Dear Friends,					Nov 22, 1996

I am writing to you to express a few of my ideas about a school that I
hope you are interested in starting with me, perhaps in the fall of
1997.  First, a brief overview of the school.  The school would
probably start in two houses we can use rent-free for at least the
first year in East Randolph, Vermont.  They are both currently
unoccupied; both need minor work before being legal as school
buildings (we can do this work in summer 1997, perhaps in conjunction
with a summer program to introduce area families to the school).  The
school would be for several different age ranges: young children
(elementary school), high school students, and college students.  The
college students will be the main teaching staff.  There are many
wonderful college students I know of who are interested in this
opportunity.

College students will spend part of their time formally teaching
lessons to children and highschool students, part of their time
informally playing and living with them, part of their time on the
work of running the school (gardens, firewood, car repair, publicity,
driving about, cooking), part of their time on their own academic
work, and have a fair amount of free time.  (There will be a very low
student-teacher ratio, perhaps 4:1, to facilitate this extra time.)
Pay will be very low, perhaps only room+board+stipend.  Students from
many alternative colleges can easily incorporate this experience into
progress towards their degrees.  Typically, college students are
trained to think, read, and write about important things, but without
engaging in any action.  This results in graduates who are not skilled
in applying their ideas to improve the human condition (though they
can discuss the conditions intelligently).  In the learning experience
of teaching in this new school, these college students are involved in
thinking, reading, writing, /and acting/.  This complements the
typical liberal arts experience by helping students to understand that
their ideas are are relevant as well as interesting.

I have met quite a few highschool students who have dreams of going
back to the land, to experience living without the complications of
society (does this remind anyone of what they were like in high
school?)  I would like to help these students see that their dreams
are within this world, that these dreams are difficult and yet
entirely possible and wonderful -- to help them discover what they are
dreaming about. 

For children, the school will be an exciting place to learn and play.
I think it is important to provide many opportunities for learning
activities structured by others, as well as encouragement for children
to play and learn on their own.

All members of the new school -- staff, highschool students, and
children -- are individuals.  We will take into account the different
needs of each of us, designing our experience to play on our strengths
and strengthen our weaknesses.  The school will, by nature of the
importance of individuals rather than positions, have some areas in
which there is variation -- for instance, some years the garden may
provide much of the food for the community, whereas in other years
most of the food will be bought.  There is room for this flexibility;
the essential continuity is the dedication of individuals to engage
together in gaining a greater awareness of ourselves as individuals,
as learners, as members of human communities, and as parts of
ecological systems.

I would like to see art, reading, gardening, math, religion, music,
history, writing, and everything seen as valuable subjects for
learning.  I would like to see the head, heart, and hand all embraced
in our learning and experience.  I would like the learning to come
through conversations, classes, field trips (short and long),
projects, and simply living.

There may be some boarding students, or all the students may be from
the nearby area.  I anticipate that learning how to govern ourselves
will be one of the main learning experiences.  There is room on the
property for 10-15 people to live; this could include only college
students, or college students and children.  I foresee a school of up
to 50 people total.  I would like to make a dedicated effort to
include diversities of several kinds, with a sliding tuition scale
that slides way down, way up, and way to the sides.

Finally, I should note that for me this school will be both an end in
itself and a testing ground for a new model of education.  It will be
based more on relationships between people and between individuals and
their environment, less on specific roles.  It will be less expensive
than education typically is because it incorporates administration,
teaching, and upkeep as opportunites for, rather than obstacles
to, learning.  Future possibilities for the model are to involve
college students in designing and running public service projects
around the nation and the world.  But for now, I think this one small
school is the perfect way to start.  It is certainly what I would like
to do, and I would like you to join me.

I would like to invite you to join me on the proposed property in East
Randolph, Vermont on December 7, 1996 for a work day, celebration, and
initial meeting.  Potential staff, students, parents, and others are
all invited to come to the meeting.  Please let me know at (413)
549-4600 x2326 or ckawecki@hampshire.edu if you plan to attend.  Feel
free to call if you need directions.  Work will be inside or outside,
depending on our desires and the weather -- work will last from from
9am to 6pm.  Food provided -- Lunch at 1pm, dinner at 6pm (with the
meeting to follow dinner soon after 7).  Sleeping arrangements
possible for Friday and/or Saturday night, just let me know.  You may
want to write up some of your desires, dreams, fears, and experiences
to share with us. 

Some things I have been reading lately which partially inspire this
school, and which I would love to have a dialogue about -- in
increasing order of importance: /Dumbing Us Down/ by John Taylor
Gatto; various essays from /Educational Freedom for a Democratic
Society/, /New Directions in Education/ and /The Renewal of Meaning in
Education/ all edited by Ron Miller ; /What are Schools For/ by Ron
Miller; /Teacher/ by Sylvia Ashton-Warner; /Education and the
Significance of Life/ by Krishnamurti; /On Education/ by Leo Tolstoy;
/The Lives of Children/ by George Dennison; /Freedom to Learn for the
80s/ by Carl Rogers; /Black Mountain/ by Duberman; /Summerhill/ by
A.S. Neill.  Lots more but that's the most recent and most important
stuff.

While I am sending you this, I would also like to invite each of you
to my graduation celebration dinner, Friday January 10 at 6pm in the
faculty lounge of Franklin Patterson Hall at Hampshire College. Let me
know if you would like to come.  There may be a contradance
afterwards.

Hope to see you,

Chris