August 30, 2011

The Providence Free School is YOU! (But what does that really mean?)

The Providence Free School is YOU! But what does that really mean?

We are made up of the people who participate in classes, workshops, and skillshares here. Behind the scenes, a loose, informal organizing group with minimal authority has been meeting to create a vision, coordinate logistics and publicity, and push things forward. Everyone is welcome to be a part of this effort in any wayand we're excited to have you on board in any way.

We use 2 different email lists at the Providence Free School. Here's how it works:

To stay informed of all free school classes, meetings, fundraisers, and general updates, you can join our announcement email list (aka our "announce listserv"). You'll receive a small number of email updates, sent out to a list of people from the top-down only (a necessary evil / hierarchy). Joining this list is easy: just head on over to https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/provfreeschool-announce , enter your email address, click "Submit," and click the confirmation link in your inbox.

To get involved with the informal organizing group, you have to do two things: (1) start coming to the organizing meetings, and (2) join our organizing email list (aka "organize listserv"). This is a higher-volume discussion list, which all members can use to reply to all other members. To subscribe to this group, go to https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/provfreeschool-organize to read the list's guidelines, and then click "Subscribe" and follow the same confirmation instructions above.

Course proposal feedback & organizing meeting - Wednesday at 6:30!

This Wednesday, August 31, at 6:30 pm at Libertalia (280 Broadway), we're holding our next organizing meeting. Everyone is welcome! Please look through the past few meetings' notes, linked on the left, if you haven't been at those meetings.

We'll start off with an open session for listening to your ideas for classes, and providing constructive feedback — so if you'd like to teach or collaboratively study something, but you haven't figured out all the details, come with your ideas and outlines and let's talk it over!

August 22, 2011

Space exploration mission, Tuesday 8/23 at noon

Some of us are pioneering a space exploration mission, this coming Tuesday afternoon, to introduce the Providence Free School to potential allied community organizations and talk about the possibility of holding Free School classes in their spaces.

Want to come along? We're meeting at Libertalia (280 Broadway) at noon to make final plans, with the actual exploration going from 1pm until 5 or so. Contact us for more information, or just drop by!

August 19, 2011

Next organizing meeting: Saturday 8/20 at 1pm

Please join us Saturday, August 20, at 1pm at Libertalia for the next free school organizing meeting! Everyone is welcome to attend, but we ask that if you have not attended previous planning meetings, please review the notes from those meetings (linked in the left column).

this is what comes up when you google-image-search 'work party'
this comes up when you google "work party"
This should be a short, loosely structured meeting, with check-ins on progress and divvying up of tasks + responsibilities. September is quickly approaching — let's make it happen!

After this, we'll have a casual "work party" !! ( work = fun !!??? )

If you have a laptop, consider bringing it so we can work on things together & individually. Please also think of other tasks that can be done off the computer — designing brochures & flyers on paper, maybe? — and bring paper/markers/materials needed.

Potluck-style snacking is encouraged.
Contact us with questions!

August 10, 2011

8/4 meeting notes posted; Teachers' Info Session Monday 8/15

The Free School is coming closer and closer to being a reality! Notes from the last meeting are here.

The next step is to figure out what classes will be available this fall, and so we're excited to welcome teachers of all sorts to our Teacher Info Session on Monday 8/15 at 7pm at Libertalia (280 Broadway, 2nd floor)! Email providence@freeskool.org or call 917 608 3417 for more information.

You may be interested in teaching/facilitating a class at the Free School if:
- you have a skill you want to share with others
- you're interested in exploring a topic in a study group with others
- you've ever been told "you should teach a class on this!"
- you've ever thought "I should teach a class on this!"
- you've ever said "someone should really teach a class on this!"
No professional credentials needed, just a willingness to share knowledge in an open, participatory format.

Whether you have a fully developed course syllabus or just a shadow of an idea for a class, join us at the info session. We'll also be working on course development for those interested, so bring your thoughts and we can see how they can become a class!

And lastly: You don't have to teach a class if you come to this info session, and you don't need to come to this info session to teach a class. But it will definitely be helpful and informative!

August 1, 2011

Past meeting notes posted. Next meeting 8/4.

building a new world
We've held two planning meetings in the past several days, and are extremely excited about the amount of energy people are putting into this project and the amount of progress that we've made. If you'd like to read about what's been happening at these meetings, please check out the notes!

Our next meeting will be this Thursday, August 4th, at 6:30pm, at Andrew & John's apartment on Carpenter St. (Near the corner of Carpenter & Battey, and just around the block from Libertalia — call 518-308-8281 or email us for the address!)

If you have any questions, please contact us by email at providence@freeskool.org.