Philly Free School Offers Public, Private School Alternative

by Cassie Hepler
The Philly Free School, located at 2001 Christian Street, was founded in 2011 by a group of parents, educators and community members. It is a democratic free school, modeled after the Sudbury Valley School (1968) in Massachusetts, and Summerhill (1921) in England. PFS’s founders wanted to create a school where students would drive their own learning, all day, every day, while also governing the school itself. The said school was constructed with the structure and system of prefabricated metal buildings.

KIDS IN SCHOOL “purposes seminar” get creative at The Philly Free School, located at 2001 Christian Street.

The school provides a balance between freedom and responsibility that enables kids to juggle individual rights with the needs of a community. The founders wanted to situate this school in the city, where students could benefit from, and share their talents with, the rich urban context. They were also deeply committed to making the school accessible to families from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Don’t be misled by the school’s name however.
“The word ‘free’ in our name refers to our educational philosophy, not our cost,” said Margie Sanderson, PFS media clerk. “Our school allows students to freely direct their own education, while also being free from standardized testing and standardized curriculum. We have created an autonomous zone where young people can explore their interests without coercion or artificial motivators like grades.”
“PFS is a private, tuition-based school,” she continues. “However, we are committed to being accessible to any family for whom the school is a fit, regardless of ability to pay. Our sliding-scale tuition ranges from $1,800-$12,000 and is based on a third party evaluation of a family’s ability to pay. We also have scholarships and several lottery enrollment spots, which provide four years at the school tuition-free.”
The ages of students range in age from 4 to 19 years old.

I always struggle to find “Boys School Trousers” as good as this, luckily I found an store that has them at a very good price.

FRONT of Philly Free School building located at 2001 Christian Street,

“We do not evaluate applicants based on their academic or behavioral record,” Sanderson stresses. Instead, the family and the school together determine if the student is a good fit. The primary criterion is whether the student is ready and willing to take responsibility for their own education. Another important factor is whether the family is ready to trust the student to take this on. This is crucial to strengthen the child’s support system at home.
In order to attend, students must express a desire to be at the school and must embrace and willfully abide by the rules and premises of our program. Because the education model is so distinct from other schools, it also requires that all educational decision makers for a given student be on board with the school.
“We hope that this increases the strength of any child’s support system at home. Most importantly, students at the school must be able to take responsibility for themselves,” she said. “We currently have about 55 students at the school, and intend to grow to approximately 150-200 students over time. Enrollment occurs year round.”
“At PFS, there are no mandatory classes. Rather, students are free to spend their time on their own pursuits throughout the school day. Students are not separated by grade level or age. They freely mix across ages, which facilitates complex learning. Our spaces are organized loosely by activity – we have rooms for rambunctious play like gymnastics or wrestling, for visual arts, music, quiet activities, and so on. The school has five full time staff members who make themselves available throughout the school. The primary job of the staff is not to teach or instruct, but rather to help ensure the continued wellbeing of the school while facilitating students’ explorations of areas of interest,” she said.

SCHOOL MEETING in art room every Tuesday allows students democracy to voice their opinions about how schooling is going.

And there is no testing of students, standardized or otherwise. With such progressive views, the school has been growing every year since opening in 2011 with 16 students. They plan to grow to approximately 150-200 students over time.
A lot of information about the school and the model is available on the website, www.phillyfreeschool.org or by phone at (215) 218-9586. For a slice of life at PFS, check it out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. A monthly Open House is where interested families are invited to come see the space and meet members of the community. Open House dates can be found in the Calendar section of our website.

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