A handmade product line ready to sell. An original invention with a working prototype. A published article, playable video game or monologue performed before a live audience. At Unbound Academy and Novatio School, those are not side projects students squeeze in after their schoolwork is finished. They are part of the school day.
As the 2026-27 school year gets underway, the Arizona virtual schools are introducing their strongest lineup of project-based clubs yet. Each experience is built around a final challenge, giving students something tangible to make, test, publish, perform or share beyond the classroom.
“This lineup is exciting because every club leads somewhere real,” says Michael Goto, Head of School at Unbound Academy. “Students are building something another person might read, watch, use or even buy.” He adds that entrepreneurship-focused clubs are consistently among the first to fill.
This fall’s club offerings include:
- Makerspace: Participants study creators who have built successful businesses, choose a craft and submit a materials budget for approval. By the end of the session, each has developed a collection of handmade products ready to sell.
- Reel Talk: Young creators examine successful digital personalities, develop an idea, write a script and publish an original YouTube-style video.
- School Magazine: Aspiring journalists select a reporting beat, pitch an article, respond to editorial feedback and publish their work in a school-wide magazine.
- Inventors’ Corner: Younger learners identify a real problem, build a working prototype and write a manual explaining how their invention solves it.
- Sweat Lab: Students train toward an ambitious personal fitness goal, such as completing a couch-to-5K program, while tracking the habits needed to reach it.
- Art Collective: Emerging artists create a portfolio of original work and strengthen each piece through multiple rounds of peer feedback.
- Comic Club: Members develop characters, write a story and illustrate an original comic book.
- Spotlight: Performers select a favorite movie monologue, rehearse their delivery and present it before a live audience.
The clubs rotate throughout the year, and students vote on which experiences will run next.
A Higher Bar for Student Work
Students at both schools are already showing what can happen when projects have a real audience and a measurable outcome.
One Unbound Academy eighth grader launched a Lego resale business during his first session. He purchased collector sets and resold them for a profit, generating more than $10,000 in revenue. He has also saved reward points earned through schoolwork to put toward a specific collector set for his inventory. Another student has earned $1,500 through Hive Hideaway, the small business she operates. In her free time, she is also writing a novel set in a universe she created.
In coding clubs, young developers build and publish games that can be played by people around the world. Entrepreneurship projects are measured by real revenue from real customers, while public-speaking experiences culminate in a recorded broadcast.
“The final product changes how students approach the work,” says Karissa Ham, Head of School at Novatio. “When someone may buy what they created, read what they wrote or watch them perform, they listen more closely to feedback and take greater ownership of the result.”
Making Time for More Than Academics
The clubs are possible because core academics do not consume the entire school day. Students complete their primary subjects in approximately two focused hours each morning using AI-driven learning platforms that adjust to their individual level in each subject. The mastery-based model allows students to move forward when they are ready while spending more time on concepts that require additional support.
That structure opens the afternoon for workshops, clubs and challenges centered on creativity, entrepreneurship, communication, fitness and problem-solving.
Teachers remain central to the model, serving as mentors who pair high expectations with strong support. They eat lunch with small groups of students each week under one rule: no talking about school. Each class also holds a weekly Town Hall where student feedback can lead to real changes. The academic results also stand out. Unbound Academy students achieved 2.8 times the national average growth during the past year, as measured by NWEA MAP Growth. Novatio students achieved 4.6 times the growth seen in traditional classrooms.
Enrollment remains open throughout the year, and new students may begin on Mondays. Prospective students can also participate in a shadow day before enrolling.
Unbound Academy is a tuition-free virtual public charter school serving Arizona students in grades 4 through 8. Novatio School is a private virtual school serving students in grades 2 through 8. Arizona families may use Empowerment Scholarship Account funding toward Novatio tuition. To learn more, visit unbound.school or novatio.school.
