A Home for The Open School: We’re Almost There!
Two years ago, our community set out on a journey to find the perfect permanent home for The Open School—a space where students could pursue their interests and shape their own school. Today, we stand on the brink of turning that vision into reality. We are thrilled to share that we are set to close […]
Announcing A(nother) New School!
The Open School began as a dream of a handful of people committed to bringing democratic free education to Orange County. We wanted a place for local kids to become self-directed and independent. It started with just under a dozen kids in the house of one of our founders. The following year, we moved to […]
Can She See Clearly Now?
The following was originally posted on Philly Free School’s blog and is reposted here with permission. Philly Free School in similar to The Open School as it follows the Sudbury model of democratic free schooling. My friend recently posted a meme on his Facebook page declaring “Maslow before Bloom,” with the comment, “My teacher friends […]
A Student in Leadership
Tay asked me to run School Meeting and I thought it was a good idea because I was bored sometimes at school. Even though it was just once a week, I thought it would be a good thing to do to fill up some of my time. Once I started doing it, I didn’t feel […]
The Private Lives of Children
Parents of children who attend a free democratic school go through a process of reexamining certain cultural biases that are internalized through their own early childhood development. This can be a somewhat painful and emotional process for parents because confronting their own internalized oppression can send them into a deep state of disequilibrium. This is […]
Problem Solving
It was Monday morning, and thus time for our weekly staff meeting. I and the other two staff members present took our seats in the courtyard — far enough away from the hustle and bustle of school that we wouldn’t be overheard or disrupted, but close enough that we could keep a pulse on the […]
Strange and Wonderful
For my twelve year old son, Colin, this year’s holiday break had come and gone. As it was Sunday night, I asked him how he felt about returning to school tomorrow. His reaction was what many would consider typical: “This sucks.” I didn’t react. Then he really got my attention: “Actually dad, I’m happy to […]
The C-Words
No, not that one. The other one. And the other one. And the other one. And the other one. If you’ve ever had a chance to read through a school meeting agenda or the Open School lawbook, you may have noticed a section devoted to “Clerks, Committees, Corporations, and Chairs.” These inscrutable sections refer to […]
Magic at School
It all started when Chad and I decided to play Magic at school. I’m talking about Magic: the Gathering, the ridiculously popular fantasy strategy card game. I’ve played the game since I was a kid, so when I became a staff at The Open School a few weeks ago, I was delighted to find a […]
Climbing and Self-Discipline
A common objection to a school like ours involves the development of self-discipline. “How will they learn to stick to something hard, if they are able to choose what they want and quit at any time?” “There are a lot of things in my life that I have to do that I don’t want to […]
