Freedom Side School

Vision

Children (particularly children who are most directly impacted by mass incarceration) have a place in the abolition movement where they are supported to become the leaders of the next generation of abolitionists. Children have access to learning spaces where their whole selves are acknowledged, affirmed, and tended to at every level. Children become practitioners of transformative justice and architects of a world where community accountability is well-resourced, healing is centered, and prisons are obsolete.

Mission

At Freedom Side School, our mission is to provide a free elementary school education grounded in abolitionist values to a mixed-age group of children who are directly impacted by mass incarceration. Our school structure and curriculum are founded on central tenets of the abolition movement: that punishment and prisons are fundamentally harmful, that with resources and support everyone can grow and transform, and that true freedom is collective. Our goal is to work in partnership with grassroots organizations to give students access to organizing tools and frameworks, and provide them with ample opportunities to take action in their communities. We work to incorporate transformative and restorative justice practices into all aspects of community life, and we are committed to processes that address the root causes of conflict. We are dedicated to critical, anti-oppressive curricula that emerge from the passions, curiosities, and interests of our students. In order to do this, we are committed to low student:teacher ratios, and our educators are dedicated to seeing and attending to the whole of each child.