This is the most speculative of the posts I'm writing this week, but possibly the most relevant for present and prospective parents. When entering into a contract or relationship, it's helpful to understand the other party's motivations, beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses. I think parental uninvolvement is a key part of KLS leadership's philosophy, though not clearly stated on KLS's web page.

I suspect that at the root of KLS's decision to break its contract on 3 business days notice are two things:

1. Dominic didn't like us. He took personally that one week into the school year we felt lost and isolated, rather than thrilled with the school and his leadership. From there was a downward spiral.
2. Dominic's philosophy includes a key nugget that isn't clearly described in the school's vision statement: Parental uninvolvement. And we kept asking how our son was doing.

Why Philosophy is at Play

I think Dominic's perception of our educational philosophy mattered to him.

• Clue #1: In my meeting with Dominic and Erica at the end of November, Dominic asked me to take look at the newly revamped KLS web page and think about the school's mission. This is the only clear, actionable request that I recall Dominic directing at me, prior to his January decree that we leave the school. That parents be aligned with the school's mission seems important to Dominic.
• Clue #2: Dominic's response to my email about philosophy (full text here) of parental involvement yielded a punishment for our family (postponement of enrollment). It seems that my belief that "parents need to see the process and not simply the outcome" of their children's development is, to Dominic at least, out of line with the school's philosophy.
• Clue #3: Through many conversations with parents and staff I understood that Dominic made changes in his first year at KLS. Apparently KLS had problems in the prior two years with the school being too open; parents wandering through the learning space distracted instruction. Some parents described the result as an over-correction, but I suspect Dominic sees the changes as appropriate.

And so... our repeat questions about how we could see how our son was doing probably violated the core principle of parental uninvolvement.

Parental Uninvolvement as Implied by the School Web Page

Let's look at the vision stated on the KLS web page. KLS boils its vision down to this one-liner: Designing student-centered global learning experiences, accessible to the world. I assumed that "accessible to the world", surely implied accessibility to the students' parents. I think I assumed wrong. Digging further, I find nothing in the school's "Learning Design" pages that embraces parents as partners.

KLS's Approach to Learning page doesn't include parents in any active role. The only place parents are mentioned is in the context of receiving assessments and attending student-led parent-teacher conferences. I now interpret this as a passive role: The school shares assessments and the parent receives; the student leads conferences and the parent listens.

KLS's "Community Learning" section of the Architecture of Learning page lists specific curated events at which parents are welcome, like term exhibitions, field trips, or the occassional parent guest speaker. This does not describe partnership on a continuous basis.

KLS's remaining two pages about its mission and philosophy, " Academic & Character Outcomes" and " Art of Teaching" make no mention of "parents" nor "family".

I can find nothing about integrating feedback from parents or collaborating with parents.

For contrast, read Alt School's statement: "AltSchool unites the efforts of teachers, families and technologists to deliver the best educational experience to our students. When we work together, we learn together."

Parental (Un)involvement in the School's Handbook

The KLS Family Handbook changed in the time between our decision to send our son to KLS, and the time of our troubles there. Notably, in the February 2016 edition of the handbook we received when we were enrolling, the Parent Involvement section included:

In the September 2016 edition of the handbook, these sentences are gone, replaced with a suggestion to join the Parents' Association. Possibly we were the first to stumble hard into this apparent change in policy.

The following section remain in both editions, and guided some of our assumptions:

• Section "Traits of a KLS Team Member" (3.3.2) states: "We engage in open, honest feedback. ... We reflect on our efficacy and strive to continuously adapt and improve."
• Section "Visitors" (4.3.1.1) states: "If parents would like to visit the school please contact a teacher ahead of time to find out what will be going on that day and the best way to support the school environment."

Why does this matter?

For a parent: I think it's important for parents to consider how much they want to know about their children's lives. Parents vary in the degree to which they delegate child-raising, and children need different degrees of support. An outgoing child like my oldest son may do wonderfully with parents never assessing his socio-emotional well-being at school. A more timid child may do better at a school that engages parents as partners, with a collaboration between teacher and parent to draw the child out, and regular opportunities to compare notes. A parent who went to boarding school themselves may not expect much intervention in their child's daily school life. A parent who attended public school may be surprised by the lack of opportunity for even a 30 second informal check-in with the teacher. A chatty 10 year old may tell her parents everything they need to know; a 5 or 6 year old may not have the verbal skills or inclination to tell his story.

For a student: Teaching children to "take action", "give and receive feedback", "foster collaboration and impactful relationships", to be "curious", and develop habits such as "inquiry" and "analysis" (quotes taken from the KLS website) while discouraging the same in the parents doesn't seem like a recipe for success.

For a donor/supporter: The school's mission includes the words: "accessible to the world." If it is too disruptive to share the gist of a child's day with his parents, what does this mean for the school's ability to share the gist of its new approach with the world?

For teachers/staff: Some of the teachers/staff with whom we spoke offered us guidance on options to get a glimpse into our son's life within the school's rules. They seemed amenable and even supportive of parents as partners. Understanding how one's own philosophy differs from the administration's can assist an employee's approach to requests and negotiations.