More to Explore
Social Media
Slideshows
Selected Blog Posts
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...
No, Kids Don’t Rule the School
At first glance, you might get the wrong idea from the title of my book, When Kids Rule the School. You might think kids are in charge in some sort of absolute way. It’s not that simple. The publishers didn't like my working title: "Kids Practicing Life," which I have...
Marina’s cardboard spinning wheel
Sometime back in March, I made a cardboard spinning wheel at school. If any of you are wondering what type of school I go to where I can make a spinning wheel out of cardboard, it's called The Circle School, and it’s a self-directed democratic school in Harrisburg,...
Arbitrary Milestones: a graduation speech
One of the most popular human figures to come out of Greek mythology is, arguably, Sisyphus. For those who don’t know his story, basically, he was a king who cheated death in his youth, and when he eventually died of old age and had to go back to the underworld, he...
Gratitude in an Upside Down Year
Jim's 2014 blog post "I connected my laptop to the internet and fire trucks came" was published shortly before I began my tenure here at The Circle School. In my early days on staff, one of the first things Jim told me was that "At The Circle School, something new...
What Cool Things Outside means to me
My name is Lily Compton and I started the Cool Things Outside Corporation at The Circle School five years ago, and I'm still the chair of the corporation today. [“Corporations” at The Circle School are like clubs or interest groups. -Editor] I didn't have a plan back...
Planned Giving: “It feels good”
“It feels good to think that someday we’ll be making a gift to a place that is so special to us.” These are the words of Stacy Kuyk-White, parent of alumn Taylor Kuyk-White ’06. Stacy and her husband, Trustee Rob White, recently included The Circle School in their...
Grow up, America! Polarized politics and democratic schools
I’m disappointed by America’s dysfunctional politics. And I bet you are, too. What really gets to me is the hyper-polarization and aggressive non-cooperation. I want to yell “Grow up, America!” -- but that might be insulting to the kids I work with. For me it’s...
Circle School mornings again
Over the past six years I’ve spent on staff, I’ve grown to love my Circle School mornings. When the doors open at 8am, a few kids are usually already waiting on the stone bench out front. The rest follow in waves, on school buses, or trickling in by car. From the...
Silver Linings: What the pandemic is teaching us about schooling
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
No, Kids Don’t Rule the School
At first glance, you might get the wrong idea from the title of my book, When Kids Rule the School. You might think kids are in charge in some sort of absolute way. It’s not that simple. The publishers didn't like my working title: "Kids Practicing Life," which I have...
Marina’s cardboard spinning wheel
Sometime back in March, I made a cardboard spinning wheel at school. If any of you are wondering what type of school I go to where I can make a spinning wheel out of cardboard, it's called The Circle School, and it’s a self-directed democratic school in Harrisburg,...
Arbitrary Milestones: a graduation speech
One of the most popular human figures to come out of Greek mythology is, arguably, Sisyphus. For those who don’t know his story, basically, he was a king who cheated death in his youth, and when he eventually died of old age and had to go back to the underworld, he...
Gratitude in an Upside Down Year
Jim's 2014 blog post "I connected my laptop to the internet and fire trucks came" was published shortly before I began my tenure here at The Circle School. In my early days on staff, one of the first things Jim told me was that "At The Circle School, something new...
What Cool Things Outside means to me
My name is Lily Compton and I started the Cool Things Outside Corporation at The Circle School five years ago, and I'm still the chair of the corporation today. [“Corporations” at The Circle School are like clubs or interest groups. -Editor] I didn't have a plan back...
Planned Giving: “It feels good”
“It feels good to think that someday we’ll be making a gift to a place that is so special to us.” These are the words of Stacy Kuyk-White, parent of alumn Taylor Kuyk-White ’06. Stacy and her husband, Trustee Rob White, recently included The Circle School in their...
Grow up, America! Polarized politics and democratic schools
I’m disappointed by America’s dysfunctional politics. And I bet you are, too. What really gets to me is the hyper-polarization and aggressive non-cooperation. I want to yell “Grow up, America!” -- but that might be insulting to the kids I work with. For me it’s...
Circle School mornings again
Over the past six years I’ve spent on staff, I’ve grown to love my Circle School mornings. When the doors open at 8am, a few kids are usually already waiting on the stone bench out front. The rest follow in waves, on school buses, or trickling in by car. From the...
Silver Linings: What the pandemic is teaching us about schooling
The Meadow Campaign Five Years Later
After 10 years of working waking dreams, The Circle School broke ground in fall 2016 to build our forever home on the Meadow Campus -- where I'm sitting now, writing this. Recently the school published a final project report for more than 175 alumni, parents, and...
I walked into my new life
When I first heard about The Circle School, I didn't know what to think of this strange place where there's hardly anything resembling “normal school.” I was petrified, and thought I wouldn’t be able to get anything done without a strict schedule. However, keeping an...
I dreaded telling him school is closed
I dreaded having to tell my son that school would be closed for quarantine. He loves school, which is saying a lot considering how our journey to The Circle School began. It was a very long road that I never imagined we would travel. When Dayton was very young, his...
Community near and far away
Coronavirus. Quarantine. Social isolation. This time has been difficult, to say the least, but I’m proud that I’ve been more or less using this time to catch up on education, spend time with family, and get a much needed mental health break. Don’t get me wrong. I have...
Kids taking the lead
When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. How many times have you heard this? How many times have you been able to make lemonade? What we are experiencing right now in the world is something we will always remember. One moment our children are going to school. The...
Cool Things Outside / Dreams of Flying
I’m Lily C, and I am the chair and founder of Cool Things Outside Corporation. [“Corporations” at The Circle School are like clubs or interest groups. -Editor] I created this corporation four years ago, when the school was still at its old campus. I wanted to...