The Un-Making of an Extraordinary School

Abstract

The Making of an Extraordinary School: The Work of Ordinary People is a book I wrote about the Graham & Parks Alternative Public School. It told the story of this truly remarkable, K-8 school in Cambridge, MA, from its founding in 1972 by a group of parents through the early 2000’s. I was principal of the school from 1974 to 2001. This essay is about the un-making of that school, about the internal and external failures that led to its diminution. The school is still quite a good school with teachers doing some really amazing things with and for children. I continue to visit the school and to talk with people there so I know this from personal experience. To tell this revised story, I will need to go over some of the school’s history and its main features.