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The Gailer School Returns To Its Roots

photo by Dale Piper Inside the larger yurt that is used as a classroom.

photo by Dale Piper Kate Gridley shows one of the yurts erected by the students.

photo by Dale Piper Chemistry students investigate the properties of gunpowder and discuss the implications when a batch doesn't ignite!

photo by Dale Piper A seventh grade class meets right after morning meeting at the Gailer School.

Monday December 25, 2006

By Dale Piper

     The Gailer School, established in Middlebury in 1989, has returned after an eight year stint at Shelburne Commons.  Gailer's origins were essentially in founder Harry Chaucer's kitchen, where eight students would gather in 1988 to discuss the origin of the universe, evolution and human civilization.  Within months, students and their parents, along with Mr. Chaucer, concurred that it was time to establish a real school and find a location.  The school's first home was the building that now houses the St. Mary's School.  When St. Mary's Catholic Church decided to reopen its parochial school, the Gailer School had to find new digs and settled in Shelburne.  During that eight-year period, two new independent schools opened in the Chittenden County area: the Vermont Commons School opened and the Waldorf School expanded to include the upper high school grades.  Rice Memorial High School was also in the area, and Gailer's administration felt that it was time to return to Middlebury.

    Now housed at the corner of Cross and Water Streets in the Unitarian-Universalist Church, a house next door, plus two yurts erected by students and staff, they are actively pursuing a new, permanent home.  According to Director of Admissions Kate Gridley, that search should be over very soon.  Middlebury is the location of choice because of all the resources that are within walking distance of Gailer, such as Middlebury College, the Frog Hollow Arts Center and the Town Hall Theater, among others.

    A day at the Gailer School is most definitely high-energy.  The curriculum developed by the faculty and administration is modeled after “Leonardo da Vinci, the eclectic 15th century artist-scientist-inventor who intuitively understood the relationship among different disciplines and bodies of knowledge” (from the Gailer School website).  Indeed, a chemistry class can be found outdoors igniting various formulations of gunpowder, learning not only the chemical properties of the substance, but its history and the impact it has had on civilization across the millennia.  Students study not only the subject at hand, but look at its implications and effects on various aspects of literature, history, science and cultural development.  

    Ten a.m. brings the school-wide morning meeting, where all students and faculty assemble in a big circle for announcements, topics of interest to all, readings from pertinent authors or poets and “appreciations,” thanks to those who have done something to make things better at the school.  Morning meeting is also a time when a visitor can observe the student body, international in composition, interact without disruption, discipline problems or the cynicism so often found in groups of young people.  The students were engaged and considerate, listening to plans to raise funds for a visit to Peru and for upcoming auditions for Shakespeare's “Comedy of Errors” to be presented in the spring.  After a midmorning snack of bagels, students return to class activities.

    Lectures are virtually unheard of at Gailer.  Subjects are introduced through discussion and creative projects: literature might produce not only in-depth discussions but paintings and photography or other artistic interpretations.  Students are encouraged to read extensively, not only during the school year but during the summer as well, when a book list is sent home with them.  As Kate Gridley put it, “Often it seems parents are buying a reading list instead of just a school for their children.”

    Travel and multicultural learning are also a big part of the Gailer experience.  Last summer a number of students went to Africa to perform international community service, cleaning up and helping to rebuild schools.  A Somali student, Maxamed Ibrahim, traveled back to his troubled homeland during this past summer and returned to present his experiences to the school at an open house.  The walls of the main hall of the Unitarian-Universalist church, used for the morning meeting, are lined with professional-quality photographs by the students of their travel experiences.

    Currently the school has 43 students.  Once they have found a permanent location and the dust has settled, they are looking at a student population of 90 as an ideal number.    

    All in all, it is good to have Gailer back.  An asset to the community, they provide a resource for area students and families who would like an alternative to public schools.

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