Core Values

Community-Centered UNSCHOOLING

At TDP, unschooling means trusting that people learn best when living self-chosen, passion-driven lives. We aim to build a community that affirms and supports every individual as they are today.

In community-centered unschooling, personal freedom is balanced with collaboration, resource sharing, trust, and accountability. This prevents the isolation of individualism, a damaging aspect of white supremacy culture.

In Practice:

Helping young people identify their passions, set meaningful intentions, and reflect on their learning through sharing.
Creating spaces for self-exploration and mutual understanding.
Using conflict as an opportunity for dialogue about safety, needs, and care, using tools like empathic listening and restorative justice.
Co-creating community agreements and holding young people accountable to follow them.
Regular community gatherings for reflection, intention-setting, and co-creating a thriving environment.

Interogating Power

We strive to create a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible space, prioritizing enrollment for marginalized youth, especially BIPOC, neurodivergent, and queer kids. Our goal is to interrogate and challenge systems that hurt people and empower young people to become accountable community members.

We also recognize that adults must actively unlearn harmful social habits to practice this value.

In Practice:

Supporting young people in understanding their identities, needs, and inherent worth while respecting others’ experiences and needs.
Building skills like advocacy, collaboration, active listening, and accountability to meet individual and community needs.
Helping young people understand that fairness means everyone gets what they need, and individuals can determine their own needs.
Acknowledging how systems of power shape our society, thinking, and behavior.
Supporting young people to understand how they can take action when they express an interest in creating change through connecting them with local social movement organizations

Joy as a Compass

At TDP, we trust that joy, curiosity, and self-direction are essential to meaningful learning. Rather than following rigid, pre-planned paths, we help kids discover what excites them and pursue it deeply, with confidence and community support. By centering joy, we honor that learning is most powerful when it feels relevant, energizing, and connected to who they are.

In Practice:

Inviting kids to explore their interests, ask questions, and take ownership of their learning journeys.
Creating opportunities for hands-on, diverse, and exciting experiences.
Encouraging reflection and growth by supporting kids to notice what lights them up and how they want to deepen their passions.
Modeling curiosity, playfulness, and enthusiasm as adults, sharing our own interests and inviting kids into the process of joyful learning.
Inviting community volunteers to share their passions with youth and invite kids to explore new interests.