The Institute for Democratic Education in America (IDEA) has issued a summary report of the amazing project A Year at Mission Hill.
Year at Mission Hill is a ten-part video series that follows life inside the preK-8 school founded in 1997 by Deborah Meier that is part of the Coalistion of Essential Schools. As I said in comments that are quoted in the report, the series:
“Gave people, both educators and especially non-educators, a look inside the life of a school that
showed the possibilities and realities of quality education. I shared the series widely, and most
people I discussed it with were astounded, as in “Wow, we could never have something like that
here, could we?”
The series presents an unpolished look at the problems and possibilities of democratically run schools designed to prepare children for life as free citizens of the world. IDEA called the series, “the conversation we need to be having” about education reform.
Skip the re-run holiday movies, gather your family and friends to watch this series, especially the tear-jerker conclusion, as the courageous principal vows to resist attempts to impose mandatory standardized testing on kindergartners, even if it means her job. Then, ask yourself: What would it mean, and what would it take for more of our schools to be like Mission Hill?
