Three Rivers Village School

Last updated

Three Rivers Village School
Location
Three Rivers Village School
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(Hazelwood (Pittsburgh) neighborhood)

United States
Coordinates 40°24′26″N79°56′31″W / 40.40722°N 79.94194°W / 40.40722; -79.94194
Information
Established2013
GradesKindergarten through twelfth grade
Number of students25
Campus type Urban
TuitionSliding scale
Philosophy Democratic education
Website threeriversvillageschool.org

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. [1] As of Fall 2014, it enrolls around 25 students.

Contents

Three Rivers Village School emphasizes personal responsibility, innate thoughtfulness and trust in the judgement of its students and strives to foster a community of equals governed by democratic values, instead of the hierarchy, standardized testing, and arbitrary rule following enforced in the traditional schooling model.

Curriculum

The students at Three Rivers Village School are free to spend their time during each school day in whatever way they wish, as long as they adhere to the rules defined by the School Meeting. Resources available to the students include books, computers, musical instruments, a kitchen, art supplies, toys, outdoor space, off-site field trips, as well as the knowledge and experience of staff and other students. Every member of the school, staff and students alike, has an equal voice at the weekly School Meeting, where the day-to-day operations of the school are determined.

School rules, created by the School Meeting, are compiled into a rule book that is enforced by the Justice Committee. Every member of the school participates in Justice Committee, which is a daily meeting of students and staff. All decisions about rule making, discipline, suspensions, expulsions, etc. are made democratically, with each member of the school having an equal vote.

History

Three Rivers Village School opened in fall of 2013 at 4721 Stanton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, in the city's Stanton Heights neighborhood. [2] The school was founded by a group of parents and teachers including Evan Mallory [3] and Jean Marie Pearce. [4] After two years of operation, the school moved in 2015 from its original Stanton Heights location to the former St. Stephen's School building at 134 East Elizabeth Street, Pittsburgh, PA in the Hazelwood section of the city. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny County, Pennsylvania</span> County in Pennsylvania, United States

Allegheny County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, after Philadelphia County. Its county seat and most populous city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's second most populous city. The county is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region of the commonwealth, and is the center of the Pittsburgh media market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudbury Valley School</span> Private school in the United States

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.

Alternative education encompasses educational philosophy differing from mainstream pedagogy and evidence-based education. 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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic education</span> Schooling run as direct democracies

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'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Circle School</span> School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US

The Circle School is a self-directed democratic school located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, founded in 1984. It is operated similarly to the Sudbury Valley School and Hudson Valley Sudbury School. It enrolls pre-kindergarten through high school aged children. The Circle School currently has approximately 80 students enrolled and 6 full-time staff members. It is one of three Sudbury-like schools in Pennsylvania and one of the oldest in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sands School</span> Independent day school in Ashburton, Devon, England

Sands School is a private democratic school in Ashburton, Devon in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School</span> Private school in the United States

The Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School, or simply the Falk School, is a private kindergarten through eighth grade laboratory school of the University of Pittsburgh. It is located on the University of Pittsburgh's upper campus on Allequippa St.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Beach School</span> School in Canada

The Beach School was a democratic free school in Toronto based on the Sudbury principles of education. The model has two basic tenets: educational freedom and democratic governance. Small and independent, The Beach School was a community of self-motivated learners, aged 4–19, who determined their own curriculum, and each had an equal voice in school governance. Located at 42 Edgewood Ave near Kingston Road and Dundas Street East, the school opened in the fall of 2003 and closed in June 2008 owing to a shortage of students. The Beach School was incorporated as a co-operative and, at the time of closing, was one of two Sudbury schools in Canada; the only one in Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic school</span>

A democratic school refers to an alternative school that meets the following criteria:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsburgh Milliones, University Preparatory School</span> Public school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

University Prep 6-12 is a secondary magnet school in the Sugar Top neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. University Prep is one of ten high schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairhaven School (Upper Marlboro, Maryland)</span> Democratic school (sudbury model) school in Prince Georges, USA

Fairhaven School was founded in 1998 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. It is one of over 30 schools based on the Sudbury Model. The model has two basic tenets: educational freedom and democratic governance. It is a private school, attended by children from the ages of 5 to 19. The school was founded by Mark and Kim McCaig after learning about Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Trinity Classical School is a private, classical Christian school offering college-preparatory, Christian education for grades pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade in Houston, Texas. The school is one of approximately 25 University-style schools in Texas.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooklyn Free School</span> Private school in Brooklyn, New York, United States

The Brooklyn Free School is a private, ungraded, democratic free school in Brooklyn, founded in 2004. Students range in age from 4 to 18 years old. The school follows the noncoercive philosophy of the 1960s/70s free school movement schools, which encourages self-directed learning and protects child freedom of activity. There are no grades, no tests, no homework, and classes are non-compulsory. In 2015, the school enrolls 80 students and has about 24 graduates.

The 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 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.

Houston Sudbury School (HSS) was a non-profit private Sudbury school in Spring Branch, Houston, Texas. The school served students of ages 6–18 and followed the Sudbury model of self-education.

The Clearwater School is an independent school in Bothell, Washington, a northern suburb of Seattle, Washington, United States. Clearwater is a Sudbury school that serves students from ages 4 to 19.

References

  1. "Tuition & Financial Aid" . Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  2. Zlatos, Bill (May 23, 2013). "Competitors offer tips to Stanton Heights school startup". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  3. Id.
  4. King, Amanda (April 2, 2013). "Democratic schools: A different perspective on education, but effective?". Voxxi. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  5. "FAQ | Three Rivers Village School". Three Rivers Village School. Retrieved January 6, 2016.