Stonesoup School

Last updated
StoneSoup School
Location
Information
Type Private, Alternative
MottoQua Liberi Exsisto
Established1971
FounderSue Buie, David Gluckman, Linton Hutchinson, Rainbow Williams
DirectorConsensus (no director)
ChaplainFrank Beeman
Grades PreK-12
Number of students30
Color(s)Aqua and White
SportsFencing, Backgammon
MascotConan
TuitionSliding Scale
Website web.archive.org/web/20081216012326/http://www.stonesoupschool.org/

StoneSoup School was an alternative private school located in Crescent City, Florida in the United States. It was a member of the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools. [1]

Contents

Overview

StoneSoup School [2] is a small alternative school based on Summerhill School, numbering around 30 students in the Pre-K through 12 grade. It is located on 66 acres (270,000 m2) in Crescent City Florida. [3]

History

StoneSoup School, first called the 'Alternative School', was founded in 1971, and grew out of the Saturday School project started by Sue Buie, Annette Chioma, and Rainbow Williams. The school met at 1304 Richmond Road in Winter Park, Florida and soon moved to Dee Vicker's old Victorian house during the summer of 1969. The school grew quickly and tried using Seminole county school facilities but found the community at large was suited better than four walls of a classroom.

The school was based on Summerhill School, a democratic school [4] founded by A.S. Neill in 1921 in England. As education in America headed towards more testing to exams and accountability, Stonesoup marched the other way. Linton Hutchinson provided an integration of current learning theory, drawing upon Carl Rogers, Jean Houston, John C. Lilly, humanistic psychology, information from Jane Roberts and alternative education models. Archie Patterson Buie Jr., [5] who was trying to change the educational system from within, (elected Seminole County School Board Member), became disenchanted with the slowness of the process and joined StoneSoup bringing transformational practices being explored at Esalen Institute. Psychodrama, autogenics, and hypnosis became staples of the StoneSoup process.

The school continued to grow as it moved to a full-time live-in school in Crescent City, Florida.[ citation needed ]

Grades and classes

The school was designed without grades or levels. Classes were based on student and staff interests. Attendance was determined by student choice with a narrative report generated at the end of the class collectively by students and staff.

Evaluation of students

StoneSoup did not administer standardized tests or grades. Instead, staff and students generate a narrative evaluation at the end of the class. [6] Equivalent "letter grades" in subject areas provided to facilitate the student's transition to universities and colleges.

Related Research Articles

Summerhill School Independent boarding school in Leiston, Suffolk, England

Summerhill School is an independent boarding school in Leiston, Suffolk, England. It was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other way around. It is run as a democratic community; the running of the school is conducted in the school meetings, which anyone, staff or pupil, may attend, and at which everyone has an equal vote. These meetings serve as both a legislative and judicial body. Members of the community are free to do as they please, so long as their actions do not cause any harm to others, according to Neill's principle "Freedom, not Licence." This extends to the freedom for pupils to choose which lessons, if any, they attend. It is an example of both democratic education and alternative education.

An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. Such schools offer a wide range of philosophies and teaching methods; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, while others are more ad hoc assemblies of teachers and students dissatisfied with some aspect of mainstream or traditional education.

Alternative education encompasses many pedagogical approaches differing from mainstream pedagogy. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based learning environments. Many educational alternatives emphasize small class sizes, close relationships between students and teachers and a sense of community.

A. S. Neill Scottish progressive school founder, 1883–1973

Alexander Sutherland Neill was a Scottish educator and author known for his school, Summerhill, and its philosophy of freedom from adult coercion and community self-governance. Raised in Scotland, Neill taught at several schools before attending the University of Edinburgh in 1908–1912. He took two jobs in journalism before World War I, and taught at Gretna Green Village School in the second year of the war, writing his first book, A Dominie's Log (1915), as a diary of his life there as head teacher. He joined a Dresden school in 1921 and founded Summerhill on returning to England in 1924. Summerhill gained renown in the 1930s and then in the 1960s–1970s, due to progressive and counter-culture interest. Neill wrote 20 books. His top seller was the 1960 Summerhill, read widely in the free school movement from the 1960s.

Roy D. Bridges Jr. United States Air Force general

Roy Dubard Bridges Jr. is an American pilot, engineer, retired United States Air Force officer, test pilot, former NASA astronaut and the former director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center and Langley Research Center. As a command pilot, he has over 4,460 flying hours, and is a decorated veteran of 262 combat missions during the Vietnam War. He retired as a U.S. Air Force major general, last serving as the Director of Requirements, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, from June 1993 until his retirement. He is married with two adult children.

This is an index of education articles.

Seminole State College of Florida Public college in Central Florida, United States

Seminole State College of Florida is a public college with four campuses in Central Florida. It is part of the Florida College System.

The Lehman Alternative Community School (LACS) is a public, alternative, combined middle and high school in the Ithaca City School District in Ithaca, New York. The school serves grades 6–12 with approximately 305 students.

Democratic education Schooling run as direct democracies

The history of democratic education spans from at least the 1600s. While it is associated with a number of individuals, there has been no central figure, establishment, or nation that advocated democratic education.

Brevard Public Schools is a school district serving Brevard County, Florida, and based in Viera, Florida.

In education, narrative evaluation is a form of performance measurement and feedback which can be used as an alternative or supplement to grading. Narrative evaluations generally consist of several paragraphs of written text about a student's individual performance and course work. The style and form of narrative evaluations vary significantly among the educational institutions using them, and they are sometimes combined with other performance metrics, including letter and number grades and pass/fail designations.

Lake Brantley High School Public school in Altamonte Springs, Florida, United States

Lake Brantley High School (LBHS) is located in Altamonte Springs, Florida, a suburban community approximately 13 miles (20 km) north of Orlando. It is a public high school serving grade levels 9–12 in Seminole County, FL, operated by Seminole County Public Schools. The school, which opened in 1972, is ranked 79th on Newsweek magazine's 2005 list of the top 100 high schools in the United States and 424th in the 2009 Newsweek list.

The Nova Project Alternative, public school

The Nova Project, also simply known as Nova, is a small public alternative high school in Seattle, Washington, in the Seattle Public School District. Nova is a social justice oriented school that embraces differences and self-expression. Its aim is to be a "democratically governed learning community of broadly educated, creative, and independent thinkers who work collaboratively and demonstrate a high degree of individual responsibility." There are no grades or tests. Students receive credit based on the effort and competencies the student demonstrates. There is no formal attendance at Nova however students are strongly encouraged to contact their coordinator if you will be absent. The Nova community wants students and staff to attend classes and events because they want to be there and feel as though what they are learning and contributing is worth while.

Lyman High School (Florida) School in Longwood, Florida, United States

Lyman High School is a public high school located in Longwood, Florida. The school, founded in 1924, has been consistently ranked among the best in the state by the Florida Department of Education. For the 2012-2013 school term Lyman High School garnered a straight 'A' average, the best in the district, as a result of extremely high student scores on the Florida Comprehension Assessment Test. In 2014, it was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the 27th best high school in the state of Florida and the overall best high school in Central Florida. It was ranked by Newsweek as the 204th best high school in the United States in 2010. The school was also named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 1982. The school is operated by Seminole County Public Schools.

The Florida education system consists of public and private schools in Florida, including the State University System of Florida (SUSF), the Florida College System (FCS), the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF) and other private institutions, and also secondary and primary schools as well as virtual schools.

Duval County Public Schools Public school district in the United States

Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) is the public school district that serves the families and children residing in the urban, suburban, and rural areas of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida. As of 2015, the district had an enrollment of over 129,000 students, making it the 21st largest school district in the United States, and the 6th largest school district in Florida. The district's 196 schools are traditional neighborhood and magnet schools, charter schools, and alternative schools, all of which serve students of various needs.

Yaacov Hecht

Yaacov Hecht , is an Israeli educator and worldwide pioneer of democratic education.

Maynard Evans High School is a high school located in Orlando, Florida, United States, served by Orange County Public Schools. The school's name is often shortened to "Evans High School" or "E-HIGH", and the mascot for the school are the Trojans.

The free school movement, also known as the new schools or alternative schools movement, was an American education reform movement during the 1960s and early 1970s that sought to change the aims of formal schooling through alternative, independent community schools.

The Albany Free School is the oldest independent, inner-city alternative school in the United States. Founded by Mary Leue in 1969 based on the English Summerhill School philosophy, the free school lets students learn at their own pace. It has no grades, tests, or firm schedule: students design their own daily plans for learning. The school is self-governed through a weekly, democratic all-school meeting run by students in Robert's Rules. Students and staff alike receive one equal vote apiece. Unlike Summerhill-style schools, the Albany Free School is a day school that serves predominantly working-class children. Nearly 80 percent of the school is eligible for reduced-price meals in the public schools. About 60 students between the ages of three and fourteen attend, and are staffed by six full-time teachers and a number of volunteers.

References

  1. National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools Archived August 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. New Schools Exchange Newsletter (1971) "Supplement to the Directory", ERIC, p.21 ED053056
  3. StoneSoup School Setting
  4. Democratic school#United States of America
  5. Archie Patterson Buie Jr.
  6. Stonesoup School website Archived December 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine