Curiosity and compassion have been central to thriving collaborative learning since the beginning of civilization. CARE Academy is a project-based learning community where compassion, curiosity, and real-world action drive education. Our 8-18 year old learners grow through mentorship, collaboration, and the freedom to turn their passions into meaningful change.At CAREducation, we live this standard, leading the way of care. At CARE Academy, we bring caring education to life in northern Virginia through creative projects and building community around collaborative rigorous learning. Rebecca Ferree and Jimmy Edwards discuss CAREducation, CARE Academy, and the Care Revolution on Wequil.app

CARE Academy facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/people/CARE-Academy/61575858563750/

About our guests

Jimmy Edwards is the Director of CAREducation, an education non-profit connecting and empowering both families and educators to thrive in a future of non-traditional learning. Jimmy is passionate about leading the Care Revolution and has served as a teacher, instructional coach, and researcher in public, private, alternative, international, and adult learning settings.

Rebecca Ferree is a passionate educator, learning coach, and homeschooling mom with over 15 years of teaching experience. After leaving traditional public schools in 2023, she began homeschooling her daughters and joined the innovative WEquil School, where they embraced self-directed, project-based learning. In 2024, she founded WEquil Academy—a part-time learning center in Northern VA—where she now collaborates with Jimmy Edwards to create real-world, project-based learning experiences that empower students to grow with confidence, curiosity, and care.

Episode 236: Beyond 8: Hyper-Personalised Pathways for Gen Z Learners

What happens when you stop treating school buildings as the centre of learning and start treating the learner as the centre instead? In this episode we meet the founders of Beyond 8—and one of their students—to explore a high-touch, hyper-personalised model that is helping Gen Z learners design futures they’re truly excited about.

Across much of the world, high-school “success” still hinges on rigid timetables, batch-processing classrooms, and marks that often miss what matters most to teens: purpose and agency. Beyond 8 (https://beyond8.in)—a learner-determined high-school ecosystem in Chennai and Bengaluru—flips that script. Each teenager begins with a Dream-Mapping session, then receives a dynamic timetable that blends Cambridge or NIOS academics, internships, service projects, and wellness and learning habits. An AI-driven scheduler personalises every week, while a 1:1 mentor model and 50-learner “pod” structure ensure guidance stays deeply human.

Founded by long-time educators Naveen Mahesh and Raaji Naveen after 25 years of experimentation at HLC International School (https://hlcschool.in), Beyond 8 now counts 90 % of its graduates entering their first-choice universities and an equal share reporting higher confidence in navigating adulthood. Their approach—“Beyond Bricks” learning—has inspired micro-school start-ups and will likely get policy pilots going across the world. In this conversation we unpack the design choices, challenges, and future possibilities of hyper-personalised pathways for GenZ

Naveen Mahesh, Co-founder, Beyond 8

Social entrepreneur, Managing Trustee of HLC International School, and Harvard GSE alum. Naveen advises start-ups on learner agency, serves on the boards of NalandaWay (which serves over 10 million learners in Government schools), and Youth For Conservation Action Network and Gnanodaya Rehabilitation Association, which provides education to children coming from families affected by leprosy. LinkedIn

Raaji Naveen, Co-founder, Beyond 8

A Social Entrepreneur, Vision-to-Strategy-to-Execution Specialist for Transformative Impact and a Champion of Learner-Determined Education. Raaji is an Ambassador for the Certificate Of Advanced Educational Leadership Course at Harvard. Raaji also serves as a trustee on the board of HLC International school. LinkedIn

Tara Srinivasan

Alumni Beyond 8 - Cohort of 2025

Tara Srinivasan was one of the first learners to join us—and she’s made every moment count. With a passion for Physics and Chemistry, she’s led peer sessions and designed math papers for state board students. She’s also a Bharatanatyam dancer, pianist, and composer of our school’s progression song, leading our music and dance teams for three years. Tara’s voice shines through student publications on LGBTQIA+ inclusion and cyberbullying, and she’s interned with organizations and artists to create content that inspires. A true example of learner agency in action.