ANDIE J. SCHOENFELD
FREE
FOR ALL
“Magic: The Gathering,” involving
different characters with specific
chemical powers. Its curriculum
was approved by the students
themselves, just like all of the
classes at Brooklyn Free School, a
completely democratic K-12 private school occupying four floors
of a quaint brownstone in the Fort
Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn.
As the animated back-and-forth
went on, the young teacher, or
“advisor,” who could have been
mistaken for a student, mostly sat
quietly and listened. Occasionally
he posed questions, but generally
the students guided the discus-
HUFFINGTON
01.13.13
“THE VOLUME IS
UNRESTRAINED.
THE KIDS ARE LOUD.
THERE’S A LOT
OF DYED HAIR.”
sion. They were running the show.
At Brooklyn Free School, which
is split up into an upper school
(ages 11 to 18) and lower school
(ages 4 to 11), everything works
like this: The students make the
rules, they pick their classes, and
The BFS
champions
democratic
decision
making
by having
students vote
on issues that
affect them.