INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES, SOME INSIDE VIEWS

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But there's more to Stelle than peace and beauty. Because we believe that most people actualize only about 10% of their real capacity for health, happiness, and success, the focus of our lives is self-development. This is manifested in a continual stream of health-related workshops, philosophical programs, fellowship services, and seminars on various aspects of the human potential movement.

On a practical level, we acquire new skills and talents through training programs and actual work experiences, with about half of us actually employed in the community and the other half commuting to jobs in nearby towns. Community businesses include an injection-molded plastic operation, a machine shop, a construction company, an energy conservation service, and a landscaping business. We also have a food co-op, which operates on an honor system, our own telephone mutual, a cooperative video center, a state-chartered credit union, a vehicle co-op, and various other cooperatives that help us to use our financial resources effectively.

On the emotional level, we encourage the development of strong, stable homes that nurture loving relationships in which the personal development of each partner is supported. Stelle also provides a warm, extended-family lifestyle that is reinforced by community socials held at least once a month. When the inevitable conflicts between people do occur, we try to resolve our differences through a nonbinding mediation process.

Though we believe we can uplift our society by improving ourselves as individuals, we also know that helping our children to surpass us is the key to an improved future civilization. Therefore, we've spent 20 years developing an educational system. Education is a life-long process, and in Stelle it begins at birth. Because a child's first six years are crucial in the formation of his or her basic attitudes about life, parents in our early learning programs devote an average of three hours daily to educating their children. As a result, these youngsters can often read and write easily and naturally at a third-grade level by age six. Programs for child development and learning include a supplementary Montessorian classroom and a Morningschool in which children and their parents work together in a classroom setting. In addition, families receive a weekly home visit from an educational staff guide. A Parents' Resource Center provides books, learning tools, weekly films, and field trips.

At age six, children graduate to the Learning Center, which is the academic equivalent of an elementary, junior, and senior high school. Here, they are taught individually and in small groups by professional teachers, though parents remain highly involved. Students learn the traditional school subjects... with emphasis on mastering reading, writing, and math, which give them independence and the capability of self-education. We balance the schedule with such courses as art and aesthetic appreciation, music, physical development, and t'ai chi. We do not, however, give grades. If students function at a low level in some subject, we encourage them to work on that area until it's mastered.

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