The billiard table has been transformed into a communal art space. Bookcases act as room dividers. There's a cozy reading space by the fireplace, and there's also tables, chairs, a blackboard and a playground for recreation.

This is the private Tara School, founded in 1990 by Janet Graham and now administered by Linda Waidler. It has all of eight students in grades 2 through 6. The students learn the basics — math, science, history, writing, reading — and also take Spanish classes, art lessons, and movement and music courses. They've already dissected a frog and a pig.

"The school is about meeting different needs for each child," explained Waidler, the school's head educator. She worked in public and private schools for years before coming on board at Tara a few years ago.

"The frustrating part about education is that we can't, as teachers, make accommodations for all of our kids," she said. "You can only do what you can do. I can only take 12 kids, and with 12 kids, I can make a difference." (The school's student cap is 12.)

"We're not giving up the basics," she said of the school's curriculum. "It's back to the basics with math, reading, essays, science and history lessons created through thematic learning. But the difference is the size. We're an intentional one-room schoolhouse."

The children were singing, recording and giving lectures on American folk songs from several centuries back during a recent visit. They had also created art works that required them to write an explanatory essay about the pieces.

Sarah Luiz, 10, is a Tara fourth-grader who transferred from Wood Gormley Elementary School. "It was way too hard for me," she said of Wood-Gormley. "I really tried, but I love small spaces. It's better than being in a big school where you don't always get help. Now I want to go to school."

That's how Challen Clarke felt when she attended Tara in the early 1990s when the school was on Webber Street. Now a college student in the nursing program at the Santa Fe Community College (and a musician), Clarke said her favorite childhood memories revolve around her years at Tara.

"There was a lot of interpersonal communication in the relationships that the school fostered between kids," she said. "It was a time when you were learning how to read, how to study math and science, but also how to explore and how to learn about people outside of your own circle of family and friends. It taught me how to interact with the world."

Waidler said she tries to teach the children that learning isn't always fun. "Learning is work," she said. "I see my job as preparing them to learn. And I tell them that it's OK to have learning problems."

She acknowledged that it's unfortunate that such an individualized, creatively-driven education comes with such a high price tag: Tuition is $9,700 per year, and at this time, scholarships are not available. Some parents trade professional services for part of the tuition.

The children who are there "really want to learn," Waidler said. "They may have learning challenges, like dyslexia, or they may be very bright and easily bored. They're looking for a smaller family school."

The school, at 1125 N. Plata Circle, hosts an open house from 6 to 7:30 on Wednesday. Call 986-3410 or visit www.taraschool.org for more details.