What is it with Americans? Such black and white thinking! Freedom means no expectations. The school day ends, and you are free. Unless you have to go to work. Then, later, you are free. Unless someone tells you what to do. Or you can't find somebody to do something with and find a way to get there. Thankfully, there is always the internet, a vastland of miniatures, where you can choose endlessly between things to do and things to want.
Obviously, this is a pretty limited notion of freedom. What if a young person could be trained in directing her focus to whatever she wants, for as long as she wants? What if she could become fully independent and fully part of a community? That is the paradox every young person must resolve. It cannot be provided by words, or by a medication, or by punishment. It must come from within, from long experience. Structure compasses freedom, much like a range of hills define a valley.
The school day at TAS is structured to that end. On the top of the right hand margin is a link to the daily and weekly training schedule. The intent is to gently guide the student in and out of the stress of becoming fully a person.