PITTSFIELD, Mass. - The Berkshire Freedom Academy provides an alternative form of education, and there are no standardized tests. President and co-founder Tristan Manzolini said the concept is called "unschooling.”

“It's a lot of free play," Manzolini said. "It's a lot of digging in the dirt. It's a lot of physical work. During the year, the academic year, there's a lot of art, there's a lot of game play, there's a lot of reading, there's a lot of those things.”

When asked how unschooling differs from traditional education, Manzolin replied, “You got a couple hours? Unschooling is, there's no coerced lessons, kids are free to learn what they're interested in. They are free to learn at their own rate. They learn as more of a side effect of living rather than it being sit down lessons.”

The Berkshire Freedom Academy opened in October 2022. Manzolini said it was started by a group of mothers who wanted something different for their children’s education.

“I started homeschooling my own kids when my oldest would see a school bus when he was two and say, ‘no school, no school’," Manzolini said. "So, from there I was like, okay, I guess we're going to look into this homeschooling thing. And from there, it just sort of evolved into unschooling.”

Now the Berkshire Freedom Academy has 29 kids enrolled, and their ages range from elementary school students to high schoolers. They have 41 enrolled for the summer months.

Manzolini said tuition is based on a pay-what-you-can model, even if the amount is zero. There is no state funding, but they’re growing and hope to offer a trades program in the future.

“I think it's really important that people know that we're here, that they have other options, that their kids who are struggling in school, they should reach out to see how we can help them," Manzolini said. "School is not necessarily made for everybody at this point. You know, a lot of kids who come here have ADHD, they have other learning disabilities, and they don't fit well in a traditional school system.”

Manzolini said seeing the alternate education form in action everyday affirms her advocacy for unschooling.

“I love seeing these kids working together, interacting together, building relationships," Manzolini said. "They are constantly figuring problems out together. At least once a day somebody says, ‘this is the best day ever’, and that is my favorite.”