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Social Media
Slideshows
Selected Blog Posts
Narcissism in Kids, Schools, and Politics: What Can We Do?
Left and right don’t agree on much, but on narcissism it’s unanimous: bad for kids, schools, and politics. Commentators of all stripes say society is more self-obsessed and entitled than ever. People care too much about status and getting attention. Social media makes...
Why Your GPA Won’t Save You in a Zombie Apocalypse
or Ten Things That Matter More Than Grades Grades get way too much credit. Sure, they might tell you how well you memorized for a test, but they don't measure your ability to manage your life, work with people, or find happiness. So, what actually matters? For our...
Tech Stocks Crash, Proving Circle School Theory
DeepSeek, a Chinese company, released its R1 artificial intelligence model last month, causing American tech stocks to crash. Why? Because R1 represents a better way to develop intelligence—by applying an essential Circle School method! R1 caused panic in the American...
Democracy, Kids, and Roller Coasters
In the week since Donald Trump’s inauguration, I’ve been musing about democracy, kids, and our roller-coaster world—the ups and downs and twists and turns. I’m comparing America with The Circle School. At two very different scales, both are democratic entities that...
Why We Chose The Circle School
What do we really want for our children? For them to be happy, confident, and prepared for the future. For our family, finding the right fit wasn’t just about checking off boxes. It was about finding a place where joy and growth could flourish hand in hand. When we...
It’s the process, not the content
In public school I studied math, science, social studies, and English. As a student at The Circle School, I planned every detail of a two-week field trip to Europe, contributed to the school's chore system and judicial system, and helped to host admissions visits...
Cycles, spirals, growing all the way
We all have cycles in our lives. At The Circle School, we know a better way to educate is one that works with these cycles, not against them. Each day on staff at The Circle School includes dozens of interactions with kids seeking me out. Sometimes it's questions...
Staff Initiatives Update
Circle School staff continue to advance our staff initiative as adopted in fall 2022: Increase the quality of life for Circle School students and staff, particularly through three initiatives: Increase students' access to resources. Increase staff's student-facing...
Is This School Really “Self-Directed”?
Drag-alongs, tag-alongs, stumble-ons, and happenings The Circle School describes itself as “self-directed” education, but that term can be misleading. Talking about student freedom, initiative, and self-direction sometimes creates the impression that each student is...
Finding Happiness In School
I want children in school to find happiness. Not momentary fireworks, but the saturating joy of purpose and meaning in life. Not someday, but now, as children. I’ve noticed that kids who live fulfilling lives as kids tend to build fulfilling lives as adults. I think...
“Get to” vs “Have to”
When I was 13 years old, I didn't want to attend The Circle School. My mom and stepdad had fallen in love with the school, and found my two younger siblings required no selling on the idea, but I wasn't buying. I was mostly happy in public school, though in hindsight...
Chickens with missions
Concealed in a shipping container, six secret agents arrived in April -- unarmed, disarming, and charming. Their handlers, the Cool Things Outside Corporation, commandeered a lavatory and quartered the agents in an improvised barracks. Dozens of locals peeped in on...
Other Writings
What Kind of School?
The Learning Edge
Focusing on the latter, The Learning Edge offers thoughts about how and why self–direction is important and effective in education, proposing a framework of ideas supporting the practice of self–directed schooling.
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Selected Newsletters
Narcissism in Kids, Schools, and Politics: What Can We Do?
Left and right don’t agree on much, but on narcissism it’s unanimous: bad for kids, schools, and politics. Commentators of all stripes say society is more self-obsessed and entitled than ever. People care too much about status and getting attention. Social media makes...
Why Your GPA Won’t Save You in a Zombie Apocalypse
or Ten Things That Matter More Than Grades Grades get way too much credit. Sure, they might tell you how well you memorized for a test, but they don't measure your ability to manage your life, work with people, or find happiness. So, what actually matters? For our...
Tech Stocks Crash, Proving Circle School Theory
DeepSeek, a Chinese company, released its R1 artificial intelligence model last month, causing American tech stocks to crash. Why? Because R1 represents a better way to develop intelligence—by applying an essential Circle School method! R1 caused panic in the American...
Democracy, Kids, and Roller Coasters
In the week since Donald Trump’s inauguration, I’ve been musing about democracy, kids, and our roller-coaster world—the ups and downs and twists and turns. I’m comparing America with The Circle School. At two very different scales, both are democratic entities that...
Why We Chose The Circle School
What do we really want for our children? For them to be happy, confident, and prepared for the future. For our family, finding the right fit wasn’t just about checking off boxes. It was about finding a place where joy and growth could flourish hand in hand. When we...
It’s the process, not the content
In public school I studied math, science, social studies, and English. As a student at The Circle School, I planned every detail of a two-week field trip to Europe, contributed to the school's chore system and judicial system, and helped to host admissions visits...
Cycles, spirals, growing all the way
We all have cycles in our lives. At The Circle School, we know a better way to educate is one that works with these cycles, not against them. Each day on staff at The Circle School includes dozens of interactions with kids seeking me out. Sometimes it's questions...
Staff Initiatives Update
Circle School staff continue to advance our staff initiative as adopted in fall 2022: Increase the quality of life for Circle School students and staff, particularly through three initiatives: Increase students' access to resources. Increase staff's student-facing...
Is This School Really “Self-Directed”?
Drag-alongs, tag-alongs, stumble-ons, and happenings The Circle School describes itself as “self-directed” education, but that term can be misleading. Talking about student freedom, initiative, and self-direction sometimes creates the impression that each student is...
Finding Happiness In School
I want children in school to find happiness. Not momentary fireworks, but the saturating joy of purpose and meaning in life. Not someday, but now, as children. I’ve noticed that kids who live fulfilling lives as kids tend to build fulfilling lives as adults. I think...
“Get to” vs “Have to”
When I was 13 years old, I didn't want to attend The Circle School. My mom and stepdad had fallen in love with the school, and found my two younger siblings required no selling on the idea, but I wasn't buying. I was mostly happy in public school, though in hindsight...
Chickens with missions
Concealed in a shipping container, six secret agents arrived in April -- unarmed, disarming, and charming. Their handlers, the Cool Things Outside Corporation, commandeered a lavatory and quartered the agents in an improvised barracks. Dozens of locals peeped in on...
Community in Committee
Over the past year, I was a member of The Circle School’s ad hoc Anti-Racism Committee, formed by the Board of Trustees in February 2021. I’m so grateful for the perspective I gained through this work, and in conversations with my fellow committee members (Kirsten...
From Founding Furnace to Post-Curricular
With retirement on the horizon, I’m feeling reflective. This morning I’m thinking about how different The Circle School is today from the way it was in its founding years. And how much the same it is. I’m thinking about changes to come, and how the cherished sameness...
I feel peaceful here, Mommy
Hello Circle School Family! I became interested in the school many years ago when I started my family. I had begun delving deeper into research regarding what successfully existed globally based on the personal criteria I held. My personal criteria were heavily...