8:30 a.m. – 8:55 a.m.
Check-in: the plan for the morning
All teachers · Main room
A small school in Hamilton, Montana
Twenty-eight students, five teachers, one meeting a week
Postulate is a school for grades 5 to 9. Every Wednesday the whole school sits in one ring, and each student and each teacher has one vote on how the school runs.
The week
Studios in the morning, the meeting on Wednesday
Doors open at 8:30. Mornings keep one shape. Wednesday afternoon belongs to the whole school.
A week in the school year
Showing 30 of 30
Monday
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Humanities: one text, one question
Studio · Aniket Sabharwal · Main room
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Math, in groups by where each student is
Studio · Krystyna Majewski · Main room
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Lunch crew, lunch and yard
All teachers · Kitchen and yard
12:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Afternoon choice: music or garden beds
Visiting music teacher · Music room
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Clean-up, and the agenda board opens
All teachers · Main room
Tuesday
8:30 a.m. – 8:55 a.m.
Check-in: the plan for the morning
All teachers · Main room
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Writing workshop
Studio · Aniket Sabharwal · Main room
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Science bench
Studio · Rika Nakajima · Science room
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Lunch crew, lunch and yard
All teachers · Kitchen and yard
12:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Afternoon choice: art or making
Visiting art teacher · Art room
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Clean-up and dismissal
All teachers · Main room
Wednesday
8:30 a.m. – 8:55 a.m.
Check-in: the plan for the morning
All teachers · Main room
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Humanities: one text, one question
Studio · Aniket Sabharwal · Main room
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Science bench
Studio · Rika Nakajima · Science room
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Lunch crew, lunch and yard
All teachers · Kitchen and yard
12:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
All-school meeting
Two students chair · Main room
Open2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Afternoon choice, then clean-up
All teachers · Main room
Thursday
8:30 a.m. – 8:55 a.m.
Check-in: the plan for the morning
All teachers · Main room
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Writing workshop
Studio · Aniket Sabharwal · Main room
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Math, in groups by where each student is
Studio · Krystyna Majewski · Main room
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Lunch crew, lunch and yard
All teachers · Kitchen and yard
12:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Afternoon choice: art or making
Visiting art teacher · Art room
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Clean-up, and the meeting's minutes go up
All teachers · Main room
Friday
8:30 a.m. – 8:55 a.m.
Check-in: the plan for the morning
All teachers · Main room
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Humanities: one text, one question
Studio · Aniket Sabharwal · Main room
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Math, in groups by where each student is
Studio · Krystyna Majewski · Main room
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Lunch crew, lunch and yard
All teachers · Kitchen and yard
12:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Friday outing, or a long project in the shop
Aniket Sabharwal · Out and about
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Clean-up and dismissal
All teachers · Main room
Nothing matches that filter.
Sample classes.
On the agenda
What the meeting decides
Where the Friday outing goes
A trail, a library, a farm, a workshop in town.
How the lunch crew works
Who sets the table, who cooks on kitchen days, who washes up.
How the room is arranged
Where the quiet corner is, which tables move, what goes on the walls.
Which choices run in the afternoons
What the visiting teachers are asked to bring each term.
The phone rule
The meeting wrote the rule for phones in the day, and it can change it.
The spring trip
Where the school goes in May, and how the days are planned.
A Wednesday
From check-in to dismissal
- 8:30 a.m.
Step 1: Check-in
Each student writes the morning's plan on a card and says what they need from a teacher.
- 9:00 a.m.
Step 2: Humanities studio
One text, one question, then writing. A teacher keeps a list of who has not spoken yet.
- 10:45 a.m.
Step 3: Science bench
Students at a lab bench measuring and pouring, with a teacher at the end of the table.
- 12:00 p.m.
Step 4: Lunch crew
Students take turns setting the table, cooking on kitchen days and washing up.
- 12:45 p.m.
Step 5: The all-school meeting
Everyone in the ring: students, teachers, one agenda, one vote each.
- 2:15 p.m.
Step 6: Afternoon choice
Art, music, making or a quiet book, chosen by each student for the afternoon.
The school year
Visit days, applications and the first day
This school year
All-school meeting
Every Wednesday, September to June · Visitors sit in the ring and listen.
Visit days
Most Wednesdays, October to April · Book one online.
Open houses
November and February
Applications open
January
Application deadline
Early March
Offers go out
Late March
First day
Late August
School closed
Late December and early January
The spring trip
May · Where to go is an item on the meeting's agenda.
Sample dates.
The teachers
Three teachers every day, two part-time
Rika, Aniket and Krystyna teach every student, every day. Two part-time teachers lead art and music.
Rika Nakajima
Founding teacher
Started Postulate after teaching middle school science. Leads the science bench, coaches the students who chair the meeting and keeps the agenda board.
Aniket Sabharwal
Humanities teacher
Leads the humanities studio and the writing workshop, and plans the Friday outings with the students who propose them.
Krystyna Majewski
Math teacher
Teaches math in groups by where each student is, and keeps the supplies list the meeting reviews every term.
Visit
Book a visit
Come on a Wednesday. Sit in the ring for the all-school meeting, see the studios and talk with Rika, Aniket and Krystyna about your family. Your child is welcome to come along.
Phone(406) 555-0115
School hours
- Monday to FridayToday
- 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Saturday and SundayToday
- Closed