Human Development,
Built for the Real World
We build the people who build young people.
Micro University designs trauma-informed curricula, de-escalation training, and certification pathways for the schools, justice systems, and community organizations working to help young people become who they're capable of becoming.
ENESEvery curriculum is available in English and Spanish.
A curriculum for every age, 3 to 25
WE BUILD STRUCTURE FOR
The Curricula
One continuum, from Pre-K to young adulthood
Micro University's curricula work together, from upstream prevention to small-group intervention to workforce readiness. Every curriculum is built to outlast the person delivering it, so your impact never depends on who is in the room. Every curriculum is available in English and Spanish.
Early Childhood & Elementary
Ages 3–10
A.B.L.E. Kids
44 lessons · 4 units · 20, 30, or 45 minutes
- Three age bands with one lesson rhythm
- Learning through movement, play, and pictures
- Anchors, Beliefs, Learning, and Empowerment
Includes: annual site license
M.A.L.E. Boys
42 lessons · 14 subjects · 30 minutes
- Move, draw, talk, think, and promise in every lesson
- Feelings, respect, self-control, and safe choices
- Written for every kind of family
Includes: one-site annual license, 20 participant workbooks, facilitator slide deck, implementation training, technical assistance, monthly support
Middle & High School
Grades 6–12
ASCEND
30 sessions · 6 units · 40 minutes
- Fits one class period or advisory block
- Every lesson names its CASEL competency
- One Check-In per lesson for MTSS and PBIS data
M.A.L.E. Youth Edition
70 sessions · 14 subjects · 60 minutes
- Character, relationships, goal setting, life skills, and leadership
- No substance or sexual-health content
- Parent permission and reporting built in
Includes: one-site annual license, 20 participant workbooks, facilitator slide deck, implementation training, technical assistance, monthly support
A.B.L.E.
44 weekly lessons · groups of up to 10
- Moves participants from belonging to self-awareness to competence to agency
- Trauma-informed, with restorative practices
- De-escalation, evaluation, and fidelity tools
- Cut suspensions 50% at an alternative school
Includes: annual site license, 20 participant workbooks, facilitator slide deck, implementation training, monthly support
Young Adults & Workforce
Ages 18 and up
M.A.L.E. Young Adult Edition
70 sessions · 14 subjects · 60 minutes
- Personal and workforce development
- Financial literacy: budgeting, credit, and debt
- Leadership, service, purpose, and impact
Includes: one-site annual license, 20 participant workbooks, facilitator slide deck, implementation training, technical assistance, monthly support
P.O.W.E.R.
P.O.W.E.R. Workforce
21 sessions · 60 minutes
- Workforce-ready character development
- Identity, resilience, communication, leadership, and self-discipline
- Closes with The Iron Within capstone
Includes: one-site annual license, 20 participant workbooks, implementation training, monthly support
Results
A.B.L.E. cut suspensions in half at an alternative school
When Phoenix Academy, an alternative school in Anne Arundel County Public Schools, implemented A.B.L.E., suspensions dropped by 50%. At Phoenix Academy and Samuel P. Massey Academy in Prince George's County Public Schools, students in A.B.L.E. groups came to school, stayed out of trouble, and said the group changed how they saw themselves.
50%
reduction in suspensions
Phoenix Academy, Anne Arundel County Public Schools
0
fights or referrals for A.B.L.E. participants during implementation
88%
attendance for students in A.B.L.E. groups at Phoenix Academy and Samuel P. Massey Academy
90%
felt more connected to their group and their school
90%
said they learned to make better decisions
88%
said they learned more about themselves
In their own words, participants described their A.B.L.E. group as
A.B.L.E. implementation data, 2024: Phoenix Academy (Anne Arundel County Public Schools, MD) and Samuel P. Massey Academy (Prince George's County Public Schools, MD). 58 participants: 17 Black female and 41 male (38 Black, 3 biracial) students.
Try a Sample Lesson
See a session before you commit
Here is the opening of the first session of the M.A.L.E. Youth Edition (grades 6–12). Every session follows the same five-part rhythm, so once your facilitators run one, they can run them all.
M.A.L.E. Youth Edition · Subject 1 · Session 1
Identity & Purpose
Who are you without the Mask?
A 60-Minute Journey Into Your Real Self
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”Aristotle
Session flow · 60 minutes
- 10 minPhysical activity
- 15 minWritten reflection
- 15 minGroup discussion
- 13 minPersonal reflection
- 7 minCommitment & wrap-up
Part 1 · Physical Activity · 10 minutes
Mirror Work
Purpose: To notice the gap between how we act around others and who we really are.
- 2 minWalk the room in silence. Ask yourself: 'Who am I when no one is watching?'
- 2 minWrite one word for how you want others to see you. Then write one word for who you are when you're alone.
- 2 minPartner up. If you're comfortable, hold eye contact for 30 seconds without talking. It's okay to laugh — then try again.
- 2 minIf you're comfortable, tell your partner one true thing about you that most people at school don't know. Pass is okay.
- 2 minWrite: 'The version of me I show at school and online is ___. The version I keep hidden is ___.'
Facilitator says: “Everybody wears a mask sometimes — at school, on the team, online. A mask can protect you. But if you wear it too long, you forget what's under it. Today we take a look underneath.”
Part 2 · Written Reflection · one of five questions
If you took away your name, your reputation, your neighborhood, and your social media — who would you be? Describe the real you.
In the full lesson
- All five written reflection questions
- Four guided group discussion prompts
- The facilitator challenge talk
- The “I am becoming a man who…” personal reflection
- A printable commitment card and the closing declaration
- Facilitator notes and the matching slides
Opens an email to robert@microuniversity.org. Please include your name, school, district, email, and phone, and we will send you a sample activity.
“The world doesn't need more boys who grew up. It needs men who were built.”MICRO UNIVERSITY · M.A.L.E. CURRICULUM
Training & Support
Capacity that outlasts a training day
Curricula are only the start. We train your staff, certify your facilitators, and bring families into the work.
De-Escalation Model
R.E.A.C.H.
Recognize. Empathize. Anchor. Collaborate. Heal. A five-stage, trauma-informed framework that gives staff the exact language for each stage of a crisis and the tools to rebuild the relationship afterward. It starts with staff self-regulation, including the 7-Second Rule.
Includes: one-site license, staff training, 10 student recovery workbooks, monthly support
Certification
Certified Trainer Programs
A two-tier pathway, Practitioner and Certified Facilitator, that builds lasting capacity inside your organization with any of our curricula or models.
Path: pilot, full implementation, then internal Master Trainers who carry the work forward
Home Version
Parent Editions
Home versions of M.A.L.E., A.B.L.E., and R.E.A.C.H. extend the work beyond the classroom, so families use the same tools their children use at school.
Includes: 20 physical or digital workbooks per home license
Evaluation
Pre- and Post-Surveys
Every secondary and adult curriculum comes with matched pre- and post-surveys and a scoring sheet, so you can show each participant's growth.
Available for: ASCEND, A.B.L.E., M.A.L.E. Youth, M.A.L.E. Young Adult
Where Our Curricula Fit
Built for the priorities schools already have
Micro University curricula plug into the plans and programs your school or district already runs, so they strengthen work in progress instead of adding one more initiative.
MTSS
A full continuum of tiered support. ASCEND gives every secondary student universal Tier 1 instruction, while A.B.L.E. and M.A.L.E. deliver targeted Tier 2 and Tier 3 small-group intervention, with Check-Ins and pre- and post-surveys for your data team.
Curricula: ASCEND · A.B.L.E. · M.A.L.E. Youth · R.E.A.C.H.
Comprehensive School Improvement
Ready-to-implement strategies for your school improvement plan, with clear lesson structure, staff training, fidelity tools, and pre- and post-surveys to measure and report progress.
Curricula: All curricula · Certified Trainer Programs · Evaluation tools
School climate and culture
Shared language and routines across classrooms: ground rules, circle discussions, commitments, and staff de-escalation skills that make school safer and more connected for students and adults.
Curricula: ASCEND · A.B.L.E. Kids · M.A.L.E. Boys · R.E.A.C.H.
Dropout prevention
Lessons that build belonging, purpose, and future plans, so students see school as a tool for the life they want and have a mentor-led group that keeps them connected.
Curricula: A.B.L.E. · M.A.L.E. Youth · M.A.L.E. Young Adult
School discipline
Proactive alternatives to suspension: self-regulation, conflict resolution, and repair skills for students, plus R.E.A.C.H. de-escalation and recovery tools for staff.
Curricula: R.E.A.C.H. · A.B.L.E. · M.A.L.E. Youth
Alternative education programs
Built for students in alternative schools, credit-recovery settings, and justice and reentry programs, with trauma-informed sessions that work in small, high-need groups.
Curricula: A.B.L.E. · M.A.L.E. Youth · M.A.L.E. Young Adult · P.O.W.E.R.
Chronic absenteeism
Consistent weekly groups, a trusted adult, and peer connection give students a reason to show up, and session sign-in sheets give your attendance team a simple record.
Curricula: A.B.L.E. · M.A.L.E. (all editions) · ASCEND
How It Fits Together
Built to work as one system
One continuum
Curricula for every age from 3 to 25, so students never age out of support.
One tiered system
ASCEND reaches every secondary student at Tier 1. A.B.L.E. and M.A.L.E. go deeper with students in Tier 2 and Tier 3.
One session rhythm
Physical activity, reflection, discussion, and a commitment in every lesson, so your staff train once.
One foundation
Trauma-informed and relationship-centered, built on CASEL, PBIS/MTSS, Nonviolent Communication, CPI, and restorative practices.
About Micro University
Behavior is communication. The relationship and curriculum are the interventions.
Our mission
Micro University exists to equip the people who show up for young people (teachers, counselors, coaches, case managers, justice professionals, and community staff) with curricula and training that change outcomes. Human development is a system: identity, regulation, relationship, and repair, built session by session, week by week, until it holds.
Our founder
Micro University was founded by Robert A. Murphy, a former teacher, state education administrator, and school district leader who saw the same gap again and again: limited social-emotional and personal development tools at every level, from elementary school to middle school, high school, and early adulthood. That gap became Micro University's curricula, from A.B.L.E. Kids and M.A.L.E. Boys to the M.A.L.E. Young Adult Edition, grounded in research and in lived experience.
Our approach
Every program is trauma-informed, relationship-centered, and built on established frameworks (CASEL social-emotional learning standards, Polyvagal Theory, Nonviolent Communication, CPI Nonviolent Crisis Intervention, PBIS/MTSS, and restorative practices), translated into facilitator-ready sessions that work in real classrooms, real programs, and real crises.
- Behavior is communication.Defiance, withdrawal, or aggression is an attempt to survive a threat or express an unmet need, not evidence of a broken kid.
- The relationship and curriculum are the interventions.No technique works outside of a genuine connection, and a strong curriculum gives every relationship a clear structure to build on, session by session.
- Crisis is not character.A young person overwhelmed in the moment is not a young person without potential.
- Recovery, empowerment, and compliance are the goal.We guide people back to safety, dignity, and connection, where growth can resume.
- Capacity outlasts a training day.Real change requires systems, certification, and internal capacity, not a single workshop.
Pricing
Fair pricing for every school and program
We do not publish one price for everyone. Every quote is built for the school, district, or organization that asks.
We believe in equity in pricing.
Prices are reflective of school, district, and state enrollment data. A small rural school and a large urban district should not pay the same price for the same curriculum, and a program serving students with the greatest needs should never be priced out.
Tell us about your students and your goals, and we will build a quote that fits your community and your budget. Multi-site and multi-curriculum partnerships are welcome.
School enrollment
How many students your school serves and how many will take part.
District enrollment
The size of your district and how many sites will use the curriculum.
State enrollment data
Published state data on your students and community, so pricing reflects real need.
Get Started
Let's build something that lasts
We partner with schools, districts, alternative education programs, justice systems, and community organizations ready to move beyond a one-time training.
STEP 1
Reach out
Tell us about your organization and the young people you serve.
STEP 2
Info session
We walk through the curricula, R.E.A.C.H., and the certification path that fits your goals.
STEP 3
Pilot
Start with one cohort, one campus, or one training tier.
STEP 4
Build capacity
Move to full implementation and internal Master Trainers.
robert@microuniversity.org
CALL
1-443-621-5908