Unschooling in community
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Join us for an open house on Tue, Oct 20!
Maybe school isn't working for your child. Maybe it's working fine, but something feels off about how their days are spent. Maybe you've been questioning the whole thing for a while and didn't know there was an alternative.
Philly ALC is a learning community in Philadelphia where young people ages 4-18 decide how to spend their days. On any given day, kids might be cooking from scratch, playing chess, painting, or writing laws for the country they invented. Facilitators support what they choose, and the whole community writes its agreements together.
We run two programs with pay-what-you-can tuition. We have never turned a family away for inability to pay.
Our Programs
Our Programs
Two programs, two very different corners of Philadelphia, one philosophy.
Philly ALC School
Philly ALC School
Ages 4-18 | Full-Time & Part-Time
A learning community in South Philadelphia where kids direct their own days. No curriculum, no grades, no prescribed path. Younger students learn through play and hands-on discovery; older students design their own projects and pursue what actually interests them. The community learns alongside each other.
Roots at Awbury
Roots at Awbury
Ages 4+ | Part-Time
Three days a week at the Farm at Awbury Arboretum in Germantown—a working farm and Education Center with fields, gardens, and open space to roam. Screen-free. All weather. Kids climb, build, forage, and figure things out together. Facilitators hold space and keep community; children decide what the day looks like.
Our Philosophy
Our Philosophy
Most schools are built around control. We built ours around trust.
Trust
Trust
We trust kids to know what they need—and to grow into themselves when given the space to do it.
Learning
Learning
Learning is happening all the time. It doesn't need to be forced, managed, or graded.
Self-Direction
Self-Direction
When people get to make their own decisions, their learning becomes deeper and more their own. Children are people.
Experience
Experience
The culture you're immersed in teaches more than any curriculum. We build that culture deliberately.
Success
Success
Real growth comes through intention, creation, reflection, and sharing—rhythms we practice every day.
$10K to 10!
$10K to 10!
Philly ALC is heading into its tenth year. Every family here pays what they can, and gifts from our community make that possible. Help us raise $10,000 toward year ten. Gifts are tax-deductible.
Ready to explore self-directed education?
Ready to explore self-directed education?
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