noah attends Brightmont just a couple of hours a week for seventh-grade Social Studies. He is a full-time student at a local public middle school, but it was determined that Noah needs some extra one-to-one support to cover the complicated mechanics of the U.S. government. Even though Noah is taking Social Studies at Brightmont, he will receive the same credit for the course as he would at his usual school. Today, Noah is working on a writing assignment about gerrymandering, a topic that has piqued his interest in recent days. In the process, Teresa is coaching Noah through the best practices of essay writing.


10:30 a.m. - Entrepreneurship with Kevin

In her third hour, Teresa meets with Kevin, who, like Natalie, is a full-time student at Brightmont. Kevin is an 11th grader; thus, he has visited the school’s long list of elective courses to enhance his core studies. With the approval of his parents and under the guidance of the school’s director, Kevin chose to take a couple semesters of Entrepreneurship, given his inventive spirit. Both Teresa and Kevin enjoy conversations that not only address the many challenges of starting a business but also tap into creative strategies for success.


11:30 a.m. - Homework Studio 

Teresa’s morning schedule ends with Homework Studio, where up to four Brightmont students have an hour to work on their assignments. Though Teresa is primarily an English and Social Studies instructor, she enjoys getting a glimpse of what’s happening all around Brightmont and supporting students in all of their studies. Today, she is overseeing three students in Homework Studio and referring to a campuswide “Assignment Tracker” to help them make progress on their most pressing tasks. 

1 p.m. - Test Prep Part 1 with Saanvi (Homework Studio)

After lunch, Teresa returns to the Homework Studio after lunch, but this time it’s a bit different. Saanvi is working through several ACT test questions while Teresa grades other students’ homework and prepares for upcoming class sessions. With aspirations to go to a very competitive private college, Saanvi is enrolled in Brightmont’s ACT Test Prep program to help bolster her ACT score. Right after Homework Studio, Saanvi will visit another teacher’s classroom to explore what she got right, what she got wrong, and how to apply various study skills and memorization techniques in further test prep. 



2 p.m. - AP English Literature and Composition with Henry

At the end of 10th grade, Henry took an AP (advanced placement) exam through his school; the test confirmed that he could benefit from an accelerated academic plan. That’s when Brightmont came into the picture, and today, Teresa and Henry are dissecting Act 4 of Twelfth Night as part of a Shakespearean Comedy unit. In addition to reading and discussing the play with Teresa, Henry will be graded on various interpretive essays. In its entirety, this AP English Literature and Composition course will count toward Henry’s college credits.

3 p.m. - Skill-building with Aria

Aria, a third grader, attends a local public elementary school. When Aria’s self-confidence started to plummet in reading, her parents looked to Brightmont to administer an assessment to gauge her reading level. The results showed that Aria was reading about a year behind her peers. In response, Aria’s parents signed her up for two hours a week of Reading Skill-building at Brightmont. Aria and Teresa have a set routine each time they meet: 25 minutes of phonics, five minutes of drills or word games, and 25 minutes of reading comprehension. Teresa also assigns activities to practice at home to ensure Aria’s reading skills gain momentum. 



4 p.m. - Tutoring with Connor

Connor, a sixth grader, was diagnosed with ADHD when he was eight years old. Not surprisingly, as a new middle schooler, he is struggling with the greater independence that middle school requires. Teresa, however, meets with Connor three times a week not only to help him devise a system for keeping track of and prioritizing his assignments, but also to tutor him in essay writing, which really challenges his ability to focus. Connor has already experienced an uptick in his grades due in large part to his tutoring sessions with Teresa.

And, just like that, Teresa’s day is done. As demonstrated in Teresa’s Brightmont experience, one-to-one schooling is rich with engaging teacher/student interactions, challenging coursework, and diversity. Needless to say, time and time again, it has proven to be the best solution for students of all ages and with all kinds of academic needs. As Teresa waves goodbye to her co-workers—some of whom are just settling in for their evening teaching and tutoring sessions—she looks forward to the rest of the week when she will continue to make an important difference in the lives of so many young people.

Barbara Farland is an English & Social Studies instructor at Brightmont Academy in Plymouth, Minn. She holds a master’s degree in Business Communication from the University of St. Thomas and, prior to pursuing a second career in education, worked as an award-winning public relations and communications professional in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors. As a “storyteller by nature and teacher at heart,” Barbara continues to contribute to various anthologies, among other writing projects. 

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