Support Chrysalis: Help Us Build A New Classroom!

Dear Friends,

Chrysalis is a new homeschool initiative in upstate New York. Chrysalis’s story began in September 2023 when four inspired teachers decided to teach four children coming with various challenging educational histories. Over the course of the year there were certainly challenges, but the environment that was developed become a space where both teachers and students were interested in learning together. As teachers, it was essential that every child was listened to, understood, and observed attentively so that the root of various behavioral challenges could become more clear.

Chrysalis values the role of listening in the educational experience and strives to meet each child with interest and to be in service to what is arising from them. At Chrysalis we also recognize the importance of hands-on, practical activity as essential to the developing human being, and we integrate embodied learning into the activities of each day, as a balance to academic learning.

As the year progressed, Chrysalis grew to seven children and five teachers. We learned how to create warm, welcoming social environments together. The year culminated in a multimedia performance of the story Momo. The play exemplified the growth that the children had gone through throughout the year, and there was a real camaraderie, even though there were also challenges. This play was also an opportunity for children who had previously had challenging experiences in educational settings and in the community to offer a gift and be appreciated by their peers and the broader community in a new way.

Looking ahead to next year, we are working towards building a second classroom and expanding our student body. We began the second classroom with the donations from the production of Momo and it is now fully framed! We are now in the second phase of the project and need support from our community to bring it to completion. If you can donate to this classroom becoming a reality please do! We appreciate any donations, large and small. And please share this GoFundMe with friends, family, and community!

We are building the classroom ourselves with help from our friends and community but need the following materials to continue! We have outlined the costs below.

The total remaining cost is roughly $6,000

Thank you for your support!

Warmly,

The Chrysalis Faculty