Our History

movement roots

Freedom Side School was born out of the movement to end mass incarceration in Pennsylvania and across the United States. In addition to being educators and care-givers of young children, Freedom Side’s founders all have roots as community organizers in the movement to end mass incarceration in Philadelphia. The vision for Freedom Side School was made possible by the work of organizations such as the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration (CADBI), the Human Rights Coalition (HRC), Right 2 Redemption, and many more. The school grows out of the principles and lessons of this movement, and out of the relationships and commitments of the people in it.

What is abolition?

The movement to abolish prisons is built on the understanding that punishment and prisons do not heal communities, but rather cause further harm. In the words of Ruth Wilson Gilmore,  “Abolition is about presence, not absence. It's about building life-affirming institutions.” Abolitionists envision a world where communities are well-resourced, thriving, and able to meet the needs of every member.  As abolitionists, we are invested in building healing communities that holistically support individuals when harm occurs. We are building a world where we respond to harm and violence by uprooting and working to transform the conditions that caused the harm.

What is abolition in education?

Abolitionist teaching comes out of the broader abolition movement, and out of  educators’ commitment to critical pedagogy, or: a way of engaging students that honestly and appropriately confronts oppression and injustice.  Where the abolition movement seeks to build a system of justice where the dignity and humanity of all people is protected, abolitionist teaching extends this vision to all children, in all schools.  This movement within education is motivated by educators’ understanding that, right now, many schools employ punitive and restrictive methods that mimic prisons and the criminal-legal system, and that these schools are failing and harming our children.  At Freedom Side School, we are bringing the principles and practice of abolition directly to the children whose lives are touched by incarceration. In an abolitionist classroom, we respond to harm, conflict, and disruption with restorative and transformative practices. We address the underlying need that is causing the harmful or disruptive behavior, and take collective responsibility for harm that happens in our community. 

Our evolution

In 2021, seven members of the Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration (CADBI) gathered in a Zoom room to imagine a place for young children and their families in the prison abolition movement.

This group of founders included caretakers of young children with incarcerated family members, long-time organizers in the movement to end mass incarceration in Pennsylvania, and elementary school educators. Out of this meeting was born the vision of an abolitionist elementary school for children who are directly impacted by mass incarceration.

This group of founders decided to call themselves the Vision Team. In the following years the Vision Team met regularly as a group of volunteers to build out the vision and mission of the school, develop organizational infrastructure, and fundraise to get the school open. Over the years since that first meeting, Freedom Side has crossed many milestones including:

  • Developing our organizational infrastructure;

  • Launching a monthly support group for adults with incarcerated family members and running a parallel childcare program;

  • Hosting community events;

  • Completing our 501(c)(3) spinoff;

  • Fundraising in partnership with Resource Generation Philadelphia;

  • Recruiting a Board of Directors who are deeply involved in the project and;

  • Hiring staff in the fall of 2024 who are working to open the school!

With a team that now includes four full-time staff and dozens of volunteers, Freedom Side is preparing to open our school doors in the fall of 2026!