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.
Reframing conflict as an opportunity for dialogue about safety, needs, and care, using tools like empathic listening and restorative justice.
Facilitators upholding community agreements and supporting youth in engaging with these processes.
Regular community gatherings for reflection, intention-setting, and co-creating a thriving environment.

collective Liberation

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 dismantle oppressive systems within education and empower young people to become justice-oriented community members.

We also recognize that adults must actively unlearn harmful social habits to create a more liberated future.

In Practice:

Supporting youth 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.
Replacing “I can do whatever I want” with the principle that fairness means everyone gets what they need.
Addressing how oppression shapes our thinking and creating shared strategies for resistance.
Exploring systems of oppression together, sharing experiences, and setting actionable community goals for justice.

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—whether art, science, stories, nature, or other pathways to discovery.
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.