Why a School?

Schools are unique spaces in which we have the opportunity to create a microcosm of the world we so desperately need.

The elementary school classroom is where many of us learn to be social actors. School is where we navigate, on a daily basis, complex social dynamics, questions of justice, institutional power, conflict, and issues of resource sharing. Under the right conditions, the elementary school classroom can be a space in which we learn to build collectivist communities that center care and mutual aid.

At Freedom Side we explore:

What happens when we start from the beginning? What happens when the wild, other-worldly ideas of young people are taken seriously? What might they be able to imagine? What happens when children are given the love, time, space, and resources they need to treat one another with compassion, care, and collective responsibility? Who do those children become? What does the world become?