About Us

Who We Are

Main Street School officially started in August of 2006 as ASK Learning Center by Tanya Apana. Our intention was to provide an alternative learning environment for students and families who were looking for a smaller, more personalized atmosphere that provided an experiential or project-based curriculum.

Our students come from various learning environments. For some, this is their first taste of school, and our home-like atmosphere is a welcoming introduction. Some come to us from a homeschooling background, and our flexibility and multi-age classrooms allow for an easy transition.

Still others transition to Main Street from other private or public schools. Our students come not only from Norwalk, but also many other metro communities. We have had students from Waukee, Urbandale, West Des Moines, Des Moines, Indianola, Martensdale and as far south as St. Mary’s and as far north as Ames.

Children are taught using individual curriculums based on the needs of the whole child. We subscribe to the premise that a quality education focuses on emotional, physical, social and academic development. We work to create a safe and welcoming environment by creating strong relationships amongst teachers, students and families.

Vision

To inspire each other in becoming our authentic selves and to pursue purposeful action in the world

Mission

To provide young people with real world, purposeful curriculum and a learning environment that respects their individuality and goals.

A central part of our learning process is to engage our students in asking
questions, solving problems and making decisions that will allow them
to act with thoughtfulness, understanding, and compassion for others.

We are committed to developing students’ natural resiliency,
adaptability, knowledge, and desire for lifelong learning.

Active involvement from our families allows us to create a community of
learners with exceptional human potential who will become personally
fulfilled, interdependent, socially responsible global citizens.

History

Main Street School was established by Tanya Apana as a 501c3 non-profit school in Norwalk, Iowa in 2006. It is located at 925 Main Street in a historic home nestled in a neighborhood that provides community interaction. As a non-profit, there is no ownership. There is a director (Head of School) who is overseen by a Board of Directors. We offer an innovative, full-time education for students from age 3 through 12th grade. Beginning with the 2023-24 school year, we partnered with Jordahl Academy to start offering an on-line program available to students grades 5-12th across the state of Iowa. Main Street believes in educating the whole child and works to connect students’ learning to the community through integrated projects.

We have been a non-accredited private school for the past 17 years. During this time, we had investigated the options of accreditation, but the benefits did not outweigh the financial cost and workload burden. In the last couple of years, several factors have changed the equation for weighing these variables, and we find ourselves ready to pursue an official accreditation. ISACS is the entity we believe will serve us best.

As the population of private schools and educational opportunities grow in the state of Iowa, surveys with our families and the community indicates that accreditation is more important to families weighing their options. We want to be responsive to this desire.

Because of changes in Iowa law in the recent year, accreditation will give our families access to financial means to choose our school as an educational option. We have always given financial aid attempting to make our school possible for any family to attend, but we are tuition based, and even scholarships have their limitations. Iowa established Student First Educational Savings Accounts that are currently available to families with a financial need stipulation and will be open to all for the 2025-26 school year. The ESAs can only be utilized at accredited schools. We believe that we owe it to our families to open this avenue of financial assistance in order for them to receive the education they desire.

Our programs fill a need in the local and surrounding communities. Non-parochial private education is rare in our state and we have students that travel 30 miles to come to our school. With the addition of an online program we have increased our reach, but we would like to continue our growth. Our community is desperate for more preschool programs and alternative high school options. Our growth is limited at our current location, and we have begun the process for a 5-year plan of creating a larger learning campus. As part of this plan, we are seeking more partnerships with business entities to raise funding for future development. Accreditation will benefit this endeavor.

This school has survived and thrived because of the passionate educators that make it happen. We have been on a mission to reframe the way schools operate by providing meaningful education that doesn’t just meet benchmarks, but really respects each students’ individuality and goals. It is our consensus that becoming accredited is then next step to continuing our mission. The goal is for Main Street School to earn accreditation through ISACS in order to provide students, parents, and community partners certified guidelines and independent organization approved assurances we run a highly ethical and frankly evaluated educational program.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion Statement

Main Street School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

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