Programs · Haircuts
A real salon, run by kids, supervised by barbers.
Six chairs, six mirrors, 1,907 free haircuts last year, and a sanitation checklist that every student signs before they touch anyone's head.
- Ages
- 11–14
- Meets
- Tue–Sat
- Cuts in 2025
- 1,907
- Cost
- Free, always
In 2016 a kid cut another kid's hair with craft scissors during open studio. There was a small crisis, a parent phone call, and a decision to make. We could ban scissors, or we could teach the thing the kid was clearly trying to learn. We hired a barber for eight hours a week and put a chair in a converted closet.
The salon now has six chairs, two licensed instructors, and a two-week wait for a Saturday appointment. It is free. It is open to anyone in the neighborhood, not just enrolled families, and about a third of our clients are not connected to STENCH at all.
What students actually do
Students are 11 to 14 and they are not licensed — nobody can be, at that age. They apprentice. In the first term they learn sanitation, tool care, draping, shampooing, and the consent script. They practice on mannequin heads and on staff who volunteer. In the second term they take simple cuts under direct supervision: trims, buzz cuts, kids' cuts, and line-ups. A licensed instructor is within arm's reach for every single snip on a real head, no exceptions, and has veto power that students are taught to expect.
| Stage | Hours | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Sanitation & consent | 12 | Nothing on a person. Tools, towels, station setup, the script. |
| Mannequin | 20 | Sectioning, elevation, clipper work on a head that cannot complain. |
| Staff models | 15 | Simple trims on adults who signed up for it. |
| Supervised floor | 40+ | Real clients, simple cuts, instructor within arm's reach. |
| Salon assistant | varies | Shampoo, cleanup, front desk, appointment book. |
Consent is the first lesson
Before any student touches a client, they learn the script: ask what the person wants, say what they are about to do, show the length, confirm, and stop immediately if the person says stop. We practice it on each other with combs, out loud, for a full session. Kids take it more seriously than most adults we know, possibly because they have all had a bad haircut.
A client can stop a cut at any point. So can a kid. That is written on the wall by the door.
I have had grown men in this chair who could not tell me what they wanted. These kids learn to ask, and to hear the answer, and to stop when someone says stop. The hair is almost secondary.
Book a cut
The salon is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Hawthorne and St. Johns sites. Walk-ins are welcome when a chair is free; Saturdays book out about two weeks in advance. Call (503) 555-0134, option 3. Cuts are free. Tipping is not accepted, and the kids will tell you so politely if you try.
What we do not do
- No chemical services — no color, bleach, relaxers, or perms. That is a licensing and liability line, and we do not cross it.
- No cuts on children under 5. Our students are not trained for a moving target.
- No appointments for anyone who has been drinking. The salon can refuse service, and has.
- No photos of clients without permission. The mirrors are not for our marketing.
Get a free haircut
Tue–Sat, 10–5, at Hawthorne and St. Johns. Walk-ins welcome when a chair is free.