Investor Spotlight: Allison Druin of J.S. Bryant School
Meet Allison Druin, Founder and Head of School at J.S. Bryant School, a private school focused on supporting high-school age students in the LGBTQIA+ community. After incorporating as a not-for-profit nearly four years ago, the school has been open to students for nearly a year. We connected with Allison to learn more about her work and the mission of the J.S. Bryant School.
Allison Druin of the J.S.Bryant School
Tell us a bit about what you do, and the mission of the school. J.S. Bryant School empowers LGBTQIA+ high school students to be their most authentic selves by integrating experiential learning with wellness in an LGBTQIA+ supportive environment. J.S Bryant School has been approved by the Central Berkshire Regional School District to operate as a private school. With a 12-month curriculum, all learning strategies and outcomes meet Massachusetts learning standards. We are committed to, and accountable for, creating a high quality and culturally sensitive learning and caring community. The approach to learning exemplified in J.S. Bryant School’s curriculum is interdisciplinary, inquiry-based, career-connected, inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ experience, and integrated with wellness and farming. Students are encouraged and empowered to nurture their unique interests within course subject matter. The curriculum prepares students to continue learning in college and/or enter a career of their choice.
What made you decide to start the J.S. Bryant School? My husband (Ben Bederson) and I are the parents of a 21-year old trans son who attended a therapeutic boarding school during his high school years. In seeking a supportive environment for our son's learning and wellness, we learned what was and wasn’t available. In talking with other parents, we became inspired by our family journey to create a much-needed therapeutic learning community in the northeast.
What is one of your great success stories, or a recent project you're proud of? We are grateful for so many joys in our school. One example is that last year the school didn’t own one book or have a hope of a library. But with endless donations of books from people all over the country, we now have a thriving Pride Library with over 650 books. About 6 months ago, one of our students was helping in the school’s library, stamping books, and inputting book info into the school’s library database. This student asked if they could take a book home with them after school. our staff answered, of course. The student was so excited and said, “I haven’t really had much of a chance to read stories like these before. These stories are about who I am, not who I should be.” This student has since shared that they’re very interested in one day starting a book store. They have been interning during our summer trimester at a local book store. There they are organizing the fantasy books, making new displays, and making book suggestion lists that include queer heroes, and rainbow dragons.
Recently one of our students described our school in a poem they wrote:
"In our school
We’ve been in the storms
We’ve learned to fly when it rains
We’ve held goats and chicks when the clouds were dark
We’ve known the sun to shine
We’ve shared queer spaces to write, build, and question
We’ve opened closets that don’t hide us, but help us find ourselves, piece by piece
We’ve laughed together, quiet jokes , and stood beside each other, holding tight
In our school
We don’t just grow,
We make space for each person to be themselves.
And that space is what makes us whole,
something we carry with us wherever we go"
Any exciting plans for the future? To keep the joy and energy going. To continue to welcome new students into our school. And to design and build a "goat playground" for our 12 school goats.
What else should we know about you or the school? It’s been just 10 months, 3 Trimesters, and four seasons that the J.S. Bryant School has been a place for LGBTQIA+ high school students, staff, goats, and chickens, We truly are a hilltown school and community.
Learn more about J.S. Bryant School at https://www.jsbryantschool.org/
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