A conversation with our community of students, staff and parents. "I’m grateful for a place for us to practice community and how to allow our children to grow into who they want to be. I’m grateful for Beth and Mr. J for their patience, partnership, and tenacity in creating and maintaining this space." Maleika Robinson, Parent Circle Coordinator "I am grateful for this school because my other school was rough. I am thankful that this school is alive and that Ms. Beth is my teacher. I like Ms. Beth because she works as a team and I like her a lot." Leanna, Age 9 "We have art stuff, and we can ..read more

In Honeybee Democracy, author Thomas D. Seeley, invites us to learn from these essential pollinators. "...honeybees stake everything on a process that includes the collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and [consent] building." "Honeybees work collaboratively toward a single aim, delegate tasks, and make decisions by consent," writes John Buck in his book, We the People: Consenting to a Deeper Democracy. At the Kansas City Sudbury School we are working to build an organization that is inspired and governed by these principles, through a democratic process known as sociocracy. As a democrat ..read more

This month we are hosting a series of design thinking workshops called, Youth Voice in Democracy. Today was the first workshop and it went well. We had 8 youth and 3 parents engaged in the process. Design Thinking is a methodology for tackling challenging problems and creating game-changing solutions. It is also known as "user-centered design," so as a democratic school that believes in centering youth voice and choice, we know the importance of engaging youth in our foundational work. We asked participants to start with some empathy mapping. Thinking about the school of the past and the scho ..read more

Here is an article from psychologist Peter Gray regarding students' life after having been "unschooled": "Can they go to college?  If so, how do they get in and how do they adjust to it? Can they do the work?  Can they follow the rigorous schedule?  Such questions are often asked by people who have heard of “unschooling”.  In this post, I will address these questions, in the words of adults who were unschooled and then went on to a formal bachelor’s degree program or beyond." To continue reading, click HERE ..read more

Listen to this hour long interview with Daniel Greenberg, one of the co-founders of the very first Sudbury school (named after the town of Sudbury, MA) created in 1968 (and still opens after more than 50 years!) The video dates back to 1988 but the interview covers several topics such as the foundation and the philosophy of the school, which differs enormously from what most of us are used to regarding what a school environment looks like and how students learn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um2c9o25nfM ..read more

Three of our co-founders went on a trip last March for a short visit to Tallgrass, a Sudbury located in Riverside, IL, a suburb of Chicago. This visit, just like any other decisions, had to be submitted to and approved by the School Meeting, meaning that the students and staff members mostly voted on letting us come to visit their school. Enjoy! The hallway/entrance. The students' cubbies where they leave their belongings in the morning. A few pictures from the walls to represent what children might be doing during their day ..read more

If you are not familiar with the Sudbury model, Christi Clemons Hoffman, founder of Radiate Wellness in Kansas City, MO and Julie Valluet, co-founder of KC Sudbury School, did a podcast episode together to explain what this is all about. You can watch it or listen to it by clicking the links below: https://youtu.be/5grtqVzvFmo ..read more

The Sudbury model has some similarities but also many differences with other models. To better understand these differences, please read this blog post by Romney Pittman, Fairhaven parent, co-founder and former staff member ..read more

Watch and listen to some of the alumni students as well as their parents about their experience at Fairhaven, Maryland's first Sudbury school, and their aspirations for the future ..read more

A blog article by Daniel Greenberg, one of the co-founders of the very first Sudbury school which opened in 1968 in Framingham, Massachusetts. He writes many articles on the school website. Click HERE for more. "A New Look at Learning" "At the Sudbury Valley School, we have encountered a new version of the old story of the parent-child dialogue: “Where did you go?” “Out.” “What did you do?” “Nothing.” Our version is: “Where do you go?” “Sudbury Valley.” “What do you learn?” “Nothing.” All too often, that seems to be the refrain associated with the school by parents and by people in the co ..read more