The Project School

Daniel’s first job was working for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he lived on the reservation for three years. Daniel was hired as a “Change Agent,” and one can just imagine how thrilled the veteran Bureau of Indian Affairs teachers were to have a long-haired, Jewish Yankee imposed on them by the Tribe to bring about a transformation - from teaching all 5th graders that “their ancestors were savages” to honoring the truly great history of the Choctaw People. By the time he departed, a bi-lingual program had been developed (90% of Kindergartners spoke Choctaw as their first language) in a system that previously did not allow the children to speak in their native language. The Tribe had also contracted the schools away from the BIA, taking responsibility for all academic, fiscal, and policy decisions. Over the last 37 years, Daniel has helped start many schools. His most personally transformational experience has been the founding of The Project School in his own community. In 2006, his daughter Heather – a career educator - asked if he would facilitate a conversation for a group of public school colleagues, who wanted to explore what a school would look like if it were developed based on the group’s core teaching and learning beliefs. After surfacing shared core beliefs, they began co-constructing every aspect of schooling. Today, The Project School serves 270 socio-economically and culturally diverse children in a charter school that is deeply rooted in justice, equity and sustainability.