We practice the testimony of community as we work to develop healthy classroom communities where children feel safe to ask questions, try out new ideas, and learn to work together and care for each other. We work to develop relationships between all our classes, with formal structures like fifth graders who are reading buddies for kindergartners and multi-grade teams on field day, and less formally through the shared recess time of third through sixth graders. Students participate in the wider community through service learning projects and through field trips and through the exchange with our partners in Mexico.
Perhaps the most profound example of the testimony of community is found in weekly Meeting for Worship where students, teachers, and staff gather in reflective silence. Meeting offers all members of the gathered community the time and space to sit quietly and to look within. The silence of Meeting allows each person to search in a way that meets his and her own needs. Meeting is an important time for connecting the individual child, teacher, and staff member to the whole. It develops unity and a sense of belonging to the larger community. Meeting manifests equality for all parts of the school: young and adult may speak and at the end make announcements to the whole community.