Democratic Schools in Action

A few weeks ago, I proudly stood in the midst of my HGSE classroom, vastly expanded without the dividing expandable wall,  and watched my graduate students from my Building Democratic Schools course preparing for their final exhibitions. Twelve weeks ago I had assured...

Everyone has a story; you just need to tell it: Chelsea Opportunity Academy

Adam Aronson Chelsea Opportunity Academy (COA) sits in a far wing of Chelsea High School in Chelsea MA. I have been visiting this high school since the mid-80s in its various iterations and changes. I always leave energized by the students and faculty I meet. Adam, a...

New Beginnings, 2023

I sit in my kitchen in the quiet of the morning and my amaryllis bulb catches my gaze. It is tilting to one side, unable to hold its beautiful blossoms erect. That bending towards the light captures my attention. I realize that I am ready for change.  After ten...

A New Boston Arts Academy

By Linda F. Nathan, Founding Headmaster Linda Nathan In 1998, I was the founding Headmaster of Boston Arts Academy.  The first time I entered the building with hip boots and a hardhat. The paint on the walls of 174 Ipswich Street was barely dry and wires poked...

Carmen: Friend, Colleague, Creative Disruptor

“Caminante no hay camino; se hace el camino al andar.” We both loved those verses from Antonio Machado.  We have traveled and invented so many paths together. I am grateful to have had Carmen in my life for so many years. We called each other sisters from...

Building Again

“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and...