“What about ‘socialization’ at such a small school?”

It’s a question that makes  those of us in non-traditional schools cringe.  So being in a classroom with thirty students, all the same age, being fed information in a factory-like assembly line is an approximation for the real world?  Hardly.

We don’t have a massive football stadium or a large marching band.  No pep rallies either. Nor will we have a prom, unless the Eagles decide to throw one.    In fact, that’s the secret to all of our extra-curricular activities: they are organized and run by the Eagles and parents.

Here’s a partial list of the post-school activities we’ve sponsored at Acton:

• The Children’s Business Fair
• Computer Coding Club
• Spanish Club
• Golf Club
• Running Club
• Speaker’s Club
• Chess Club
• Lego’s Mindstorm Robotics Club
• Film club
• Tennis club

These are just the events led by the Acton community, and doesn’t count citywide club sports or scores of other after-school challenges in music, sports and other areas pursued individually or in small groups by Eagles, or the many home school Co-op programs open to Eagles.

No, we’re unlikely to field a State  Championship Football team, much to the chagrin of some of our middle school boys.  But at least most won’t discover the hard way that there were only eleven starters on offense when our 2,564 student neighbor recently won the district playoffs.

Socialization?  Far better to live in a tight knit, multi-age community, arranging your own fun, all the while preparing for world changing apprenticeships that will deliver real world skills.