Brilliant … But Bouncy

Seek and Speak Truth and Love.

We have found the school for Dylan.

We drove into the middle of nowhere to find this school. We went through miles and miles of farms and fields with birds drifting overhead. After about 45 minutes, we turned into the driveway of the school.

As I got out of the car and stepped into the quiet, Shane asked if he should take a book. (Shane came along for the tour.) I said almost without thinking, “You can come back and get it out of the car if you need it. We don’t need to lock the car here.”

It felt safe.

While there were no kids to meet, and only two adults to greet us, we gathered a lot of information from the grounds. The welcome sign said, “Seek and Speak Truth and Love.” The 54 acres showcased an enormous soccer field, a garden area, two tether ball poles (my kids’ favorite) and woods with a small stream running through. The small campus included only two major buildings – one for elementary ages, and one for middle and upper grades.

Inside the middle school, where Dylan would attend, artwork was everywhere. There was a small lunchroom for a population of around 50 students, with an adjacent kitchen. The library consists of two sofas and a huge shelf full of books. There’s a full-sized gymnasium with a regulation basketball court, and a theater with a stage where they do several dramatic productions each year.

There’s also a room with keyboards for music classes, and several student-art-enhanced classrooms. Even though we toured in summer, we could see the circular arrangement of the desks. The teacher is part of the circle, rather than a lecturer. Discussion is encouraged rather than forbidden, and the kids are all engaged in learning rather than being quieted while all facing forward.

We learned even more from talking with staff – and there is so, so, so much I could say about what I learned from this tour. But in trying to keep it short, I can say that this is an academically centered Quaker school. It is an environment of caring and kindness, while encouraging kids to find their place in the world – to develop their talents and strengths, while also learning the subject matter and study skills required to succeed in school and the real world.

And to make everything just a little bit better, the kids practice a brief morning routine where they reflect on a topic (“like courage,” said the headmaster) as they center themselves and get ready for their day. So Dylan would be able to learn the art of calming himself – something he needs maybe more than anything else – so that he can go forward from there and accept himself.

He could excel here, really excel – not just struggle through each day, fighting the cruelties and trying to wait until college. Dylan would be able to pull himself up and out of the dust, and go on to succeed beyond even his own dreams.

When we left the tiny campus after more than two hours, I was ready to start Dylan there tomorrow. But … I hadn’t asked Dylan what he thought of the place – and he had been exploring with Shane (on his own) for more than an hour.

“So,” I asked tentatively. “What did you think?”

“I want to go there,” he said.

And that was that.