About Project Based Primary
At Project Based Primary School, we’re passionate about helping young children develop a love for learning! With small class sizes, certified teachers, and an engaging, hands-on curriculum, we create a supportive and exciting environment for children ages 3-6. Our goal is to build a strong academic foundation while fostering creativity, critical thinking, and lifelong curiosity. We’re here to inspire and empower each child as they begin their educational journey, helping them grow into confident and capable learners!
Founded in 2022, Project Based Primary School is excited to expand from an in-home program to a local school that can serve even more families in our community. We will be conveniently located in downtown Coeur d’Alene, in a former childcare center that provides off street parking, spacious classrooms, large outdoor learning and play spaces, a maker/art studio, and school library. We move in June 2025 and after some cosmetic upgrades and classroom assembly, we will be available for in-person tours of the facility.
The school will be more than just a place for you to drop off your child for preschool and kindergarten. With a Project Based Learning program families are a huge part of their child’s academic journey. We will invite families and community members in as guest speakers, embark on community expeditions, and at the end of units families and loved ones are invited to a school-wide exhibition where learning is presented and we all gather to celebrate student accomplishments and build school community.
Mikaela Martinez
Mikaela is the owner of Project Based Primary School and the school’s kindergarten teacher. Her teaching career started when she graduated from Lewis-Clark State College with her teaching certificate in Elementary Education K-8 with an endorsement in reading and literacy. With over a decade of classroom teaching experience, Mikaela’s passion is early childhood education and laying the foundation of a child’s learning journey. Mikaela also holds certificates in LETRS, LiPS, and Orton Gillingham, leading science of reading programs that guide her phonics, reading and writing instruction. She also has training from PBLWorks and Educaurious, the world leaders in project based learning. Previously she taught in the Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene school districts where she was a teacher-leader, hosting teaching labs for other educators in her classroom, and a mentor teacher to incoming teachers and preservice teachers.
Mikaela is also the owner of Project Based Primary®, an online teaching community that provides memberships, curriculum, courses, and learning materials for early childhood educators and homeschool families. She is the author of the Raising Little Readers™ phonics curriculum, Good at Math™ math curriculum, Pencil Pathways™ handwriting curriculum, and Scribbles to Stories® writing curriculum. She is also the author of the upcoming book, Big Projects for Little Learners: a PBL Guide for the Home and Classroom.
When she is not teaching or curriculum writing, Mikaela loves being at home with her daughter and husband. As a family they love to play, go on road trips, camp, and peruse antique stores. And if you see Mikaela out in the wild, it will probably be at the beach with a good book!