Letter grades are unknown and students spend six to eight hours a week on art, music, dance, drama, or martial arts. Thelma Farley and Leslie Medine founded this award-winning school over a decade ago as a fundamental alternative to traditional notions of schooling. Nothing about the way schools were run had anything to do with the ways kids learn. This philosophy explains why Beacon kids are not scolded for getting up to stretch while the teacher talks or for sitting on the floor to study. It also explains why teachers eat lunch with the students and recess is five times longer than in most public schools.
Children are individuals.
The classroom is just the beginning. Diversity is an asset. Based on students' developmental needs, Medine told the Commission, Day School students attend school 240 days a year. The school also responds to parents' needs. Beacon is thought to be one of only three schools in the United States open 240 days a year.