BY SUSAN GVOZDAS
FOR CENTRAL PENN BUSINESS JOURNAL
May 13, 2005

A visitor might find it difficult to believe that much gets done at Circle School in Swatara Township, an alternative school for children ages 5 to 18. On a sunny day in April, students ran around outside, playing flag football for hours. Others lounged around the tiny school building. One student played guitar while others chattered in the kitchen.

Circle School has no classrooms and no grades. Its few textbooks sit on a shelf in what looks like a small lounge. The only sign of order are the rules taped to the walls of each room. The 60 students who attend the school wrote them. The students run the school with the advice of at least five adults, who alternate as teachers and mentors. Traditional schools maintain a student-teacher ratio of 20 to 1.

As Circle School heads into its 20th year, it stands out as a rebel compared with the traditional school model. It is one of about two dozen schools nationwide that follow the model set by the Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts. The schools welcome students who hate to sit still in class. Students decide what they need to learn.

The school administrator acknowledges it is hard to convince parents that their children will learn at Circle School. But more than 90 percent of its graduates go on to college, said Jim Rietmulder, an administrator and teacher. The model encourages free thinkers and nurtures initiative -- a perfect breeding ground for entrepreneurs, Rietmulder said.

"Kids here are in real positions and have authority," said Rietmulder, who ran a computer consulting business for 20 years. "Much of our program is entrepreneurial in one way or another."

The graduates who head into business credit the school's principle of empowerment.

Brook Euler, a Circle School graduate, runs two Dairy Queens in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. She came back to Harrisburg a few weeks ago to visit her parents and look for a new home.

Euler wants her 3-year-old daughter to attend Circle School. North Carolina does not have a school with a similar model, she said.

"It's been a big deal for us," Euler said of relocating. "I feel like in my heart that's where she should go."

Circle School does have some structure. Students learn by practicing life, Rietmulder said.

The school government is based on the American model, with executive, legislative and judicial branches. Adults oversee the school through a board, but students decide how to manage the money.

Teachers give lessons when students request them. Students might not want to learn a subject, such as writing, but they find they have to by necessity. Students must sign in daily and record the time they entered and left. Young students copy the writing of others, but many request lessons. To register a complaint, students must submit a written form to the judiciary committee and present their case. The process can take up to two days, but children learn how to write and speak publicly to gain justice. And they learn how to participate in the legislative process.

A proposal to limit the use of certain toys in the playroom created a stir among the youngest students, who showed up to the public hearing to voice objections, Rietmulder said. They helped craft the rules. Four-year-olds learn concretely they have due process rights."

Handling money teaches students math and management skills, Rietmulder said. Students learn how to balance budgets, barter and market products.

Students refer to clubs as non-profit corporations. For example, the computer corporation is a three-member club that runs the school's computer network and lab. It recently launched a computer repair business that is open to the public. It fixes basic problems for free.

Students also get lessons in supply and demand. Each student is responsible for daily chores. Students can buy their way out of chores if they pay a fee. The fee varies according to how many students sign up to pick up those chores for extra money. The chore committee maintains an even balance. A glut of lazy students pushes prices up to encourage them to pick up the work. Too many students working for extra money pushes prices down.

The school provides great workforce training, Euler said. In the North Carolina beach town where she lives, she struggled to find employees who would show up for work or could handle problems when she was out. Her competitors had the same problem. So, Euler recruits Circle students to work for her during summer breaks.

The students have turned out to be her best employees, she said. One returned after graduation and became a manager at age 18.

"That really propelled my business," Euler said. "My sales went up."

Euler credits Circle School for teaching her how to solve problems. As a student, she had to do research to secure funding to pursue projects. Her fascination with animals led her to raise money for camping trips. "I think that kind of really helped me," she said.

Circle School does not work for all children, but it can help students who outpace their classmates in public schools, Rietmulder said. Circle students often say they were bored in their former schools because they finished assignments ahead of their classmates. Others have learning disabilities that led to poor grades and a lack of confidence. Not all students want to go to college, and that is accepted at Circle School, Rietmulder said.

Connor Tyrrell, a Circle graduate, is a freshman at Babson College near Boston. U.S. News and World Report ranked the business school No. 1 in entrepreneurship studies for the past four years.

Tyrrell, 18, felt his business calling when he started an online T-shirt company two years ago while a junior at Circle School. In 2004, he made $15,000 in profit.

"It helped me figure out who I am and figure out how to get what I want," Tyrrell said. "I have no problem being on my own."

Euler and Tyrrell describe college as easy after directing their own education for years. Euler graduated from Penn State University in three years, with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and women's studies. She also earned a master's degree in education.

Circle School's mission sometimes puts it in a difficult financial position, Rietmulder said. The school gets no public funding. It also allows low-income families to base tuition on ability to pay. "It is difficult to run a school when you don't know what the student body will be contributing year to year," Rietmulder said.

The average tuition fell this year, from $5,600 to $4,200. Rietmulder attributed the drop to a shift in demographics as older children graduate. The school is trying to find another reliable source of income to balance out the lean years.

Circle School receives donations from foundations and individuals. One of those individuals is Doug Neidich, owner of InterCon Systems, a Susquehanna Township-based business that makes electric connectors. Neidich's daughter attended Circle School for five years. He said she is doing well in her retail marketing classes at Harrisburg Area Community College.

Neidich said he wants more of these schools in Pennsylvania.

"This is exactly the kind of environment that breeds entrepreneurs," he said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education does not comment on the practices of individual schools, according to Bethany Yenner, a department spokeswoman."

So far, the school has not asked corporations for donations, but it might, Rietmulder said. He believes the school could foster future business leaders in the state.

"We think what we're doing is a template for future schools," Rietmulder said.

May 13, 2005 Central Penn Business Journal