Education in a Time of Transition

A Letter from Jack Comstock, Director of Programs, and Nisha Gupta, Director of Advancement and Montessori Practice

From Crisis to Connection: The Role of Learning in a Changing World

Dear Homestead Community,

“There is no such thing as a neutral educational process. Education either functions as an instrument that is used to facilitate the integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes ‘the practice of freedom,’ the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”   —Richard Shaull 

As institutions struggle to keep pace with our changing world, education must be reimagined. It must become a living practice—a path to wholeness, stewardship, and possibility. At Homestead, we believe this transformation begins with how we nurture children and community. What follows is an attempt to begin a conversation about where we are, and where we are going.

A Defining Moment

In times of profound transition, when the pace of change and our fundamental human needs are no longer adequately met by the cultural systems we have constructed, it becomes vital to speak from a deeper place—a place that transcends partisan frames and invites us into shared humanity, higher purpose, and a renewed story of what is possible.

It’s no secret that our systems of governance and education—formed in and for a very different era—are struggling to meet the needs of our interconnected, rapidly evolving world. Bureaucratic structures, while often intended to bring consistency, order, and fairness to large institutions, can become rigid and unresponsive in the face of human complexity and ecological urgency. Even well-intentioned systems can drift from their purpose or fail to adapt to cultural evolution—embedding structural biases and relying on impersonal metrics that reward compliance over creativity, reducing the relational depth of human life and learning to what is expedient and economical. When wisdom and imagination are excluded from the systems that structure our collective reality, we lose the ability to shape an ecological and human future. And the oversimplified binary of left and right—once a framework for civic discourse—now reinforces division and distracts us from our shared needs and creative possibilities.

Both liberal and conservative frameworks, in their current mainstream expressions, are caught in reactive and often tribal expressions of group identity—where polarization overshadows dialogue, and loyalty takes the place of open inquiry. Liberal institutions, often striving to uplift the marginalized in society, have sometimes become entangled with the very corporate and institutional power structures they once sought to reform. So too have they become rigid in their values, canceling rather than championing true pluralism and inclusiveness. Conservative efforts to reduce overreach, to promote personal agency, and to uphold family values have at times undermined hard-won protections for working people and the public good—often in service to similar entrenched interests. Meanwhile, the dominant paradigm continues to reduce human beings and educational outcomes to data points, fragmenting us from our sources of meaning, joy, and belonging. 

This isn’t a partisan failure. It is a systemic and cultural one—a symptom of an outdated operating system that can no longer hold the complexity of our moment.

At Homestead, we celebrate our shared humanity as children of the Earth—each of us carrying the same deep needs and the same heart’s longing for beauty, connection, and purpose.

Signals from a Shifting World

From escalating inequality, to deepening adolescent depression, to the erosion of civil discourse, to climate chaos and migration, to the suppression of dissent and dialogue in our schools and universities—these are not isolated crises. They are signals. Signals that the dominant narrative and the endless growth of a global economy have run their course. The mythos that once bound us together is unraveling, revealing painful truths: that real wages have stagnated for decades, that public institutions no longer adequately serve us and are being hollowed out with no real vision for what will replace them, that the wealthy and powerful continue to be bailed out and play by a different set of rules, and that book bans and ideological censorship are resurfacing in ways reminiscent of our nation’s more fearful chapters.

And yet: crisis is also initiation.

The Path Ahead

At Homestead, we feel this moment as both loss and opportunity. We are waking up to the fragmentation and limitations of the Old Story, and consciously stewarding the New—a story rooted not in domination or division, but in regeneration, interdependence, and reverence for life.

Our public education system, for all its limitations, has long stood as a pillar of democratic possibility. We honor its intent and mourn its erosion. As private schools become increasingly elite and public schools increasingly underfunded, we recognize the urgent need for alternatives that do not merely replicate systems of privilege and the myopic, reductive vision of education as preparation for the economy of tomorrow. It is the genius and purpose of our students—when nurtured and honored—that will shape the world of the future. That’s why Homestead continues to prioritize balancing affordability, socioeconomic diversity, and inclusivity—ensuring that a transformative education is not the privilege of the few.

We acknowledge the complexity: we are an independent school that values freedom and innovation, even as we grieve the dismantling of the very public institutions we were meant to complement.

In this time of cultural contraction and polarization, we hold firm to our mission: to nurture the unfolding passion of every child through an education of the head, heart, and hands—an education grounded in Montessori principles, ecological awareness, and reverence for life. We are not preparing students to fit into the old world. We are preparing them to birth a new one. To live in right relationship with self, others, and the Earth. To become compassionate leaders, creative problem-solvers, and joyful participants in the great work of cultural and ecological regeneration.

Rooted in Montessori, guided by the potential of each child, and anchored in an ethic of care, we keep orienting toward what’s possible—toward a future that heals, includes, and flourishes.

The suffering we witness—the scapegoating, the divisiveness, the growing fear—is the result of a story too small to hold the sacredness of each human being, too limited to express our full potential as a planetary family.

A Living Education

And so, here at Homestead, we continue the work. We create environments where complexity is welcomed, where multiple perspectives can be explored without fear. We trust children to think critically, to hold differing views with care, and to seek meaning beyond surface-level questions and easy answers. In this way, education becomes more than preparation for academic success—it becomes preparation for authentic freedom, moral courage, and a life rooted in purpose and relationship.

We offer a living curriculum, rooted in the ethics of People Care, Earth Care, and Future Care—because the future is not something handed down to us, but something we are all called to create together.

This work lives in the beautiful nature trails the students at the Glen Spey campus are creating, leading to magical places in the forest that form an inner map of belonging and connection to the land. It’s found in the bounty of culinary mushrooms harvested each week at the Hurleyville campus, where students help with every aspect of the operation—from cloning mushroom tissue, to preparing grain spawn, to packing CSA orders complete with recipe suggestions. These aren’t just projects. They are acts of learning, care, and co-creation.

A Regenerative Community

We are a human institution, imperfect and evolving. But we are committed—fiercely and humbly—to self-reflection, growth, and service, and to the good, the true, and the beautiful that is every person’s birthright. Our small size and independence allow us to be highly adaptable and to remain faithful to the simplicity of our mission: to nurture the spirit and potential of every child, and in so doing, help birth a new humanity.

In the coming years, this work may be seen as increasingly radical—not in ideology, but in integrity. In continuing to support the personal and collective agency of a diverse student body and community, we will model a powerful alternative to the forces of conformity, fear, and cynicism.

We believe that a regenerative future is not only possible, but already underway—rooted in the relationships we nurture, the stories we tell, and the choices we make together.

Thank you for walking this path with us—for your trust, your presence, and your belief in what we’re building together.

With love, courage, and care,

Jack & Nisha

The Homestead School