A little over 20 years ago, a young Connor Tyrrell (now president of The Circle School Board) dictated a list of reasons he wanted to attend The Circle School. I think most of them remain relevant today! -Julia

Connor’s List, reprinted from “Circles” magazine, Fall/Winter 1993-94

Connor’s List, pg 2

Connor (with the tiger shirt & moppet haircut) in 1993. Also pictured: Jyles (in red), Zach (in the black jacket), & Michel (behind Connor, mentioned in reason #10)

1. I’ll learn Japanese at TCS.
2. I can do math at my own level and at my own speed.
3. I can go outside and eat whenever I want.
4. I can do origami. Some of my friends and I have started a store [at TCS] and we have made 60 cents. I also have plans to make people want to come and buy stuff.
5. I can be with friends a lot at TCS. At public school I could only play with them 40 minutes a day.
6. At public school I couldn’t share my ideas, except during a special class with Mrs. Dimkowski. At TCS I can share ideas with everyone all the time.
7. I can be upstairs whenever I want.
8. I can use whatever computer programs I want, whenever I want. At public school I had to play the games the teachers told me and only in certain classes. In computer class I would always be finished before everybody else and so I would have to do the same things tons and tons of times and also in other classes.
9. I like being on the JC [Judicial Committee at TCS] so when kids break rules, instead of standing at the wall for 20 minutes [as in public school] we think of other ways to help them understand the rules — like if they broke them for the first time they just get a warning, and if they have already done it before, a harder consequence [TCS jargon for “sentence”]. Like if someone hits someone then they can’t be around that person for an hour or something like that.
10. At TCS you can go on field trips if you plan it. Michel was only five years old when he arranged a trip to the aquarium in Baltimore. I would like to plan trips to the new TCS building.
11. I like it when Mommy dissects frogs with us.
12. I like to play with [Lego] Technics.
13. I want to go to TCS. I don’t really want to go to public school and I get throw-up in the back of my mouth. I get up at 6:30am to get dressed and tell Mom it’s time to go to TCS.
14. The public school says they are going to do things and they never do it. They said Garrett was going to get to go to Special Interest, but he didn’t almost until the end of first grade.
15. At public school I do the papers in about 20 seconds and then I have to wait a long time. I especially hate it when we do problems one at a time and have to wait up for everybody to finish. While I’m waiting I do algebra in my head. I know negative numbers and algebra like x + x = 12, then x = 6. I have to wait till eighth grade for that.
16. I like The Circle School because I don’t have to be there for like seven hours. I can be there as long as I want, like maybe ten hours.
17. At public school I was so bored once I fell asleep. And sometimes when I’m not paying attention and the teacher asks me a question, I know the answer anyway — whew!
18. I like the way at TCS you get warnings. At public school you never get warnings, you always get five minutes on the wall, even if it’s your first time.
19. [At public school] you couldn’t really talk at lunch, and sometimes if you did you’d get five minutes on the wall. At TCS you can take a bite and then go play and come back.
20. The rules at TCS are good because we get to make them. At public school they have all these rules and you can’t make any others because they are already made. At public school the teacher that teaches the class makes the rules before you even get there. At TCS the rules can change all through the year by teachers or kids. At public school the teachers make you follow the rules and punish you. At TCS everyone can write up someone else for breaking rules, and the JC [Judicial Committee] thinks of the consequence for the kid or whoever it is.
21. At public school the only time you get to use your imagination is when you are not paying attention, and you are supposed to pay attention. At TCS you can imagine whenever you want, and I like that. I like to imagine.
22. In public school I didn’t feel good about everyone else getting in trouble; I never got in trouble. The reason I said that I was no good was because that was the way I felt. I don’t know why I felt that way. I don’t like it when kids get consequences at TCS either. It sometimes makes me feel bad, sort of, but most of the time I think the consequences are good.
23. At TCS when I come up with an idea I can do something about it. The origami store was my idea and quite a few people decided to do it together. In public school I can’t really do that kind of thing — only the teachers can.
24. I would like to practice typing more. I would like to learn more about Sweden and Japan. I’m already taking Japanese. I would like to study music, especially on the baritone ukulele, and art, by visiting art museums and getting some classes.