BY BASIL SHADID
For over 50 years, Southside Family Charter School (SFCS) has provided social-justice focused education in South Minneapolis. Now, as the school transitions from a K-8 to a K-5 program, and shifts to a teacher-powered model, SFCS is embracing change while staying true to its mission.
Transitioning to a K-5 model refines the school’s focus on early education. SFCS remains committed to providing small class sizes, a curriculum rooted in social justice, and hands-on learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom.
SFCS is also adopting a teacher-powered model, aligning with its values of collaboration and community, where teachers lead curriculum, policies, and culture. “This shift feels like a natural evolution of our collaborative teaching and consensus model,” says Kaarunya Jayachandiran, a teacher at SFCS for 12 years. “We support one another to create better experiences for all students and respond to their needs.”
A Legacy of Community and Activism
Southside Family School began as the dream of Susie and Pete Oppenheim in 1972. From its earliest days, it was a community dedicated to social justice and hands-on learning. “Family school is more than a school,” Susie Oppenheim once said. “It is an ever-growing, evolving, multigenerational community that is unabashedly dedicated to social justice education.”
SFCS’s commitment to social justice remains strong. Through its travel study program, students have traveled to the American South to meet civil rights activists, marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, visited the Grace Lee Boggs Center in Detroit, and engaged firsthand with the history and ongoing struggles of the civil rights movement.
Building a Sustainable Future
As SFCS embarks on this new chapter, community support will be essential to its success. “Our school thrives because our community believes in us and our vision for social justice,” says Brynne Macosko Paguyo, a teacher at SFCS for over 20 years. “We are looking for families who share this vision — educating and developing student activists who understand the systems of our world and strive to change them for the better.”
With its deep roots in activism, a passionate team of educators, and a commitment to social justice, Southside Family Charter School is embracing this transition as an opportunity to continue building a strong, connected community dedicated to empowering young learners.
SFCS offers school tours Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Learn more at southsidefamilyschool.org.
