We Are Reading

Dear Friends,

The Endless Summer, FabNewport’s new year-round learning community (aka FabSchool), is opened on September 8.

Fourteen learners walked through our doors last week to begin a different kind of educational journey: one built around belonging, curiosity, community, and each young person’s Positive Future Vision.

After our very first day, Serenity said on the ride home, knowing primary day cancelled “school: “I wish there were school tomorrow. This is the first time I can remember not wanting a day off.”

When the learners returned on Thursday, Gavin discovered that our staff had worked during the Primary Day closure: “I can’t believe you guys were here and we had to stay home!”

Their enthusiasm is wonderful, but something deeper also began to emerge during our first few days.

Do they feel safe enough to find out who they are?

“No 10- or 12-year-old fully knows who they are yet,” reflected Endless Summer advisor Chris Gross. “The question is: Do they feel safe enough to try to find out?”

During one of our morning circles, a learner shared that he had been wondering whether he was trying to be someone he wasn’t. He became emotional. The learner beside him began to clap—and within moments, the entire group joined in, recognizing his courage and vulnerability.

Later in the week, one of our youngest learners said plainly, “I can’t read.”

Think about the courage required to say that in front of a new group of peers. In many settings, a young person might spend months—or years—trying to hide that struggle. She trusted this new community enough to tell the truth during her first week.

That truth does not diminish her. It allows us to begin working beside her.

A few days later, during our first visit to the Newport Public Library, another learner, Jamie, shared:

“In school, they always assigned us books. Today, I actually got to find one that I liked.”

She chose a romance novel. Our next step is helping her get her first library card.

These moments reminded us of something fundamental: belonging is not separate from learning. It is not simply the warm-up before the academic work begins. Belonging is what makes learning possible.

We will work hard on reading, writing, quantitative reasoning, and the other fundamentals young people need. We will explore Newport and use our entire community as a learning lab. We will help every learner develop a Positive Future Vision—and the skills, relationships, and agency to pursue it.

But first, we are creating a community where young people do not have to pretend to be perfect before they are worthy of belonging.