I’m always interested in what goes on at the Brooklyn Free School, which started in Park Slope and now resides in a brownstone in Clinton Hill.

The school, founded by educator Alan Berger, started in  early fall of 2003 with a mission: offer a real educational alternative to traditional  public and private schools in New York City.

What’s neat about the school is the way in which it incorporates freedom and democracy into the learning process. It truly is a free school without homework and traditional classes, though lots of learning goes on there. They encourage students to “develop naturally as human beings in a non-coercive educational environment where they are empowered to make decisions affecting their everyday lives and that of their community.”

Whoa. It’s an ambitious and adventurous idea for a school.

Every year they put on a show and this year it’s Little Shop of Horrors, which will staged at the Greene Hill School, 39 Adelphi Street in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn on Wednesday, February 2 at 1:30 pm, Monday, February 7 and Tuesday, February 8 at 7 pm. Admission is by suggested donation:  $20 for adults; $5 for young people.

Directed and adapted by Corinne Goodman, the show features a diverse cast of 23 students, ages 5-19 with choreography by Amy Kurzweil, piano accompaniment and arrangement by Aya Kato.

Greene Hill School is an independent elementary and middle school that serves the need of the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill and surrounding Brooklyn communities for affordable and progressive education.