We Opened Our Doors & Actualized Our Dream

In 2006, a small group of passionate Indiana public school educators in Bloomington began a discussion about the current state of education. They articulated a vision for a school where students would truly thrive as whole individuals while achieving academic excellence. And a school where educators would be honored for their innovation, creativity and commitment. Our K-8 chartered public school was born out of our founding educators’ collective dream to create an authentic, intentional, democratically led school grounded in core beliefs & values - located in the heart of the community, in order to benefit the whole of the community. Their goal was to become an exemplar in both academic excellence and also heart-mind-voice education toward equity, social justice, and sustainability. They hoped to provoke and support others to do what they knew from experience is possible: to grow students who recognize their individual potential, and who aspire to achieve more and hope more for both their individual futures and the future of their local and global communities.

The Project School opened its doors in 2009 in downtown Bloomington, Indiana as a grass-roots, locally-designed and teacher-designed school to serve the community’s children. Now in our tenth year of impacting families and the community, TPS has graduated close to 250 students, and will at the conclusion of this academic year have its first cohort of college graduates. Because we have retained fidelity to our original model and vision, our founders have remained connected and engaged with the school.

We are Compelled & Propelled by Our Mission, Vision & Values

Our founders used great intentionality in their design of our programs, practices, vocabulary and culture. This intentionality was infused into our mission, vision, and values, and can be see in our everyday practice today.

The Mission of The Project School: To uncover, recover and discover the unique gifts and talents that each child brings to school every day. Our school works collaboratively with families, community members and social service agencies to solve real problems, as well as to create art for public spaces. Students graduate from The Project School as stewards of the environment with the will, skill, capacity, and knowledge to contribute to the greater good.

The Vision of The Project School: To eliminate the predictive value of race, class, gender and special abilities on student success in our school and in our communities, by working together with families and community to ensure each child’s success.