Sudbury Valley School

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The Sudbury Valley School
Location
2 Winch Street
Framingham, MA
USA
Information
Students 186
Faculty 11
Grades K–12 (ungraded, ages 4+)
Campus suburban
Campus size 10 acres
Established 1968
Philosophy Sudbury
Governance School Meeting (democratic, vote by students and staff)
Homepage http://www.sudval.org

The Sudbury Valley School was founded in 1968 in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States. There are now over 35 schools based on the Sudbury Model in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Germany. The model has two basic tenets: educational freedom and democratic governance. The school is attended by children from the ages of 4 to 19.

Contents

[edit] Educational philosophy

The school's educational philosophy asserts that giving children trust and responsibility at an early age enables them to learn what they want, why they want it, and how to achieve it. Students at the school are free to choose how to spend their time.

Democratic freedom is also a central tenet of the educational philosophy. The school is run by the weekly School Meeting, a meeting based on the traditional New England town meeting (see School institutions below). Students are guaranteed full protections within the school under the Bill of Rights.

[edit] School institutions

[edit] School meeting

Students and staff are invited to participate in the running of the school via the School Meeting, with each participant receiving one vote. The meetings are conducted using Robert's Rules of Order. The School Meetings determine rules and regulations for all aspects of the school, including finances, new rules, and the election of staff. To keep the school running smoothly, it also creates Clerks, Committees, and School Corporations.

[edit] Clerks, committees, and corporations

Clerks are essentially administrative officers that handle tasks within the school, such as grounds maintenance or attendance records. Committees handle larger tasks, such as school aesthetics or rules violations; the membership of the Judicial Committee is described below, but all other standing committees in the school have openmembership -- any School Meeting Member (staff or student) may join any committee in the first ten days of October or the first ten days of January. School Corporations are the equivalent of departments or clubs at traditional schools -- all School Meeting Members (students and staff) may be members of each corporation, and each corporation elects its own directors.[1][2]

[edit] The Judicial Committee

The Judicial Committee investigates allegations of school rules violations, holds a trial, determines a verdict, and imposes a sentence (much like the current judicial system in the United States).[3] If a verdict is appealed, the appeal is held in the weekly School Meeting. Students and staff alike may be called in front of the Judicial Committee.

[edit] School assembly

There is also an annually-held School Assembly, which is the broad policy-making arm of the school.[4] It consists of staff, students, and parents of students. Its main purpose is to approve the school budget submitted by the School Meeting. It also elects a Board of Trustees, which only exist in an advisory capacity.[5] Its purpose is to study questions posed to it by the Assembly and report back to the Assembly when it is ready to do so.

[edit] Facilities

Following the educational philosophy, the school facilities are somewhat different than most schools. There are no traditional classrooms and no traditional classes, although children are free to request instruction on any subject or talk to any staff member about an interest.[6]

The main school building is a large Victorian-style mansion. There are many general purpose rooms, as well as specially designated rooms such as reading rooms, music rooms, etc. There are also several outbuildings, with facilities for woodworking and other activities. The ten-acre grounds house hills, woods, a traditional playground, and a large pond. Computers with internet access and video games are also accessible.

[edit] Staff

There is no tenure at Sudbury Valley School — an election for staff is held each year. The current staff have been involved professionally with the school for two to forty years.

[edit] Curriculum

The school is non-compulsory, so there are no required activities. Students are free to spend their time as they wish, making use of any available resources, including equipment and staff.

[edit] Alumni

Sudbury Valley School has published two studies of their alumni over the past thirty-five years. They have learned, among other things, that about 80% of the students continue to study at other schools after graduating from Sudbury Valley. Most alumni have been accepted at the university of their first choice. Students also generally report happiness with their lives, and many have a stated commitment to public service.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Sudbury Valley School Handbook
  2. ^ The Sudbury Valley School Management Manual
  3. ^ The Sudbury Valley School The Judicial System. Accessed 10 Aug 2006.
  4. ^ Scott David Gray: A Few Words on SVS Accessed 10 Aug 2006.
  5. ^ The Sudbury Valley School Handbook: How the School is Governed.
  6. ^ Hara Estroff Marano: Psychology Today Magazine: Education: Class Dismissed. May/Jun 2006.
  7. ^ The Phoenix - Cellars by Starlight, Rock-and-roll dreams - Thundertrain return; John Powhida and the Rudds obsess, Brett Milano, 8 August 2003.
  8. ^ Daniel Greenberg, Mimsy Sadofsky, and Jason Lempka The Pursuit of Happiness: The Lives of Sudbury Valley Alumni. Accessed 10 Aug 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] Additional reading

  • Free at Last, by Daniel Greenberg, is a book often read as a first acquaintance with the school and its philosophy.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 42°19′28″N, 71°27′53″W