About Us
Coastside Leadership Academy (CLA) is a gender-inclusive, all-girls* mobile microschool rooted in the cycles of joy, curiosity, and growth. Beyond a four-walled classroom, we bring a new educational spin to van life, traveling the Bay Area and learning in the world. CLA students learn in nature, libraries, and community spaces. They practice daily social interactions and learn how to be active members of a community. As a small, supportive community, CLA encourages students to trust their intuition, use their voices, and lead. CLA students reinvent the high school experience and learn through a balance of movement, play, curiosity, and rest. Meaningful and impactful curriculum is co-created with students, with a strong emphasis on learning how to learn in a rapidly changing information age.
The curriculum prioritizes the 21st-century skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, media literacy, and leadership within the following integrated themes: Environmental Literacy, Global Awareness, Civic Literacy, Health Literacy, and Financial, Economic, Business, and Entrepreneurial Literacy. The social-emotional learning curriculum cultivates self-awareness and confidence. This balance leads to community-oriented, compassionate, and empowered leaders.
The focus on skills allows students to understand their own learning style, build confidence and resilience, and be adaptable in any environment. A four-day school week, a low-technology environment, combined with a no-homework policy, creates students who rediscover the curiosity and fun of learning, engage in their passions, and fully participate in their lives. CLA is proud to prioritize balance and skills-based learning, leading the shift into a new paradigm of education.
Coastside Leadership Academy is a gender inclusive all girls education program that supports all LGBTQIA+ community members.
*Girls refers to gender-expansive youth: cis girls, trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth, and any girl-identified youth.
An Educational Spin on Van Life- Learning Out in the World.
Meet the Team
Claire Rietmann-Grout
Claire Rietmann-Grout is a Coastside local passionate about inspiring girls and women to lead. She specializes in community-based leadership programs for high school students, including physical education focused on movement in nature, and has developed research-based techniques that incorporate the mind, body, and spirit to validate self worth and become a confident leader.
Her masters in journalism and experience as a life coach and high school administrator gives her a unique perspective on wellness, support, and personal growth for teenage girls. She publishes regularly on teenage development in her weekly column, The Positive Coach, for parents and educators of teen girls. Claire attributes her leadership skills and love of learning to the unique and transformative experience of girls’ education, where her positive coaching method began on the softball field leading multiple varsity programs to championships.
LaRue Stewart
LaRue Stewart is a master teacher who knows the key to learning at any age is to have fun and incorporate play. Specializing in biology with a master’s in science education, her student-centered curriculum design empowers students to find joy in learning by developing their passions. Her work in girls’ education demonstrates the importance of mindfulness practices that empower students to follow their gifts and intuition.
LaRue is trained in social emotional learning and recognizes the importance of a supportive community to guide students towards self awareness and agency. Her experience with learning differences and training in neuroscience and executive functioning skills helps meet students where they are and inspire them to understand how their brain learns. She has learned the power of balance in her life and has expanded her own growth to include multiple modes of mental and physical wellness.
We are Proud members of the Following:
