Memphis Education Collective

In a teacher-powered school, a collective of educators are in control of the decisions that determine student success. Teachers have trust, agency, and power over decisions and structures that allow us - and the children we serve - to thrive. With school control in the hands of front-line educators, we can commit ourselves to genuine, purposeful, and mutually-empowering relationships with our families and community.

We are committed to creating a school community that welcomes, values, and learns from the joy, resilience, culture, and liberation of Black and Brown children and families. We commit to active critical reflection and continual brave confrontation of bias in ourselves, our teaching, our school, and beyond. We believe in recruiting, hiring, and training teachers and staff who live to learn continuously from students, families, and educators who disrupt all forms of oppression. School can and should be a community grounded in the undisputed dignity of all children to create mutual uplift - a place of reciprocal healing, liberation, justice, and joy.

We believe children and adults work best in flexible environments where they are free to be genuine investigators who manage their learning and take on ambitious projects that help them develop communication and reasoning skills. In this environment, students become curious, resilient mathematicians and voracious, joyful readers. School is a place that nurtures creativity, innovation, imagination, and joy.

This work is done with the help of teachers who are partners, modeling lifelong learning and identity exploration for and with their students. The curriculum should be driven by student needs and interest, molded by culturally-sustaining instruction, creativity and arts, experiential learning, and exposure to diverse perspectives so students can see and become themselves in school.

Healing centered learning is a holistic approach to education, grounded in restorative, trauma-informed practices, civic action, asset-driven perspective, and collective liberation for the entire community. We recognize trauma is both individual and shared, so we commit to advocating for policies that uphold the dignity of all people. We believe in the transformational power of joy, play, dreaming, envisioning, and restoring agency. We believe pain and struggle can be the birthplace of creativity, joy, and passion. We understand adults who tend to their own mental, physical, and spiritual well-being are adults who can model and support healing for students and families.

Families are respected members of the educational team, whose knowledge and wisdom shape the school community as a place of belonging for all. We are committed to developing an intentionally diverse, anti-racist community grounded in authentic asset-based relationships with students and families. Through joyful family-friendly spaces and community empowering practices, our school is a place open for the community to learn, grow, and dream.