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Exit Stage Left: National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools (NCACS)

ncacs
 
Editor's Note from Jerry Mintz: As you can see in the article below, the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools has just announced its closing. I was involved with the NCACS for many years.

 

In some ways this stems from the meeting a few of us had with Jonathan Kozol in a church basement in Boston around 1974. We talked about creating a national organization of alternatives. The NCACS was created a few years later but the original organizers then dropped it a few years after that. Pat Montgomery of Clonlara then resurrected it.
 
I learned a lot from the NCACS after getting involved again in the 1980's and this helped in the creation of AERO, which in some ways continues its work.
 
Exit Stage Left by Pat Montgomery 
 
Thirty six years ago the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools opened its doors as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Its members are people who founded and/or staffed alternative schools and programs or home schools. They were then, and still are, dedicated to the precepts of the NCACS by-laws: 
  • empowering youngsters and adults to actively and collectively direct their own lives;
  • placing the control of education in the hands of the learners-students, parents, teachers; and
  • developing tools and skills to work for social justice.
These commitments marked the NCACS at the outset as one-of-a-kind. Over the years, more and more individuals and groups embraced the same beliefs to the point where, today, more people the world over practice and promote empowerment, self-directed learning, and social justice. The networking skills of Jerry Mintz, for example, have spread the word throughout the world. People in every clime who work for social justice and empowerment have coalesced. The forum of IDEC allows like-minded people to meet in person, to visit schools and programs in various parts of the globe, and to share. The work started by NCACS continues and reverberates through these and other similar efforts.

One of the treasures of the NCACS was its annual conference – from 1978 through 2009. In these assemblies, students of all ages, staff members from schools and programs, and parents presented workshops, seminars, and dramatic presentations, living and playing together for a week or so. All participated. The only restrictions to attending were in the regulation passed by those assembled at the Arizona gathering in 1983: no banned substances, no alcohol, and no objects which could be construed as weapons were permitted at any conference site, throughout the duration of the event. Youngsters from all over the U.S., from Canada, Japan, Columbia and from several other countries, were able to form friendships and stay in touch during the year. Talented youngsters – like Isaac, Takatomo, Angela, Eric, Webb and Josh and Kim (to cite but a few) – grabbed the banner of active participation in one's own learning processes and ran with it.

On April 1, 2014, the National Coalition quietly closed its doors with a tip of the hat to all of the AEROs and IDECs and IDEAs and others that carry on. Long may its principles prevail! 

Pat Montgomery
April 2, 2014  

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Brooklyn Free School on This American Life

Brooklyn Free School (www.brooklynfreeschool.org) was featured in Act Three which starts at the 38 minute, 53 second mark of the MP3 here. Let us know what you think!

ACT THREE. MINOR AUTHORITIES.
Jyllian Gunther visits The Brooklyn Free School, where there are no courses, no tests and no homework, and where the kids decide everything about how the school is run, including discipline. Jyllian is a filmmaker, working on a documentary called Growing Small. (16 minutes)
Song: “If the Kids are United (They’ll Never Be Divided)”, Sham-69

This American Life is a weekly public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to about 1.7 million listeners. It is produced by Chicago Public Media, distributed by Public Radio International, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards. It is also often the most popular podcast in the country, with more than a half million people downloading each week. From 2006-2008, we produced a television version of This American Life on the Showtime network, which won three Emmys and is now re-airing on Current TV. We’re also the co-producers, with NPR News, of the economics podcast and blog Planet Money. And a half dozen stories from the radio show are being developed into films.

The radio show and TV show follow the same format. There’s a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It’s mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always. There’s lots more to the show, but it’s sort of hard to describe. Probably the best way to understand the show is to start at our favorites page, though we do have longer guides to our radio show and our TV show. If you want to dive into the hundreds of episodes we’ve done over the years, there’s an archive of all our old radio shows and listings for all our TV episodes, too.

For more information: http://www.thisamericanlife.org

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Permaculture, Ecovillage, and Arts Community Education (PEACE)

This summer Heathcote Community is offering a special Permaculture, Ecovillage, and Arts Community Education (PEACE) program. This features internships in farming and carpentry plus a variety of educational workshops! The flyer and postcards are enclosed.
 
This program is designed for those who are interested in a focused month of work experience and learning about permaculture, ecovillages, community living and personal growth.  Workshops led by experts will be offered in the following subjects: Ecovillage Education, Permaculture Design, Community Skills, Wilderness Awareness and Survival Skills, Consensus and Facilitation, Empathy in Action, Social Justice, Breathwork, Conflict as a Doorway to Intimacy, Interplay, Enneagram, Meditation, Yoga, and more. 
 
Note:  People can take the workshops without doing an internship.  They can also do an internship without taking the workshops.  Internships are available year-round.  Tuition options are posted online.
 
We think this program will be of particular interest to students of: Environmental Studies, Sustainability, Peace Studies, Women's Studies, Permaculture, Farming, Historic Restoration, Carpentry, Intentional Community, Sociology, Social Justice, Conflict Resolution, Consensus Facilitation, and Mindfulness.
 
For more information:
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The Circle School in Harrisburg, PA is seeking a full-time staff member for the 2014-2015 school year (Job Opportunity)

Staff Person (Full-Time)
The Circle School in Harrisburg, PA is seeking a full-time staff member for the 2014-2015 school year, and possibly part-time to full-time during the summer beginning in July or August of 2014. 

At The Circle School, students practice life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Enrolling students ages 4-18, The Circle School extends the social contract normally reserved for adults to children and teenagers, offering them the opportunity to grow into ever-expanding freedom and responsibility. Students at The Circle School are free to choose how to spend their time at school within the democratically adopted laws of the school, and participate in the day-to-day management and running of the school as members of School Meeting, in which each student and each staff person has one vote. More information on The Circle School and its philosophy can be found at www.circleschool.org. 

PLEASE NOTE: This position is NOT a traditional teaching position, though possession of or willingness to obtain teaching credentials is required. 

Staff people at The Circle School act as dependable stewards of the school; facilitate student access to resources; exemplify mature practice of personal fulfillment and societal engagement; and anchor school culture to values of interpersonal respect and trust in the natural impulse toward personal growth. 

Staff people at The Circle School do NOT create activities for students to pursue and do NOT have the authority to unilaterally establish or enforce rules. Being a successful staff person at The Circle School requires an ability to honor the choices of others even when those choices are not those you would make, and an ability to trust in the school's peer-based judicial system to adequately resolve rule infractions. Staff people at The Circle School ARE available as facilitators and friends as students pursue their own interests. 

This is a salaried position, compensated in the range of $28,500 to $31,500. Most work hours will fall within the school's normal hours of operation (8am-4pm), but a willingness to work occasional additional hours on an as-needed basis for individual projects, staff and committee meetings, public relations and community events, and more, is required.

Health care insurance is mostly paid by the school (employee share is currently 1% of gross pay), with family coverage available at employee expense. Short-term and long-term disability insurance are paid by payroll deduction (approximately $28 per month). The school calendar provides about 24 to 30 weekdays off during the school year. In addition, ten days of urgent leave is provided (five days at full pay and five days at reduced pay). Employees' children may qualify for extra financial aid, depending on household income.

Required Qualifications

  • Belief in the natural impulse of children (and adults!) to strive for personal growth; commitment to one's own personal growth
  • Must be extremely reliable, punctual, and safety-conscious
  • Possess high levels of professionalism, personal maturity, and authenticity
  • Excellent communication and literacy skills, including abilities to express thoughts in writing, tailor communication levels for different age groups and developmental levels, and interact effectively with children and adults from a wide variety of backgrounds
  • Be an interested, interesting, engaged, and passionate person
  • Strong self-management skills, including high levels of initiative and ability to authentically and effectively prioritize, including the ability to decline requests from children when appropriate
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality of student and family data, as well as to keep a constant eye out for the protection of student privacy in less formal ways
  • High level of computer literacy, including fluency with word processing, email, and more
  • Ability to pass required background checks
  • Ability to navigate stairs and outdoor terrain easily
  • Possession of a Bachelors degree in any field (to facilitate the timely acquisition of teaching certificates if not already possessed), AND current possession of one or more Pennsylvania Private Academic teaching certificates, or a willingness and ability to attain one within a year.

Click here for information about how to apply.
 
We are on a short timeline. Please get your application in as soon as possible.
 
NOTE: Because hiring decisions at The Circle School are made democratically by students and staff together, your employment application and all materials and information you submit may be circulated widely in the school community.