My Ideal School

My ideal school
Is part of an ideal community
People aren’t separated by wealth and poverty
The richest have a little extra, the poorest still have what they need
People aren’t pulled apart by race
And they’ve learned to respect the glory of differences
If gender differences still exist, the ones who don’t fit are celebrated
They all mix together in a public school that they,
Neighborhood by neighborhood, control

My ideal school
Is close to home
The kids can visit whenever they want
Perhaps a dedicated mentor lives there
(Can’t say teacher, it makes the wrong image)

My ideal school
Has a garden and a kitchen and hot yummy food
And a beautiful place to sit and eat together
(Is it calm? Or is the excitement of the children too much for ‘calm’?)

My ideal school
Is full of resources that draw the kids’ interest
Is staffed with adults who know
That children have their own ways of thinking
That each child moves through learning in their own way
That there must be safety, both physical and emotional
That there must be affection and loving and hugs

In my ideal school
The children see adults learning
They see adults getting stuck, and then getting it, frustration and joy
Here is a woman learning cello
Here is a man learning to knit
Here are 3 grown-ups talking about a book

My ideal school has traditions
They go camping in September
They make Stone Soup together in January
Each day begins with music, someone is playing guitar and many are singing
Most everyone gathers together at lunch time and shares their food
The day and the year both have a rhythm

At my ideal school
When two kids fight
Bigger kids come help them to use words to solve their problems
The big kids help to build a deck or a chicken house, or a new classroom,
trek through the mountains and fix bikes,
take responsibility for the gardens, chickens, and maybe a sheep or a goat

My ideal school
Is part of a network of schools
That crisscross the community like a spiderweb
And each is different
So each family can find
A haven for their children
That resonates with their values.

My ideal school might not be called a school
We need a break from the past, we need a new word for a new place
Maybe it’s the Children’s Center
Except there are lots of grownups there, too,
Learning as much as the kids