the teenage liberation handbook by grace llewellyn

Attendance is non-compulsory and there are no required classes. Classes are scheduled Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and the center is closed on Wednesdays and weekends. Ĭlasses, tutorials, and workshops are taught by staff members, volunteers, or college students through work-study. North Star works with every interested family, regardless of ability to pay tuition or fees. This customized plan consists of a staff adviser, parent conferences, and classes, tutorials, workshops, or tutoring if desired and available. Using homeschooling as a tool to get out of school, North Star works personally with each teen and their family to create an educational plan that is supported by North Star's staff and teachers. In June, 2015, North Star moved to Sunderland due to safety concerns with the Russell Street building.

In 2002, the center was renamed North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens, and in 2007 the center moved into the historic Russell Street School building in Hadley, Massachusetts. After reading Grace Llewellyn's book The Teenage Liberation Handbook they both quit their jobs as middle school teachers to create a center that would make what Llewellyn described possible for teenagers in their area. North Star was founded as Pathfinder Learning Center by Kenneth Danford and Joshua Hornick in 1996. Russell Street School building in Hadley, Massachusetts The center is funded through sliding-scale tuition and donations.

Each North Star member is paired with an advisor who supports and encourages the teen as they transition to self-directed learning. In contrast, North Star supports teenagers to self-direct their own education, offering a program of optional classes, tutoring, trips and community events, taught and organized by North Star's professional staff and an extensive network of volunteers. North Star was founded by two Massachusetts middle school teachers who were frustrated with a system that forced students to attend their classes. As of 2015, North Star has over 60 members and over 500 alumni from all over the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

Both previously-schooled teens and long-time homeschoolers attend the center. Members range in age from 11 to 19 years old. It offers a noncoercive learning environment without required classes, grades, or tests. North Star's mission is to help teenagers find ways to learn and excel outside of traditional middle school and high school. North Star: Self Directed Learning for Teens is a self-directed learning center in Sunderland, Massachusetts, founded in 1996.

The teenage liberation handbook by grace llewellyn