thinking about joining

The Hive?

in 185 words The Hive is an educational resource center where youth are supported in knowing and fulfilling their dreams. Our pilot year program opens September 2018 in Springfield, Oregon, and our inspiration is the 22-year-tested Liberated Learners model, based on the principles of Self-Directed Education. We are an alternative to school, not to be confused with an alternative school. (Legally, most members become homeschoolers, which allows us to work with youth in a flexible, collaborative, and respectful manner.) Our center will be open 4 days a week (following the school calendar, but closed Wednesdays), and we’ll offer a cornucopia of classes, workshops, tutorials, and other opportunities - all without compulsory attendance, grading, or testing. Each teen member is matched with a staff advisor who meets with them regularly to help define, support, and track visionary goals. The Hive is a non-profit organization supported by tuition and by donations. Families who can pay full tuition do so; we welcome a diverse membership and intend to offer fee reductions and other financial strategies when needed. We’d love for you to be part of our inaugural year!

All photos are from Not Back to School Camp. (Different context; same larger vision!)

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July 2018

Hello and welcome! Thank you for your interest in The Hive. We have addressed this booklet directly to prospective teen members. Parents, of course we assume you also will be reading, and we warmly welcome you as well.

We attempt, here, to address some of the questions you might have. After reading, if you think The Hive might be a good fit for you, please get in touch. We’d love to sit down with you and talk through any concerns, musings, or further questions. (These meetings would ideally include parents or guardians as well as prospective teen members.) Or, if you’re already sure, just go ahead and fill out our member application. (Before finalizing your enrollment, we will definitely want to meet both you and your adults.)

Nine months from now, when our program is in session, this next paragraph will probably say, “If you’re interested, let’s schedule a time for you to come on over and look around and talk with other members.” But as of now we are still organizing and preparing to open. Meanwhile, we are also enjoying a lot of clarity. We are closely following the well-established model created by other Liberated Learners centers, and are confident that whether we begin with a slow hum or a buzzy sprint, there is all kinds of inspirational goodness ahead in our future.

I hope to hear from you, and look forward to connecting!

Sincerely, Grace Llewellyn, Executive Director • GraceLlewellyn@gmail.com • 541-414-2116 (text or voice)

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Contentsin 185 words 1Hello and welcome! 2Who chooses The Hive? 4What happens to alumni after The Hive? 6What's the schedule? What happens at The Hive? 6Who’s in charge? Who are the adults? What do they do? 8So where is this Hive? 10What’s the philosophy behind The Hive? 11What does it cost to join The Hive? 14Membership levels 15What is required or expected of members? 18The end! Now it’s your turn. 19

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Who chooses The Hive? The Hive is for teens who for one reason or another are dissatisfied with their current schooling experience and are bold enough to try to live their lives in a more empowered way.

In most Liberated Learners centers, teens tend to fall into one of a few wide categories.  The first group are the Inspired.  These are teens who have passions and interests and want to pursue them, or they believe in the possibility of having passions and interests and they want to have a life that prioritizes meaningful learning. Teens like this tend to thrive in Liberated Learners settings with a relatively short transitional period.

Another type of teen that LL centers tend to attract are struggling in some way or another.  They’re oppositional, or anxious, depressed, bullied, ostracized, struggling academically, or managing some other challenges.  Often they used to be an inspired type, but somewhere their light started to go out. Then there are teens who are somewhere in the middle - open to the possibility of being Inspired, but not really there yet.  They are often doing fine in whatever academic environment they find themselves in, but while it may be easy enough, it doesn’t feel rewarding or meaningful.  They suspect that there must be more to living than just getting through it, and they are ready to start now. (If you’d like to see more data on who teens are when they first choose Liberated Learners centers, read this report by Ken Danford, director of North Star - the original and longest-running center.)

Regardless of who they are, people become members for different reasons. Some might prioritize having access to the social or co-working space, others are especially excited about having access to adult mentors, and still others might be inspired mainly by the class and workshop offerings.

For everyone, The Hive aims to: 1. Build strong, positive relationships between teens and adults that are based on collaboration

and respect rather than assignments or requirements.2. Offer an inspiring, enjoyable, non-compulsory curriculum both inside and outside the program

and work individually with each teen to set and achieve their own goals.  We meet teens where they are, and over time help them envision and prepare for where they want to go.

3. Over a period of months or years, support teens as they transition on to the next step in their lives, whether that is beginning to take classes at LCC, engaging in an apprenticeship or in a full-time volunteer or work opportunity, starting a business, applying for a 4-year college — or even returning to a more conventional school environment.

The above section borrows heavily - with permission - from LightHouse, a former Liberated Learners center in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

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Is The Hive right for you? A few things to consider: The Hive may not be able to meet or support everyone’s needs. For instance, some people with mental health challenges have mixed experiences at Liberated Learners centers. Often a teen has anxiety or depression which has been triggered by school experiences, and then they leave school and they feel better. This is the story of many successful Liberated Learners alumni. Other times, it’s not that straightforward. If you face such challenges, we’ll most likely be eager to welcome you and give it a try. We just also want to be clear that Hive staff cannot function as - or replace - mental health professionals. We are more than happy to meet and talk with you about your individual situation. Also, while our vision is to accommodate diverse physical abilities, our ability to do so will grow over time. We’ll adjust if we can, to help meet your needs, so please don’t hesitate to share them.

I’m not a homeschooler. Is The Hive only for homeschoolers? The Hive, like other Liberated Learners centers, is primarily designed for teens who would not otherwise be easily able to leave school to direct their own learning. We expect that most of our members will have been in school prior to joining The Hive. However, the main legal mechanism which allows us to work with youth with such flexibility is homeschooling. So yes, assuming they want to be in legal compliance, Hive members would typically register as homeschoolers. In Oregon this is a quick and easy process. If desired, we are happy to walk your family through it.

While The Hive offers substantial and personalized support, legally a homeschooler’s parents are responsible* for their child’s education. The Hive functions as one of the resources you choose to support your homeschooling. *Again, in Oregon, it is fairly straightforward to demonstrate this responsibility. Homeschoolers are tested at the end of their 8th and 10th grade years, although if they have only recently begun homeschooling then the tests are delayed. If test scores are at or above the 15th percentile, all is well. If below the 15th percentile, there is a process to follow. See the specifics on the Oregon Department of Education website. Testing is the responsibility of homeschooling families; the Hive is happy to help with arrangements. If you are 16+, a GED is another path toward legality. We do also welcome long-time homeschoolers or unschoolers. For some unschooling families, Liberated Learners centers offer a natural segue when their children reach adolescence.

It’s fine to join for just a year, and then move on. No worries about loyalty. The Hive can fill a short- or long-term need. Some teens join Liberated Learners centers for six years, others for just one year. In fact, it’s not uncommon to take a sort of “gap” year at an LL Center during what would otherwise be eighth grade, before enrolling in high school. (Kenneth Danford makes the case for “eighth grade out" in this Huffington Post piece.) Another common path is to transition gradually from full-time membership down to just a once-weekly visit, while increasing the hours spent elsewhere (community college, business project, music career, job, etc.).

And in the beginning ~ Those who choose The Hive during its startup should be adventurous and flexible, excited about helping to imagine and build something NEW. We don’t know yet whether the first-year Hive will have 5 or 35 members; we don’t know how it will look and feel and sound and evolve from day to day. As with any organization, our early days will present their own challenges and rewards. Whoever shows up will have the opportunity to help shape Hive culture, leaving their imprint for years to come.

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What happens to alumni after The Hive? (“Isn’t this a crazy idea? Won’t I fall off the planet if I quit school?”) As a brand new organization, we can’t speak yet about our own alumni. But, once again, we are based closely on North Star and the resulting Liberated Learners movement, which has collected data on hundreds of alumni over the past 22 years. Amazingly, it turns out that none of these alumni have fallen off the planet. Most, actually, have acquired college degrees - and except for the gal who ran off and joined the circus, basically all of them have sneakily acquired the appearance of more-or-less-normal adulthood. Several are college professors. One became Massachusetts’ youngest-ever public school principal at age 26 (and is now the superintendent of an urban school district).

North Star director Ken Danford has concluded that there is nothing you can do with a high school diploma that you can't do without one. You can read more about the data - and Ken’s thoughts - in his article, What Happens to Self-Directed Learners? His Tedx talk, School is Optional also addresses this issue. And you can listen to (or read the transcript of) an interview with Ken on Blake Boles’s podcast.

More broadly speaking, the collective research and ongoing experimentation done by similar organizations - and individual unschoolers - also shows decades-worth of positive results. Whether you’re skeptical, curious, or both, a great place to start is The Alliance for Self-Directed Education.

We’ll get back to you in 10 years about Hive alumni, specifically.

What's the schedule? What happens at The Hive? The Hive will be open approximately 9:45-4 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, following the 4J (Eugene) public school calendar. We are closed on Wednesdays. Teen members show up (or don’t) at any time they like during Hive open hours. Come first thing in the morning, and you’ll have the opportunity to join a very brief (15 minutes) informal meeting wherein we go over the day’s options (classes, workshops, etc.) and individuals can say a few words, if they’re so inclined, about their plans or intentions for the day. Throughout each day you can attend any of the scheduled events - ongoing weekly classes, workshops, etc. Sometimes an ongoing class asks for some kind of agreement or

commitment, but in a larger sense all activities at The Hive are optional. During our pilot year, we expect to offer around six ongoing weekly classes, on a variety of topics, at any given time. As our enrollment grows and we hire more staff, we will add many more ongoing classes.

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We also offer a cornucopia of inspiring workshops led by many passionate adults. These one-time workshops are not intended to educate in depth. Their purpose is to expose and inspire. Sometimes they will catalyze greater interest and you will find yourself wanting to learn more.(Which may lead to your own independent study, or an ongoing weekly class, or even

a one-on-one tutorial just for you.)

To get a sense of our classes and workshops, have a look at our Calendar. We are (as of spring 2018) building our fall schedule, and will add more throughout the summer. As you can see, there are also times reserved for members to offer workshops if they’d like.

One morning each week we offer small group time - members who want to participate meet weekly with their group of up to 12 teens plus a staff leader. They play silly games and talk about things both light and - eventually - deeper and more personal. Over time the people in a group get to know each other, creating another layer of connection and support. (Your group leader may or may not also be your individual advisor.)

Weekly community meeting: One afternoon each week, we discuss anything that anybody wants to discuss, talk about how things are going overall at The Hive, play super-dorky games, etc. We hope most members will participate. Minutes will be posted for those who can’t be present.

These scheduled classes, meetings, workshops, and other events, however, are

only one aspect of The Hive experience. Members use the space in whatever way works best for them. That might mean: long, rambling conversations with other members and staff; playing board games; working on independent projects; reading quietly. Each teen will find their own way of using their membership, and this may change from day to day and week to week.

Does The Hive take breaks? Yes. We mostly follow the 4J (Eugene) public school calendar. We don’t close for grading or professional development days, but we do close for holidays such as Veteran’s day, winter and spring breaks, summer vacation. We also observe the same weather closures and weather makeup days. (4J snow day = Hive snow day.) We’ll keep our calendar updated and as accurate as possible.

On Wednesdays, the Hive is closed to members. It’s your day to take care of other important things without FOMO. Work on personal projects at home, sleep in, practice your ukelele all afternoon, train for a triathlon, spend the day in bed reading or writing to stay current with an ongoing Hive class, hike up the Butte, make lasagna, write letters to your summer camp friends, or take your grandparents to the coast. Hive staff is also happy to help set up ongoing community-based Wednesday activities. If you are interested in volunteering, for instance, we’ll see what we can do to help find an interesting position for you.

Meanwhile, on Wednesdays, the Hive staff attends to everything that needs attending to: preparing for classes, hunting up volunteer teachers and other resources to support members’ interests, record-keeping, fundraising, seeking volunteer workshop teachers, etc.

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Who’s in charge? Who are the adults? What do they do? Core staffThe Hive is staffed by skilled, generous, and brilliant adults who are passionate about self-directed learning and who love supporting youth in knowing and fulfilling their own dreams. We hire approximately one full-time staffer for every ten full-time teen members. Staff teach ongoing weekly classes and occasional just-one-hour workshops. They are present and involved during Hive open hours. They engage in constant community outreach and take care of administrative necessities. One of the most significant parts of their work is acting as advisors, or mentors, to ten or so members. See our website for core staff updates and bios.

Each member has a staff advisor. You meet regularly with your advisor. (For full-time members, a one-on-one meeting three times a month, or more, is typical.) These hour-long (ish) conversations are at the core of the Hive experience. Over time, as your advisor gets to know you, the dialogue takes shape around your own needs and temperament - some members will want support in articulating their dreams or goals in a meaningful way. Others will be clear on an end goal but want help in plotting their way toward that goal. Still others will need encouragement or even validation

that, for instance, it’s okay to slow down sometimes, or to let an old dream go when it no longer serves. Some may use these conversations to discuss thoughts or questions that are coming up in relation to a project or an area of current personal study. Your advisor also helps keep written records of your work at The Hive - this can be useful later if, for example, you want to apply to college. And they work on your behalf to find resources and opportunities in support of your dreams - classes, tutorials, volunteer opportunities, book recommendations, job shadowing opportunities, etc. As long as things are going well, you keep the same advisor throughout your years at the Hive; we value the continuity of this long-term relationship. (We are also happy to assign a new advisor if you need a change. And, if a staffer leaves The Hive then of course the formal advising relationship would also end.)

Hive DirectorThe founder and executive director of the Hive is Grace Llewellyn. Grace has worked with self-directed teens for over 20 years as the director and founder of Not Back to School Camp, and is also the author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook: how to quit school and get a real life and education. (In a fun twist, this book helped to inspire the original Liberated Learners center, North Star.) Before getting involved with self-directed education, Grace taught school for three years.

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Plus a cast of dozens!Classes and workshops are taught by many adult volunteers. We believe that young people are best served by not just being taught “subjects,” but by interacting with and learning directly from a wide variety of adults who give of their wisdom, knowledge, skill, and passion.

We are on the constant lookout for inspiring, generous people who are excited about something and willing to come in and share it via a one-hour workshop or an ongoing weekly class. As of this writing we have begun to create our schedule for the 2018-2019 school year. Check back frequently for updates as we continue to sign up additional volunteers and build out our calendar.

(Please tell the awesome adults in your own life about this awesome opportunity to be part of The Hive! They can email us for info on volunteering to teaching workshops.)

Board of DirectorsThe Hive is a non-profit organization, with an application for 501c3 status pending. Behind the scenes, our Board of Directors is ultimately in charge of the big decisions (tuition, site leasing, stuff like that; plus overall guidance and oversight). We are seeking additional board members, especially people of color and people who can round out our skills and experience. If you know of someone who might be a good fit, please let them know about us.

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So where is this Hive?

We are excited about our pilot year location: a dedicated suite of rooms in a large house that overlooks the Willamette river. We’re in a friendly neighborhood right on the border between Eugene and Springfield, with several LTD stops close. Our space includes a large communal room, a classroom, a smaller room for tutorials and advisee meetings, a bathroom, and access to a shop/workroom. Outdoors there are several areas to relax in the garden - plus the Willamette river (and the river bike path) is right across the street.

Our long term vision is grand - maybe we’ll eventually take over a charming old house downtown, and hive it up with all kinds of spaces: a sprung-wood-floor theater-and-dance studio, a science lab, a commercial kitchen (micro-business, anybody?), a makerspace, a quiet library and a buzzy common area, an outdoor space for permaculture experiments (beehive?), shooting hoops, and basking in the cloudy goodness that is Eugene. (The North Star building in Hadley, Massachusetts, makes for wonderful inspiration-fodder.)

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What’s the philosophy behind The Hive? The Hive is built around the principles of Self-Directed Education. That, of course, is some mighty big, wide, rich terrain. We expect to continually deepen and grow our understanding of how self-directed learning works and how we can best support it at The Hive. We aspire to get really, really good at listening to each of our teen members, sussing out how we can best support them in knowing and fulfilling their dreams. That means their dreams for the present, as well as for the future.

We will be blogging from time to time about some of the ways we are thinking about self-directed learning in relation to The Hive. We’d love to keep you in the loop so we hope you’ll read these posts.

The original Liberated Learners center, North Star, has articulated seven principles that inform their work. We too will be guided by these principles:

1. YOUNG PEOPLE WANT TO LEARN. Human beings are learning creatures. We don’t have to persuade babies to be curious and to seek competence and understanding. The same can be true of teenagers. Rather than trying to motivate teenagers, we support their basic human drive to learn and grow. Where obstacles—internal or external—have gotten in the way of this intrinsic drive, we focus on helping teenagers overcome or remove these obstacles.

2. LEARNING HAPPENS EVERYWHERE. Conventional wisdom says that children “go to school to learn,” as though learning can only occur in places specially designed for that purpose. We believe that people learn all the time and in all kinds of places. It doesn’t have to look like school or feel like school to be valuable, and it’s not necessary to make distinctions between “schoolwork” and “your own hobbies” or “for credit” and “not for credit.” As one teenager who had recently left school observed, “Everything I do counts now.”

3. IT REALLY IS OK TO LEAVE SCHOOL. Many young people who are miserable in school—academically or socially—stay because they believe that leaving school will rule out (or at least diminish) the possibility of a successful future. We believe that young people can achieve a meaningful and successful adulthood without going to school. We’ve seen it happen, over and over again.

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4. HOW PEOPLE BEHAVE UNDER ONE SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES AND ASSUMPTIONS DOES NOT PREDICT HOW THEY WILL BEHAVE UNDER A VERY DIFFERENT SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES AND ASSUMPTIONS. School success or failure is not necessarily a predictor of a child’s potential for success or failure outside of school. An unmotivated student may become enthusiastic and committed after she’s left school. A student who doesn’t thrive in a classroom environment may

become successful when allowed to learn through apprenticeships or in one-on-one tutorials. When we change the approach, the structure, and the assumptions, all kinds of other changes often follow.

5. STRUCTURE COMMUNICATES AS POWERFULLY AS WORDS, AND OFTEN MORE POWERFULLY. It’s not enough to tell kids that we want them to be self-motivated, or that we want them to value learning for its own sake, if the structure of their lives and their educations is actually communicating the opposite message. Voluntary (rather than compulsory) classes, the ability to choose what one studies rather than following a required curriculum, and the absence of tests and grades all contribute to a structure that supports and facilitates intrinsic motivation and self-directed learning.

6. AS ADULTS WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE, WE SHOULD MOSTLY STRIVE TO “MAKE POSSIBLE” RATHER THAN “MAKE SURE.” Most of the time, we can’t truly make sure that young people learn any particular thing—learning just doesn’t work that way. A group of adults can decide that all fifth graders should learn fractions, but when it comes to each individual child’s genuine understanding and retention, we can’t actually make it happen or guarantee that it will happen. As adults, what we can do, however, is try to make things possible for young people—provide access, offer opportunity, figure out what kind of support will be most helpful, do whatever we can to help navigate the challenges and problems that arise.

7. THE BEST PREPARATION FOR A MEANINGFUL AND PRODUCTIVE FUTURE IS A MEANINGFUL AND PRODUCTIVE PRESENT. Too often, education is thought of in terms of preparation: “Do this now, even if it doesn’t feel connected to your most pressing interests and concerns, because later on you’ll find it useful.” We believe that helping teenagers to figure out what seems interesting and worth doing right now, in their current lives, is also the best way to help them develop self-knowledge and experience at figuring out what kind of life they want and what they need to do or learn in order to create that life. In other words, it’s the best preparation for their futures.

(These seven principles used with permission from North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens.)

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An important caveat - especially for parents. Also for highly driven teens. Looking over the way we have worded things in this booklet, we are aware that there is a tail-wagging “the possibilities are so exciting!” energy to some of it. This reflects our authentic enthusiasm about The Hive and the potential we imagine therein, as well as what we know about other Liberated Learners centers. But we don’t want to mislead: Self-directed learning is not, for most people, an endless parade of thrills and high-octane motivation and amazing accomplishments. In fact, if a young person has been in school up until the time they join The Hive, there’s a really good chance that their first few months or even their first year with us are going to largely involve invisible, inner work. It takes time to re-orient from external expectations (here are the subjects you must take; study hard for the test to get a good grade; keep your GPA high so you can get into a famous college and maintain your genius reputation, etc.) to an inner-directed sense of where you want to go, what moves you and fills you with happiness, what your strengths are, where your growing edges are, how you best learn, what kind of timing works for you, etc. And even for long-time self-directed learners, the goal is not to be amazing. Yes, we do imagine that many Hive members will go on to make important, “amazing” contributions to the world. But first

and more essentially, we want them to connect with meaning, purpose, and joyful exploration. We want them to know unshakably that they can learn new things at any time, in whatever depth they choose, and we want them to know how to instigate such learning. We want our members to come to understand their own natural cycles and rhythms. What is it like, for example, to enthusiastically begin a new project, then at some point run into boredom, difficulty, or other challenges, decide how to handle those challenges, re-connect with inspiration and navigate toward completion (or choose mindfully to let go), finish, celebrate!…. and then maybe dive into a period of quiet reflection and incubation before choosing the next project? We want our members to know viscerally, starting now when they are young, what it feels like to

live an intentional life based on who they are and what they are most deeply called to do. So yes, amazingness may be a side effect for some, but we are going for something so much bigger.

And an important note regarding our stance on schooling. The Hive is not against schools! (Even more emphatically, we are not against the brilliant, generous, dedicated, amazing people who work in schools.) This is really important. As individual staffers we will bring our own personally evolving feelings about schools, which may be positive, negative, neutral, or more likely some mix thereof. As an organization, our intention is not to undermine schools. We believe that as long as schooling is the way that our country aims to educate young people, the public schools should be well funded. Our perspective is that school is the right place for whoever authentically chooses to be there. We offer an alternative for those who want one.

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Interestingly, we have seen that when teens are given other positive options (like Liberated Learners centers, or independent unschooling), but choose of their own accord to stay in school, then simply by virtue of making and owning their own decision they often uncover a reservoir of gratitude and self-determination that infuses their school career with new meaning. We will be pleased if we can sometimes contribute to such an experience.

Self-directed education sounds intriguing. Do I need The Hive to get started?

Definitely not! Self-directed education is a wide open meadow of choices, of which The Hive is one. For example, you can unschool independently. (Advantages: it’s free. And you can zip off for a whole year to zig-zag on your bike across the U.S.) You can connect with another organization. (Here in Eugene, for example, Cascadia offers classes to homeschooling youth up through age 14. There’s also a local Sudbury school. And for older teens, taking classes at LCC often becomes part of a larger self-designed program.)

What does it cost to join The Hive? The Hive charges a membership fee. We are a non-profit organization and do not receive any state or federal funding. Hence, in order to cover our operating expenses we must rely on our membership fees and fundraising. (We expect to launch a multi-faceted fundraising program in fall 2018. If you’d like to help, wonderful! Please let us know.)

For our pilot year (2018-2019) we are making a special effort to keep fees as low as possible. This, however, means that our staff may not always receive their paychecks. (Our pay rates are already significantly lower than public school teacher rates.) This cannot be a sustainable long-term reality, so we anticipate that after the pilot year we will need to raise fees.

The full-time, full year membership fee for our pilot year is $6,200. (Full-time is not the only option. See “membership levels” below.) Families who can pay the tuition fee in full do so. Without as many families as possible paying full tuition, the Hive would be hard pressed to meet its expenses.

We also are fully aware that for some families, $6,200 is a prohibitive expense. Please don’t let the pricetag stop you!

We are committed to a diverse membership and we plan to offer fee reductions when needed. If you want to be part of The Hive and cannot pay full tuition, please apply for financial assistance. When you sign up for the Hive, you will have the chance to do so.

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Membership levels Members can choose between several levels.

All memberships include • Staff Advisor ~ a staff person

meets regularly with each member.

• Family meetings ~ at the start, middle, and end of each year our staff will sit down with you and your parents to talk about how things are going.

• Support (if wanted) in creating an overall schedule and educational plan - that is, not just what you will do with your time at The Hive, but also what you might do on Wednesdays, and other activities you might include throughout the week in pursuit of your goals.

• ongoing classes, workshops, occasional field trips.

• the possibility of one-on-one tutorials: while we can’t make guarantees regarding specifics, we do our best to set up tutorials for members who request individualized support in an area of interest (such as a foreign language, math, a musical instrument, etc.). For most tutorials, we draw on volunteers such as university students. More of these one-on-one opportunities will become possible as The Hive develops and builds ongoing relationships with individuals and organizations in the larger community. (When we are able to arrange tutorials, there is no additional fee to members.)

• Use of The Hive space - for conversation, co-working, games, socializing, projects shared with other members, personal study, etc.

• Support in designing and progressing through personal projects (creative, academic, research, entrepreneurship, etc.).

• Support in documenting the work and learning you do at The Hive and elsewhere - such as for college applications. We use a portfolio app created especially for Liberated Learners centers.

• Support to find volunteer work - and possibly internships or paid jobs - outside of The Hive.• Support to find classes and lessons, etc., outside of The Hive.• Opportunity to stay in touch long-term with The Hive and alumni.

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Pilot year membership levels and fees Note that after this first pilot year, we expect to raise fees in order to meet our operating expenses. (Our pilot-year staff agrees to an extremely low salary if needed, but this is not something we can ask for over the long haul.)

Full-Time Membership (3-4 days per week): Pilot Year $6,200 (prorated for less than a full school year)

Your advisor is available to meet three times each month. (Possibly more, such as when you are working on a big project, or going through a hard time, or for some other reason would like extra support.)Full membership definitely comes with the most benefits. It may be the best fit if you are fresh out of school, or if you are looking for a “home away from home” feeling - full access to the Hive and all it offers. Full members are welcome all days that the Hive is open. You may attend only 3 (rather than 4) days on many weeks, but the option is always there, and you have weekly support from your advisor. However, if you are already involved in numerous activities, are happily accustomed to lots of solo time, or are enrolled in LCC full- or nearly-full-time, this may be overkill.

Part-Time Membership (2 days per week): $4,500 (prorated for less than a full school year). Together we agree on which weekdays you will normally have access to The Hive. Your advisor is available to meet twice monthly. This is a good middle path for folks who want significant involvement at The Hive, but need the majority of their weekdays free for other pursuits.

Limited Membership (1 day per week): $2,500 (prorated for less than a full school year). Together we agree on which weekday you will normally have access to The Hive. Your advisor is available to meet monthly. This may be the best level for people who want access to the support and community of The Hive, but also have another time-consuming project (such as a significant job or business activity, being enrolled in a number of college classes, deep immersion in a creative endeavor, etc.).

Part-Time and Limited Memberships ~ Flexibility We understand that the specific weekdays that a member comes to The Hive may need to change over time. Please let us know if this is the case, and we will work with you to adjust your membership. In addition, regardless of membership level we invite everyone to come as many days as they would like during the first three weeks of their membership. In some cases this may lead to changing the membership level. Regardless of your membership level, or what days you attend, you are always welcome at our weekly community meetings. Additionally, if you want to participate in a small group, you are welcome to come in weekly for that. We also expect that some members may change their membership level during the course of the year.

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Refunds and pro-rated fees and refunds New members have a one-month trial period. They must pay for the first month’s tuition (in full, unless we have made a financial assistance agreement with them). If during that first month they decide to withdraw, The Hive refunds any additional tuition they have already paid.

As an additional safety net: if a member comes only for one week or less, during which it becomes obvious that the Hive isn’t a good match, we may refund a significant portion of even the first-month’s tuition. We cannot refund all of it because we must do quite a bit of work just to get the new member set up and integrated. (After the Hive is more established, it will also be possible to come visit for a day or two before formally enrolling.)

We are currently establishing a chart for pro-rating fees for when members join, withdraw, or change their membership level in the middle of the year. Aside from the new-member trial period, each member is normally expected to commit for at least the duration of the current term (fall, winter, or spring). Sometimes, exceptions can be made.

These details will be spelled out at the time of formal enrollment.

Pilot year only: modified membership for teens who are already homeschooling

For our pilot year only (2018-2019), we also plan to offer a modified membership program for interested teens who • are already homeschooling* with their parents’ support, and • have been doing so for at least two full years

• including at least half of the previous year, 2017-2018, and • do not want or need the full complement of The Hive’s services

• by this we mean mainly the more personalized services such as a staff advisor, the option of one-on-one tutorials, substantive written documentation of their Hive activities (such as for college applications), etc.

• These members are welcome to participate in all classes, small groups, meetings, and workshops, enjoy the use of the Hive space (socialize, co-working/personal study, play games, etc.), and otherwise be an integral part of the community.

*If you’re a homeschooler who now takes classes at LCC, that still fits our definition of homeschooling for this purpose.

This modified membership plan requires an active contribution - something like a worktrade - on your and your family’s part. The fee is lower. Contact us if you are interested in finding out more about our homeschoolers’ pilot-year-only option.

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What is required or expected of members? We all collaborate to create a welcoming, inclusive, and safe place. This leads to specific expectations - mostly common sense stuff like respecting differences and boundaries, no illegal substances or activities, no tobacco use on site, no violence, no hate speech, no bullying. When a member enrolls, they sign a written statement that they will keep these agreements. Because the Hive is a small community, inclusivity is an important part of our culture. While private conversations will naturally arise from time to time, the Hive is not a place to focus on exclusive friendships, cliques, or romantic relationships. Generally speaking, all communal spaces are available to all members and all adult staff. If you want to have an extended private conversation with a friend, you can always leave and go for a walk or get some lunch together. While almost all Hive activities are strictly optional, from time to time we may see fit to ask all members and staff to participate in a short training - such as to learn about consent and boundaries, or to make sure we are treating people of all backgrounds with respect. We are inspired by the model of Restorative Practices and plan to use it or something similar to handle conflicts and other challenges. This means lots of communication whenever trust is breached or anyone feels harmed. Our larger commitment - when difficulties arise - is to emphasize communication, listening, fairness, understanding, and - when appropriate - finding a way to repair harm. A punitive or shaming approach is not compatible with our vision.

We all contribute to the work that needs to be done. Part of what allows our fees to be lower than some private schools is that members share responsibility for a range of essential tasks. Each term, we list all the jobs that are necessary and that need not be done by adult staff, and we divide them up. These include daily cleaning and also the potential for helping with website maintenance, outreach and fundraising events, etc.

We want members who are not just opting out of school, but opting in to conscious engagement with their own learning. This need not look anything like conventional learning.

Also, we understand that some members may be experiencing a lot of confusion about education when they first start at The Hive - and this may result in an initial period of inaction or even standoffishness. We are more than happy to take time talking through this process as it unfolds for each person. But in the long run, we want to work with youth who choose to engage in the possibility and purpose of their own lives. We won’t put ourselves in the position of trying to force self-directed anything. Basically, we just want our members to want to be at The Hive.

At the start of each year, each member and their parents write letters to The Hive staff. Parents may collaborate on a joint letter or write individual letters. The teen member should write their own letter. These are an opportunity to share current goals, hopes, any personal issues you are working through and want to share, anything else you want us to know about your or your family’s hopes for the year. These help us better understand and work with you over the coming year.

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Each member meets regularly with their advisor. For most members, this ongoing partnership will be central to their Hive experience and will be a source of significant support and consistency. If for some reason you don’t want frequent meetings, that’s okay, but it will still be important to check in from time to time. (If you don’t feel your advisor is a good match for you we are open to finding you a different one.)

At the end of each year, each member makes a presentation to the group about how they have spent their year. This can be informal or formal. It’s not a test, just an opportunity to reflect and review, then share.

We do not, of course, have any conventional academic requirements.

Over time we may refine this list, but that’s our initial vision and it’s based closely on the way North Star does it. Beyond these requirements, we have some hopes:

We hope members will stretch themselves - perhaps signing up for a class outside their comfort zone, going to workshops on subjects they’ve never heard of, building friendships with people who wouldn't have been part of their social group in school. We suggest that members participate in weekly community meetings and weekly small groups. And we hope they’ll pursue interesting goals and activities outside of their time at The Hive - we stand ready to help with plans. But we also support each member in looking closely at the line between full and too much. We value not only engagement, but also balance and spaciousness. We hope Hive members will grow into adults who know how to consider life’s many options and requests, and to then say “no” or “yes” in accordance with their truest selves.

The end! Now it’s your turn. Thank you for reading! What you choose to do next about The Hive is up to you. Please get in touch if you’d like to meet with us, or feel free to email with any questions we haven’t answered here. If you already know you’re ready to sign up, you can access the member application on our website.

We also hope you’ll tell your friends about The Hive.

Thank you so much for your interest. We look forward to connecting with you!

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