Educational method
The Sudbury Valley model of schooling has two defining characteristics. First, the students are free to spend their time as they choose. During the hours they are in school students can spend their time engaging in any activity they wish (reading, playing video games, climbing trees, conversing, studying, playing harpsichord etc.). The only requirements placed on them are that they must follow the rules and that they must do a chore each day (the school has no custodian). There are no required grades or evaluations, the idea being that every activity students engage in, they engage in because they wish to do so. The second defining characteristic is that the school is run democratically on a one-person, one vote-model. All the "day-to-day" affairs of the school are governed by a democratic body called the School Meeting. There, decisions are made concerning such things as creating, repealing or amending rules, all aspects of managing the school, suspending and expelling students, etc. The School Meeting is composed of all students and staff members (teachers) and since the students greatly outnumber the staff members, most of the administrative power lies with the students. This model of education receives a great deal of skepticism as it is very different than the other methods of teaching.
The Sudbury Valley School was founded in 1968 by a community of people in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States. In 2019, several schools stated that they were based on the Sudbury Model in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan and Switzerland.
A Sudbury school is a type of school, usually for the K-12 age range, where students have complete responsibility for their own education, and the school is run by a direct democracy in which students and staff are equal citizens. Students use their time however they wish, and learn as a by-product of ordinary experience rather than through coursework. There is no predetermined educational syllabus, prescriptive curriculum or standardized instruction. This is a form of democratic education. Daniel Greenberg, one of the founders of the original Sudbury Model school, writes that the two things that distinguish a Sudbury Model school are that everyone is treated equally and that there is no authority other than that granted by the consent of the governed.
Primary education in the United States refers to the first seven to nine years of formal education in most jurisdictions, often in elementary schools, including middle schools. Preschool programs, which are less formal and usually not mandated by law, are generally not considered part of primary education. The first year of primary education is commonly referred to as kindergarten and begins at or around age 5 or 6. Subsequent years are usually numbered being referred to as first grade, second grade, and so forth. Elementary schools normally continue through sixth grade, which the students normally complete when they are age 11 or 12. Some elementary schools graduate after the 4th or 5th grade and transition students into a middle school.
Democratic education is a type of formal education that is organized democratically, so that students can manage their own learning and participate in the governance of their educational environment. Democratic education is often specifically emancipatory, with the students' voices being equal to the teachers'.
Educational stages are subdivisions of formal learning, typically covering early childhood education, primary education, secondary education and tertiary education. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognizes nine levels of education in its International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) system. UNESCO's International Bureau of Education maintains a database of country-specific education systems and their stages. Some countries divide levels of study into grades or forms for school children in the same year.
SciTech Campus of Harrisburg High school, located in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is a regional math and science public school that attracts students from Harrisburg and neighboring school districts. Beginning with the 9th grade, SciTech Campus prepares students for a university curriculum, studying toward degrees in science, engineering and technology. Enrollment is limited to 400 pupils The opportunity to create a unified 9-16 curriculum is unique in the nation and represents a potentially replicable approach to bridging the frequent discontinuity between high school and higher education. The school is a federally designated Title I school. It opened in September 2003.
The Woodcliff Lake Public Schools is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Woodcliff Lake, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The Hillsdale Public Schools is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Hillsdale, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The Byram Township School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Byram Township, in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The Westampton Township Schools are a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Westampton, in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The Hainesport Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Hainesport Township, in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The Capital Area School for the Arts (CASA) is a 9th to 12th grade, public charter school located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States.
Virginia Beach Friends School (VBFS) is an independent life-skills and college preparatory day school founded in 1955 under the care of the Virginia Beach Friends Meeting. Virginia Beach Friends School has more than 100 students enrolled in three divisions – Early School, Lower School, and Middle School.
The Boonton Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Boonton Township, in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The Philadelphia Free School also known as Philly Free School or PFS, is a Democratic Free School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philly Free School operates on the democratic education or Sudbury school model. The school opened in the fall of 2011 and offers a sliding scale tuition to students ages 4 to 19.
Upattinas School and Resource Center was a private, non-profit school that served students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, as well as a homeschool resource center. Located in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania, Upattinas was a democratic school where everyone—staff, students, parents, and board—had the opportunity to participate in school governance.
Three Rivers Village School is the first democratic school in Pittsburgh, PA. It operates on the Sudbury school model of democratic education. Three Rivers Village School opened in the Fall of 2013 and accepts students from Kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is a tuition-based private school that offers a sliding scale tuition rate. As of Fall 2014, it enrolls around 25 students.
Commonwealth Charter Academy is a large, public, cyber charter school. The school serves all school-aged children in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regardless of where the child lives. The Academy's headquarters is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
