Good News: Is This the Most Radical School Ever Built? | A Positive Story

Good News: Is This the Most Radical School Ever Built? | A Positive Story

Why this story matters: Not all news is bad news. This story highlights the kind of progress that often goes unnoticed. Quick summary: This story highlights recent developments related to education, showing how constructive action can lead to meaningful results. W hen Sean Tevlin discovered The Group School (TGS) in the 1970s, he found “a much needed safe space.” A struggling teen who had dropped out of public school and battled math anxiety, he arrived at the converted industrial garage on Franklin Street in Cambridge, MA with little self-confidence after a learning disability diagnosis. But at TGS, teachers engaged with him, patiently tutored him and rekindled his love of reading. “It opened me up mentally and emotionally,” Tevlin reflects decades later from his living room in Cambridge. TGS, known simply as “The Group” to its students, was unlike any public or private school. “CHANGING LEARNING, CHANGING LIVES” was spelled in giant letters on its white brick walls. Between 1971 and 1982…