This one will break your heart a little, too

From Kim Farris-Berg, regarding Mission Hill School:

As a parent I'm thankful Ruby has had excellent teachers at a school with a positive culture and highly involved families. We live in Orange County, California, where there are just a few unconventional schools. In a land where the schools are almost all the same, we've drawn a very good straw.
But having observed Mission Hill and other schools where teachers call the shots, my heart broke a little when Ruby learned of them. She's now aware, as I am, that schools like this exist -- just not locally. She realized that she's not attending a school where active learning trumps passive learning, where experiences trump worksheets, and where students' self-direction trumps adults conveying content via front-of-the-room instruction.

You can see more about A Year at Mission Hill on their website.

And to speak as a school committee member for a moment: THIS would be an innovation plan I could support wholeheartedly!