Patti Benvenuti and Gina Furmanick are a mother/daughter team of educators who are launching a new school housed in Oxford’s Zion Lutheran Church. Called the Freedom Academy, it will be an updated version of the one-room schoolhouse with students from ages 4 – 7 years attending for the first year. As students grow older, additional years will be added on, so no one ages out of the school.

Gina was a five year veteran of the Auburn public school system, teaching first grade, when the idea to open her own school hit her.

“Last year, I just didn’t feel the passion that I had felt. And then I thought there was so much about schools as they are that I didn’t agree with and I didn’t like and that I knew could be better,” she said.

As she listened to a podcast one day, an ad came on for a conference in Florida called Turning Point Academy for teachers who were tired of the usual, constrictive public school routine.

“I sent it to my mom and said, “I think this is something we should go to,” Gina related. 

So Patti, a former nursery school teacher, joined her daughter on the trip and they found it to be an “incredible” experience.

“That kind of sparked this whole thing,” Gina said. The pair have a warm and friendly aura, and a real enthusiasm for early learning and a respect for childhood.

Next, Patti learned of a one-room school house in Virginia that was literally created out of a carport. Kids were all different ages and they did academics in the morning and did homesteading-type activities in the afternoon. It was very hands-on with animals and farm-style care.

So, it was off to another seminar where the woman who led it was a public school teacher with 30 years’ experience and a similar sense of frustration.

Gina and Patti came back loaded with enthusiasm for the school project; they got their spouses on board and sprang into action finding and furnishing a space.

The initial spur

The initial motivation driving Gina was the student conduct she was dealing with every day.

“I was seeing the behaviors in school and how much time the kids are spending sitting at a desk. Not actually doing much of anything,” she said.

Gina was convinced there were better ways to run a classroom. Though she had only 18 students, it felt more like 50.

“My job ended up being a behavior manager because I wasn’t doing much teaching,” she said. “I had kids throw chairs at me, I was chasing kids down the hallway, evacuating my classroom because the kids were so violent.”

Things can get choked up between teachers and administration, too, where it’s hard to get problems addressed in a concrete way.

“I just think that kids deserve so much more,” Gina said.

Freedom Academy Motto

If the Freedom Academy could be defined by a single motto, it would be “Long Live Childhood.” 

“I have watched the system fail to protect the innocence of children and accept violent and disruptive behaviors in the name of inclusion and building resistance, Gina states in an enrollment form.

Freedom Academy was born from a deep longing for a return to faith, family, character and curiosity. There is a move across the country for these hands-on, smaller schools, Patti said.

The academics will focus on foundations in reading, writing, and math with a strong phonics-based curriculum.

Little kids love being with the older ones, Patti said.

The school will be focused around work stations, with instruction based on ability level rather than age. This removes the limitations of grade levels being completed in one academic year.

The classroom space is filled with the child-sized tables, chairs, backpack stations and boot trays. 

Students will enjoy lunch at a large shared dining table, practice manners, chat, and take part in cleaning up to help build a sense of community. 

After lunch, it’s time to head outdoors to apply what the kids have learned. Daily activities can include caring for a garden, exploring, preserving food, and learning to care for animals at some point in the (hopefully) near future.

There will also be time for open-ended play, the true work of childhood, where children use their imaginations, bond with each other and make memories.

The arts, music, physical education, science and social studies are incorporated into the hands-on, project-based curriculum. 

Throughout everything, Gina and Patti want to keep the emphasis on routine, kindness, independence and responsibility. They hope to open with 15 – 20 students and grow from there.

Open houses will be held from 9-11 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. on July 30 and 9-11 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. on August 6 at 70 Main Street Oxford (inside Zion Lutheran Church.)

Check out FreedomAcademyMA.com, on Instagram.com@FreedomAcademy_MA or facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577115601887#