OUR Vision

At Open Connections, we have a vision of a world where all people live their lives full of purpose and fulfillment.

Statement
of Purpose

Open Connections mission is to empower people to create the life they want full of purpose and fulfillment by offering a supportive, whole person learning community.

Values

We operate with these core values:

• Trust—Believing in the capabilities of young people and each other, fostering growth through mutual respect and confidence.
• Freedom with Responsibility—Encouraging choice and self-direction, balanced with accountability to oneself and the community.
• Community—Cultivating authentic connections, shared purpose, and a sense of belonging where everyone’s voice matters.

Trust

"Like adults, young people need opportunities to be trusted and to make decisions for themselves in order to thrive."
-Margie Sanderson

Believing in the capabilities of young people and each other, fostering growth through mutual respect and confidence.

FreEDom with responsibility

“Self-initiative and all of the traits that depend on self-initiative can develop only under conditions of freedom.”
– Peter Gray

Encouraging choice and self-direction, balanced with accountability to oneself and the community.

Community

"The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members." 
- Coretta Scott King

Cultivating authentic connections, shared purpose, and a sense of belonging where everyone’s voice matters.

Open Connections Core Skill Sets

Open Connections focuses on three broad core skill sets that we strive to instill and develop in each young person that will assist them in creating the life they want, full of purpose and fulfillment. These broad skills along with our idealized goal are:

• Healthy connection with Self: Youth are knowledgeable and comfortable in who they are.
• Healthy connection with Others: Youth are able to communicate their needs and wishes, and hear the needs and wishes of others, in a respectful and effective way
• Healthy connection with Learning: Youth are prepared to tackle life’s challenges and opportunities using creative and critical thinking skills.

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Our Practices

In support of our mission, we have an established culture that strives to:

• Support the inherent natural curiosity in all people
• Assume good intentions
• Seek to understand
• Be present
• Celebrate each other’s growth
• Recognize many types of intelligences
• Emphasize “Real Work” versus busy-work
• View difficult situations, boredom, or resistance as an opportunity
• Prioritize collaboration
• Value Process Consciousness - the impact that process has on content
  
• Facilitate learning opportunities

Our Origin Story

Our FOunders

Susan Shilcock and Peter Bergson

Original Open Connections Location

Bryn Mawr, PA
1975 to 2000

Our Current Home

Edgmont, PA

Open Connections, founded in Bryn Mawr, PA in 1975, was born of the marriage of two growing bodies of knowledge, each shared by Co-founders Susan Shilcock and Peter Bergson. One reflected the world of “alternative” or “progressive” education, as it was known in the 1960s, where experiential learning and individual development were advanced over rote memorization, and where self-motivation was based on individual passion rather than a fear of failure. The other body of knowledge was that of the creative group process known as Synectics®, where adults in the corporate world were learning how to recover the skills of Flexible Thinking and collaboration, which had been lost through years of adapting to a “teach ‘em/test ‘em” school environment.

In 1978, after three years of conducting workshops and consultations, Open Connections opened a preschool/kindergarten program in Bryn Mawr. Two years later Peter and Susan began to codify key aspects of the OC philosophy by publishing their book, titled Open Connections: The OTHER Basics.

Beginning in 1983, Open Connections began its transformation to its current format, providing weekly programs for families seeking a more open and natural form of education.

In June of 2000, Open Connections, working with the Willistown Conservation Trust, neighbors and township officials, moved from Bryn Mawr to its current home in Edgmont Township, Delaware County.  Due to the enactment of conservation easements, the OC property, along with four adjoining residential parcels will remain largely open space.

After Co-founder Susan Shilcock passed away in 2005, Peter continued his role as Director until 2008. Today, the mission of Open Connections is carried on by dedicated staff members under the leadership of Rick Sleutaris, Director, and supported by a vibrant Board of Directors.

Our CommonLY USED Terms:

• Process Consciousness—paying attention to the way we do or say something so that the effects serve our highest goals and intentions.
• Conceptual Development—the process of understanding, achieved by figuring things out, rather than by rote memorization of answers and techniques.
• Life-long Learning—where our natural curiosity guides us to continuously seek new experiences and learning opportunities.
• Facilitating (vs. teaching)—OC staff serve as mentors and guides, learning alongside the youth and embodying the principle of life-long learning.
• Natural Learning—the belief that all people have an innate desire to learn, grow, communicate, nurture and create. 

Open Connections is where life and learning connect in a natural way.

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