Submitted by Diana and Kevin Porter

Starting in fall of 2022, there will be another option for K-12 schooling on San Juan Island.

Critical Thinking School will be in session, with the goal of providing a schooling option for parents who wish to direct their children’s education to match their values, offering structured learning opportunities focused on critical thinking, practical life skills, freedom of personal choice, and educational sensibility.

“The most important part of CTS is bringing family values back into the education equation,” says Diana Porter, board president of CTS. Porter and her husband Kevin Porter homeschooled their four children, with no regrets by them or their children. With the kids out of the house she hopes to pass on the wisdom she learned through her years of home education, and create a structured and cooperative model, of which any family can be a part.

Critical Thinking School will provide a framework of in-person education, and the families will supplement any subject with at-home learning, utilizing any medium. “There is no limit to the possibilities of educational resources,” Porter says. “We’ll provide instructors for core or specific subjects, and guide families and students to further resources that open more doors on the subject.”

Another priority of Critical Thinking school is to provide inclusion and support to working parents, with attention and consideration towards financial, logistical, and administrative support through the homeschool experience. Porter explains, “the idea is that if a parent wants an alternative to the status quo of education on San Juan Island, we’re here to help, even if they’re single-parent or double-working parents. We feel an education alternative is important and we’re here to provide that option.”

To accommodate the school’s vision, donations from the community will be part of the model, so CTS is being set up as a 501-c-3 tax-exempt organization. “CTS will provide an alternative to mainstream thought being quietly infused upon our kids, even in their primary years of schooling,” said Porter. “We feel the community will see value in our efforts and will be willing to invest in our kids. The result will be more clear-minded adults when its time for these kids to become the future of our society.”

An informational meeting about Critical Thinking School will be held on March 30 at 6 p.m., 265 Price Street in Friday Harbor (CTK and Paideia assembly hall, but CTS is not affiliated with those organizations).

For more information please visit www.ctsfh.com.