Inside Modern Learning Association: An active Micro School in New Hampshire
"We're Best Friends"
Sometimes you can feel what happens in a place as soon as you walk in. Modern Learning Association a micro school in Derry, NH is one of those places. It felt like there were a lot more people in the building from not at all in a chaotic way but in an energetic, active purposeful way.
Upon my arrival, I was greeted by and had a wonderful conversation with Co-founder and CFO Elizabeth Shruhan. Modern Learning Association was started to provide students with the space to be themselves and learn how they learn.
When I walked into the student learning area, students greeted me and began to talk to me about what they were working on. One student was learning about Eels another was working on writing a story, and others were doing various things.
Three different groups of students made it a point to tell that they were “best friends”,I was even introduced to some of them in that way, “this is my best friend…” This was charming of course, but it points to something deeper. For one, it shows that students feel safe together, it also shows that students have the space and time to forge close relationships with each other.
Students at Modern Learning Association (MLA), together with Elizabeth and guide Paige Jacobs came up with agreements on how they are going to be in the space together. When students are given this type of opportunity they are personally invested in making it work.
MLA serves nine students of mixed ages, ranging from 8 - 14 with designs to expand at its current location and into others. At present, they share a great space with a local church and have a great, supportive partnership.
The learning is structured and in some cases follows curricula models but is also flexible and adaptable, pulling from various sources to meet student’s individual learning needs.
Within the structure, there is a lot of freedom, which includes freedom of movement and utilization of the spacious rooms. The belief that all student’s needs can be met in an individualized, supportive way runs throughout everything that happens at MLA. “If some students are better listeners than readers why can’t they use audio books to learn?”
Micro schools and alternatives to the conventional system continue to grow nationally and globally. It’s hard to know what the future holds, new options are being created all the time. Modern Learning Association is a model for what is possible