Offering students the opportunity for an excellent education in North Orange, MA.

The class has ~14 students. Teachers are able to meet students where they are as learners and then challenge and extend their thinking by engaging them in year-long projects that lead to a deep understanding of the topics. Students study math through quadratic equations, develop their thinking in the weekly 5 paragraph essay, and get plenty of experience reading critically and thinking carefully. Most importantly, the teachers know their students and have the time to be joyful with them.

The students leave the Chicken Coop more than prepared for any high school. Graduates of the Chicken Coop have excelled at Athol and Mahar, Monty Tech, Franklin County Tech, Northfield Mt. Hermon, Cushing Academy, Winchendon Academy, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts, and Four Winds Charter School.

Curriculum
The Chicken Coop curriculum covers a full range of subjects including Social Studies, Literature Studies and Writing, Math, Science, Physical Education and Art and is organized around a number of core principles. For a list of the skills we teach, click here. These principles include:

• Interacting with the world from a place of kindness and generosity
• Practicing joy
• Considering any idea or situation from multiple perspectives
• Being able to function in a democracy, and having the necessary reading and writing skills to do so well

Evaluation
Children get an extensive written evaluation of their academic progress twice each year. The students are not graded against each other, but are instead evaluated as to their own personal learning. Here is a SAMPLE EVALUATION.