Brazos Valley Sudbury School

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Brazos Valley Sudbury School (BVSS) was a Sudbury school in unincorporated Waller County, Texas, near Brookshire. [1] It was in proximity to Katy. [2]

Contents

The school, located in the Brazos Valley region, served ages 4 through 19. Its campus had 4,000 square feet (370 m2) of space. [3]

History

It was founded by Tomball resident Laura Gabelsberg, who previously taught at public schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In April 2001, Gabelsberg held a public meeting with 25 others, discussing different educational philosophies for a proposed school, and after the meeting, the group selected the Sudbury system. [4] By September 2001, the group was holding meetings about the establishment of the school. [5]

A woman named Chicha Glass, along with her husband, lent her house, which became a 4,000-square-foot (370 m2) classroom building, for the school's operations and gave $25,000 in startup funds. Her husband and she moved into a garage apartment on the same property. In February 2002, the school began operations, [4] and was scheduled to open in fall 2002. [2]

From Brookshire, the Houston Subdbury Group, which operated the school, moved to the Houston Heights in Houston for the 2005–2006 school year; it aimed to move BVSS to Houston. [6] The school assembly passed a motion to not reopen for the upcoming school year in spring 2006. A spring 2007 meeting was held in which the possibility of continuing operation of a Sudbury school was discussed. [7]

Curriculum

The school allowed students, who were required to attend five hours per day but did not have to conform to a timetable, to choose the direction of their learning in accordance with the Sudbury system. The school did not issue grades nor administer tests. [3] Parents were not involved in the day-to-day administration and the faculty acted as guides instead of using direct control in the classroom. [4]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Home. Brazos Valley Sudbury School. Retrieved on February 18, 2017. "38110 Donigan Road Brookshire, TX 77423"
  2. 1 2 "Parents create their own school". Houston Chronicle. 2002-07-02. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  3. 1 2 Koppikar, Devika (2004-04-22). "Youths follow their curiosity at Brookshire private school". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  4. 1 2 3 Koppikar, Devika (2004-04-22). "Parents split on value of Sudbury". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  5. ↑ "Northwest parents group wants to establish school without grades, tests". Houston Chronicle. 2001-09-18. Retrieved 2017-02-18. "For information on meetings, call Laura Gabelsberg at[...]"
  6. ↑ Home. Houston Sudbury Group. Retrieved on October 20, 2017. "1330 Heights Blvd. Houston, Texas 77008"
  7. ↑ Home. Brazos Valley Sudbury School. February 3, 2007. Retrieved on February 18, 2017.