New Beginnings

I had reservations about placing myself in a leadership position professionally. As a high school basketball coach, I didn’t think twice about it, but as a teacher, in the world of academia, there was hesitation. I could justify it as a love of being in the trenches…I mean classroom…or I could admit that it was likely more enjoyable work than sitting in an office keeping books and answering emails and phone calls from parents. I could equally admit that it was fear of failure, fear of being exposed, or fear of justifying those in opposition to my cause and approach as an educator. There were plenty of reasons not to do this.

However, a discussion with a prominent figure in Illinois law enforcement, during an annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas, on vacation from chaos in Florida, unironically changed the figurative geography of my career. As we contemplated actual position and potential influence, she noted the reality of placing oneself in the position of most influence. Could I help the most students and their families as a classroom teacher under the oversight and direction of the school administration, or did I have more value as a decision maker? Logic apprehensively answered the question. Fate and Circumstance forced me to answer the call. 

This alchemical endeavor, the Martha T Price Academic Life Laboratory, is my attempt to stir equal parts Compromised Present, Loosened Practice, Lowered Expectations, and Apathetic Enabling into a cauldron of High Demand, Natural Consequence, Self-Reflection, and Personal Rigor in an attempt to produce something more valuable than gold: young humans with unending respect for their environment and unwavering confidence in themselves. Our ultimate goal is not to produce the greatest elementary and middle school students, but to create the strongest foundation for each student upon which they can build their own greatness in the future. 

But even within my grand schemes and ideas is the understanding that success in educating takes a village. The humility and humbleness required to even step into this position seems counterintuitive. Place yourself in a position of control and power where also you are perpetually second, third, fourth in command of influence and outcome, yet primarily to blame if goals and standards are not met. Pour your all into children who are only occasionally, and often only opportunistically, “yours” although their presence will be inevitably tied to you. Quixotic indeed. And yet part of this special project is finding those special families. Not just the ones who want to avoid putting their child in public school, not just the ones who feel there is a special air to saying their child attends a private school, not just the ones who want their child’s personal and academic development to take place during school hours, we seek the families that are committed to the full-time job of parenting. These are the people who are up late contemplating why their child is acting out, the people who can implement natural consequences, the people who still believe in a traditional and universal respect from children to the world around them. These are the families who reap the benefits of The ALL School through their children. 

We are not a “school” in anything but an abbreviated name. The ALL School is an academic life laboratory, where students are allowed to experiment with their mental, emotional, physical, psychological, and academic existence. In the likeness of what Dr. Montessori envisioned, we are a safe place to practice for the world beyond our walls. Our “ALL” draws from the classics and the message only slightly changes. 

“ALL for one…”: our curriculum and culture is a gift to any student who accepts the challenge of enrollment and the student-centered, personalized learning environment directs attention into the development of that one child fully.

“and one for ALL”: our students who complete the program will become the gift to themselves, their families, and their community.

Our mission is the foundation of this transformation: 

The ALL School provides students with the tools and opportunities to begin to unveil, realize, and actualize their true potential, as people and as students, through the pillars of RESPECT, EMPOWERMENT, MINDFULNESS, GRIT, and ACHIEVEMENT.

I rarely gave myself permission to extend my boundaries as a child. I performed as I was asked to and found comfort in the familiar. As a Guide, I knew that I had a positive influence on many of the students and families that passed through my classroom. I was content in the lives that I touched. This was always within someone else’s vision, someone else’s culture. I was blessed to begin my Montessori journey in a school with one of the best cultures. It molded and shaped me as a Montessorian and as a person. I was also blessed to continue my Montessori journey in a school that was absent of culture. I scraped and clawed to impact its community beyond the classroom, with varied results. It molded and shaped me as a Montessorian and as a person. 

Now I stand as a Montessorian, a Guide and a Director, ready to continue my influence, but now in the position to influence the most. I avoid referring to The ALL School as a niche, for fear of accepting the right way as not mainstream and defining our environment as “comfortable”. I will not accept Montessori education as “specialized”, for not only does the science-based practice offer stronger learning foundations in a student-centered environment, but traditional professional development also seems to be adapting more Montessori approaches to teaching. 

The Martha T Price Academic Life Laboratory, The ALL School, is not an “alternative school”, but an Alternative Outcome. 

ALLways, 

Ben