Celebrating 7 Years of Mia!

Saturday, June 1st, was a big milestone for Miaplaza — the 7th birthday of our Miacademy mascot and site helper, Mia Robot! ?

For seven years, Miacademy has been fostering creativity, independence, and critical thinking by adapting to evolving educational needs. Through adaptive learning environments and digital tools, we provide dynamic, engaging educational experiences for students around the world.

In celebration, we’d like to share some of our biggest accomplishments over the years!

Milestones and Achievements

We’ve covered a lot of ground since Miacademy’s initial launch in 2017! From releasing full courses and expanding from only games to also videos and PDFs, we’ve grown a lot at Miaplaza! Here are some of our biggest achievements:

• At launch, we had around 30 staff members. We now have nearly 200 and are still growing!
• Since 2022, we’ve released over 3,200 lessons across all platforms.
• We gained ACS-WASC accreditation status in the spring of 2021.
• We launched MiaPrep in August 2021.
• We launched MiaPrep Online High School in August 2022.

Fun Facts about Miacademy

While there will probably never be a Miacademy-themed trivia night (outside of our paid employee events!), they’re called fun facts for a reason, right? Here are some interesting tidbits about Miacademy that you may not have known:

1. The correct pronunciation of Miacademy is MEE-UH-cademy, like the name Mia!
2. While Mia is normally in front-facing 2D, our graphics team actually envisions her? with a completely round head in 3D, similar to a UFO!
3. The name "Miaplaza" was created with a vision of fostering open and meaningful online communities. It combines the Italian word "mia" (pronounced "me-uh"), meaning "my," with the Spanish word "plaza," meaning "(town) square." Initially a platform for various online communities, Miaplaza shifted its focus to children's educational communities in 2008 with the release of Always Icecream, and it has thrived ever since!

Miacademy’s Impact

At Miaplaza, our mission is to educate children through exceptional learning experiences that let students thrive, so they can help make the world a better place.

We create the best possible experience for our parents and students by leveraging games and educational psychology, using technology thoughtfully, and emphasizing a deeper level of understanding relevant concepts. Our inclusive curriculum fosters a love of learning through storytelling, engagement strategies, real-world connections, and the teaching of social-emotional skills. We accomplish all of this while also reducing financial barriers to reach as many students as possible.

However, don’t just take our word for it! Here are some of our favorite parent testimonials:

• “There's some kind of magic in this program. We are one week into using this program, and let me tell you, I've been doing this homeschool thing since 2018, and I never knew there could be such peace with it.” - Site Parent

• “This is our first week with the program and we are loving it! My 6 year old daughter woke up early this morning and said "I want to do my school!". All before breakfast. That sounds like a win to me!” - Site Parent

• “Will be using it for the second year! My son was in 5th grade last year and because of this program, he tested at a 7th grade level. We love this program so much! Highly recommend it!” - Site Parent

• “I've been homeschooling my son for going on 8 years and have tried a LOT of different online curricula. We use the co-ed version of this (called Miacademy) and it's hands down my son's favorite. It gamifies education in a wonderfully effective way, making him EXCITED to learn. And despite the gamification, the quality of the lessons is great. The best of both worlds!” - Site Parent

• “We used another online curriculum prior and switched to MiaPrep for high school. We are 100% pleased with the entire program! Our high schooler can work at his own pace, and the way the curriculum is arranged is very engaging and holds his interest.” - Site Parent

Conclusion

Last but certainly not least, we are immensely grateful to our homeschool families and the wonderful Miaplaza team that keep us going every day! Our talented staff’s numerous innovations set us apart and make the Miacademy difference so great!

We are so excited to celebrate this milestone and many more to come, and we’d love for you to join us! To stay updated on all things Miaplaza, connect with us on LinkedIn or our other socials!?