Imagine dragging yourself into work in the morning, coffee in hand, mind somewhere else. You walk in the door and find yourself greeted with cries of "I love you!" and hugs that nearly knock you off your feet. If you work in an office, you might wonder what's in everybody else's morning coffee. But if you work with young children, love and appreciation are often among the greatest perks.
It's not something found everywhere, though. Every school is a community, each with its own unique culture. They're shaped by the people who guide them. Their clarity of purpose, personal knowledge, and relationships with everyone involved create the climate for everything that happens within the school.
I'm very fortunate to work in a wonderful school envisioned and directed by an extraordinary person. The Lucy School is the creation of Dr. Victoria Brown, an innovator in uses of drama as educational experience. There's a lot I could say about Vickie and her work, but for now I'll stick with how it all works at Lucy School, from my own observations.
The first thing a visitor notices about Lucy School is its campus. Situated on a 17-acre, 19th-century farm in western Maryland, the school's learning environment includes a pond, gardens, nature trails, and of course, unique playgrounds.
The renovated barn has classrooms without doors, offices in open lofts, a cozy circular space in the silo, a central open space, and my favorite, a tunnel to crawl between rooms, with a special little room along the way. It's clear that a lot of thought went into creating a child-friendly physical space, and my first reaction to it was longing to be three years old again, to experience it all as a child!
The new "green" building is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council for certification under the LEED (Leadership in Education and Environmental Design) program. The construction of the building was used as a learning experience for the children, and principles of environmental responsibility are practiced daily at Lucy School. The building has solar lighting, toilets flushed with rainwater, a rooftop garden, bamboo and wheatboard cabinets, cork floors, and easy access to the outdoors from each classroom. (More
here.)
But it's what happens in these special spaces that makes Lucy School most unique. As an arts-based preschool through primary school, the curriculum is, of course, based on the arts -- but not in the sense of performing, nor in skill acquisition alone. The arts are a vibrant vehicle for personal discovery, development and learning on a deep, visceral level.
Drama work taps into children's innate predisposition toward "make-believe," considered key to the symbolism of written language. On other levels, the story-centered processes at Lucy School involve multiple dimensions of education. These are not "plays," but meaningful journeys created by the teachers for the children to experience. Pretending naturally creates a deep level of engagement, along with a buffer of security, for children to explore genuine experiences -- sensory, cognitive and emotional.
Further, each child's individual growth comes from collaboration with their peer group. Teachers challenge the students to solve problems together throughout -- from brainstorming ideas to carrying out various tasks. These skills then carry over to discovery, inquiry, methods of measurement and analysis, and project work in relation to math, science, and other areas.
In fact, social skills -- the relationships between self and others -- are a key educational component at Lucy School. From the earliest ages forward, teachers devote a great deal of care to instilling concern for community, respect for others, and personal responsibility. These may seem heavy for young children, but they are essential elements of human existence children do confront continuously, on their own levels.
At Lucy School, for example, the youngest children quickly learn to manage their own belongings, to remove and replace their own coats and shoes as necessary, and to spread, refold and replace their own blankets for rest times. When conflicts arise, the children are taught to speak to each other to express thoughts and feelings, offer apologies, or otherwise communicate in order to reach resolution.
The lessons of personal responsibility extend to the basics of survival, as well. For example, Lucy School children know that food doesn't grow in stores. The gardens and kitchen allow them to plant, tend, reap, and prepare food for themselves.
My first impression of the children at Lucy School was that they are extraordinary in their normalcy -- that is, they are perfectly what children simply are; they are thoroughly themselves. This may seem simple, but it is in great contrast with most children I've encountered in my many years of teaching.
If human beings are metaphorical onions, I think influences in our modern upbringings create multiple layers of coping mechanisms, beginning at very early ages. The more "civilized" we are, the more energy we may expend as adults trying to peel back and unravel all those layers. In my experience, these layers weigh upon the majority of children I've encountered, and have fascinated me as a teacher.
The children at Lucy School tend to be pure in this sense. What they think and feel is nearly always clear and directly evident in their actions and words, rather than buried or distorted in other behaviors. It is rarely a mystery when one is sick, anxious, tired, overwhelmed, etc. Moreover, their teachers know them so well and respond with such skillful intuition, it seems as natural as breathing.
(I can ask, "What's up with Mary today?" and a teacher might reply, "She's got a new baby brother at home," or it could be more complicated, such as, "She's wanted to sit near John all day but he moved away to sit near Fred so she got upset and flung herself to the floor which caused Jane to step on her hand by accident just before we came to music, plus she had a rough morning from being dropped off late... So she's just feeling a little overwhelmed right now.")
I am privileged to be the music and movement teacher at this wonderful place. Beyond everything I've already said, the classes are small, there is always a teacher (or two!) with me when I teach, I feel appreciated and supported, I learn from the teachers and children continuously, I can experiment freely, and since Lucy School is also a center for teacher education, I not only enjoy having people come observe from time to time, I've also moved my own two-week summer teachers' institute there. (Instead of dorms, teachers can stay in the school's historic farmhouse, with a view of the mountains.)
The sense of community, respect, and individual value taught to the children is there among the faculty and administration, as well. We meet together on a regular basis to share plans and generate new ideas; there is a sense of cooperation and collaboration, rather than a great hierarchical divide between teachers and upper "bosses" or lower "office workers."
The primary administration of Lucy School is essentially one amazing, super-organized, effectively diplomatic woman who manages to enforce deadlines in the nicest ways possible. She dances out of her office just as I'm walking toward the exit chiming, "Monica!! Whenever you have the chance, anytime before you leave today, if you could create a few sentences for the newsletter, it's that time again and I'd really appreciate it!!" She does this in such a way that you can't imagine *not* doing it, immediately, without feeling like a beast.
There's much more I could say about Lucy School, and I'll come back to it in a different way soon. For now, consider it a beacon of light in my anti-bummer blog, much as it's been a source of optimism for teachers in my classes. "Wow!" one man exclaimed, after hearing a brief description of Lucy School. "It is just so encouraging to know that there's progressive education happening in the United States!"
Yes, it is. It's encouraging every morning to walk from my car to the door of the Green Building, and to hear those voices resonating from somewhere on the grounds: "Miss Monica!" "Look, it's Miss Monica!!" "Hi, Miss Monicaaa!!! I love you!!!!"
