Structured Freedom within a Supportive Environment

The goals of our environment are twofold: create a schoolwide support system and give students the structured freedom to pursue their interests.
Here’s what it looks like:

One-size-fits-all doesn’t work. Children at different developmental stages require different approaches to teaching.

Younger students, for example, learn better in shorter classes with more frequent breaks. Accordingly, our elementary school schedule consists of 40-minute classes, three 20-minute recess breaks, and a 25-minute lunch. Our middle school schedule has 45-minute classes and a single break. (As often as possible, breaks will be outdoors).

To optimize students’ productivity and attentivity, we schedule core subjects earlier in the day. And we will hold lessons on organization and study habits throughout the year (there’s learning, and then there’s learning how best to learn).

We want our students, faculty, and families to be inspired when they walk into school each morning — with students’ artwork prominently displayed, colorful & lively teaching spaces, and even a Wall of Curiosity that captures students’ & teachers’ current curiosities.

Our students have a say in school decorations, especially around their homeroom. Whiteboards, large post-it notes, and supplies will be available in common areas, and students will be encouraged to create pieces to be shared with the school community.

With this level of ownership, though, comes responsibility: Students are responsible for keeping the school clean and organized — particularly at the end of class and after activities. They will be assigned age-appropriate chores to help our school run smoothly.

This should feel like their school — one that reflects who they are but also is theirs to take care of.

In addition to typical classrooms with ordered rows of desks, we have dedicated spaces for personal projects, group explorations, and structured downtime.

One such area might be a carpeted reading nook with comfy chairs. Another might be a “STEM space” / “maker space” with large tables & robotics supplies.

In these spaces, students can comfortably work on projects over multiple days and make a mess. Healthy snacks will even be available during break times to help them fuel up.

Essentially, these are places where kids can be kids — in a comfortable, academically nurturing manner. Where learning can naturally take place beyond the confines of our established curricula.

Assuming that our kids will live in a world where AI handles more and more menial tasks, the jobs of the future will require even more creativity, innovation, and leadership. To help students naturally develop these skills, we’re introducing student-initiated deep-dive projects.

As students move from grade to grade, they will be given greater independence to explore topics of interest (on their own or in a small group, supervised by an advisor).

Deep-dive projects can range from sewing a quilt to creating an app to designing theater sets, and they will culminate in a demonstration in front of the class or wider school community.

We will work tirelessly to provide each student with the support and tools they need to discover and hone their unique passions and interests (and to deepen each project’s educational value).

Teachers will also be given the means to step outside of the curriculum to incorporate the  interests of each particular class. For example, a teacher who notices that her students are interested in codes and secret messages can create a cryptography-based Murder Mystery for her students to solve.

In addition to their homeroom teacher (assigned by grade), each student will choose (or be assigned) a school mentor who can stay with them year after year.

This is an adult that s/he is comfortable talking to and can seek out to help resolve any issues, ask for guidance, etc. Mentors will check in frequently with their mentees to identify and address any concerns or issues as soon as possible. 

Mentors will be allotted times when they can hold extended conversations or small-group study halls with individuals or small groups. The goal being to provide each student with personalized support on a regular basis.

Both in and out of the classroom, we want to actively foster bonding between students and between students & faculty.

More than just a school, we want to create a community for your kids and even for you. We don’t want to overdo the “It takes a village…” saying, but that really is the ethos we are building upon.

Beyond simply preaching our culture, though, we’ll have scheduled programming that fosters team-building. Every month, we plan to have half-day activities ranging from science fairs to arts & crafts “exhibits” to an in-school escape room. And throughout the year, we will have three out-of-school trips to further cement interpersonal bonds: Hiking/camping in the fall, skiing/sledding in the winter, and rock climbing/other adventures in the spring.

We highly encourage students, teachers, and parents to provide ideas for field trips.

On a daily and weekly basis, our robust theater & music programs — along with our other afterschool activities — will give students further mediums through which to bond outside of the classroom.