The Raven Freedom School

Stone Soup Learning Co-op Document 9-14-08

Values

Safety

• Participants look out for one another
• Adults have a special responsibility to look out for children
• Awareness of our surroundings
• Developing good judgment through discussion of our experiences
• Each person can call for community discussion if he or she feels unsafe

Risk

• Recognizing the role that risk-taking plays in growth

Freedom

• Student self-initiated information-gathering
• Self-determination = each person being able to find his or her own way

Democracy

• Decision-making processes that empower all participants

Inclusion

• Bringing about relationships between people who would not otherwise have them due to social barriers of all kinds

Trust

• Working cooperatively across generations
• Building Trusting Relationships
• Building Trust in Oneself
• Building Trust in the Community
• Allowing for adult-to-child Mentoring

Service

• Positive Impact on and Service to the Local Community (School community, Neighborhood, City)
• Sharing of Knowledge with the Local Community

Holism

• Project-based Learning
• Experience-based Learning
• Culture and Process IS the Curriculum
• The World is the Classroom

Community

• Gentle and straightforward communication as the way to resolve conflicts
• Variety of learning relationships (beyond conventional adult-to-child teaching)

Accountability & Responsibility

• Financial sustainability
• Environmental sustainability
• Individual and Group Responsibility and Accountability for Actions (Especially those necessary to maintain the quality and integrity of the school)

Vision

A community in which we see evidence of all these values being realized.