by Ellen Abbott | Apr 7, 2022 | [Homepage], Featured
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...
by Jim Rietmulder | Dec 1, 2021 | [Homepage], Daily life, Featured, Newsletter, Stories, What's it all about?
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...
by Faith Brooks-Carr | Sep 14, 2021 | [Homepage], Parenting, Stories, Uncategorized
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...
by Jim Rietmulder | Aug 27, 2021 | [Homepage], Daily life, Featured, Lily, Meadow Campus, What's it all about?
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...
by Marina Reinford | Aug 11, 2021 | [Homepage], Daily life, Featured, Stories
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...
by EvaMarie Adame | Jun 23, 2021 | [Homepage], Daily life, Featured, Stories
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...
by Ellen Abbott | May 28, 2021 | [Homepage], Daily life, Featured
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...
by Lily Compton | May 4, 2021 | [Homepage], Featured, Meadow Campus, Uncategorized
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...
by Michelle Loucas | Apr 30, 2021 | Featured
“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...
by Jim Rietmulder | Apr 13, 2021 | [Homepage], Featured, Public policy, Uncategorized, What's it all about?
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...
