The Circe institute is reviving something like the one room schoolhouse in our Village School program. We will be launching a prototype in the fall of 2026.

two things drove us to it: the desire for students to get educated and the commitment to ensuring teachers are cared for.

Crucial differentiations:

1. Age-integrated

2. Mastery driven

3. Subject integration (ordered to and by the seven liberal arts)

4. Dynamic schedule

5. Organic relation to the local community

6. Financial model that works: small building, two (maybe 3) teachers, up to 50 (maybe 60) students.

the reason the modern school doesn’t work well is because it is driven by administrative necessity rather than teaching and learning.

At Circe, everything is done to support and multiply the moments of illumination that we call learning and that are THE ONLY means to cultivate a love of learning.

The article below does not discuss the Village School, but in its description of the one room schoolhouse it touches on some of the things that drive the vision for the Village School model. It also shows how the corruption of the public schools goes back a long way.