Exciting News from the IRS
Just kidding, but please keep in mind that all donations are now tax-deductible.Looking forward to seeing some of you at our event this Sunday.
This Sunday – Meeting for Middle School Students
Dont’ forget to join us and help us spread the word about this Sunday’s live video conference featuring 13 year-old Corri Ballou, other middle school students and school founder, Diane Ballou. They will be coming to us direct from Spring Valley School in Palm Harbor, FL.
We welcome all parents and we send a special invitation to any 11-13 year olds who are considering enrollment at Sunset Sudbury School. Here are the details:
Sunday, March 7th
1:30 – 3:30 pm
The Hollywood Birth Center
2316 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood- Click here for directions
Inviting Middle School Students
Please join us for a very special information session featuring 13 year-old Corri Ballou and other students from our sister school, Spring Valley.
This will be a live video conference with Corri and her mom, school founder, Diane Ballou. They will be talking with us directly from their school in Palm Harbor, Florida. We welcome all parents and we send a special invitation to any 11-13 year olds who are considering enrollment at Sunset Sudbury School. Students and their parents will learn from and ask questions of another student about what it is like to attend a Sudbury School. Here are the details:
Sunday, March 7th
1:30 – 3:30 pm
The Hollywood Birth Center
2316 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood- Click here for directions
Please help us spread the word by telling your friends and neighbors about this event!
Staffing Our School
The top three factors that parents are considering in the decision to enroll are: 1) Staff 2)Tuition and 3)Location. We learned this from the survey results we collected in December. Let’s take a look at the question of staff.
We have learned from the experiences of other Sudbury schools that getting the right person on staff takes time. It is likely that anyone who ends up being on staff will have spent a good amount of time working to start or maintain our school. This person will have also spent a good amount of time working with the start-up team and with our students (your children), before they are selected for that role. What we seek in staff is described well in the following quote,
“Good adult role models, whether teachers or not, are what [we] are looking for. People who are dynamic, intelligent, hard workers and who enjoy the company of children, and who have a strong moral and ethical sense…Nothing will amaze you more than how unimportant formal instruction is and how important the ability to communicate with children as human beings is….”
Starting a Sudbury School, (p. 114)
Our ability to hire paid staff during our first year is directly related to the number of students who are enrolled. We are fairly certain that the school year will begin with at least 12 students but we won’t have a clear picture of the actual number until we are much closer to officially opening our doors. So when parents ask us, “who will be staff at the school?” We generally answer that we know all three of the start-up team members will be serving as staff at the beginning of the school year.
Here is a little background on each of us:
Idelma Quintana – is mom to Ian (7). She holds a Master’s degree in educational change and innovation. She has 17 years of combined experience in education as a classroom teacher, diversity awareness trainer and providing professional development for school leaders and teachers on the use of technology for learning. She had a lot of ideas to un-learn in the process of embracing the Sudbury model of education. Her son’s experience in traditional schooling prompted her to re-evaluate her beliefs about education. Now she can’t imagine any place better for her son to learn and grow into a confident, self-directed and responsible person. She hopes that by opening this school, the many kids in our area who need this opportunity, will have the kind of schooling experience they deserve to have.
Dionne Ekendiz – is mom to Leila (soon to be 4 years old) and baby Luna. Dionne has over 12 years of experience in the engineering and computer science fields working for companies such as Ford, Boeing, and Microsoft. When she got pregnant with her first child, she decided to finally pursue her passion for education, so she returned to school to get a Master’s degree in Education. Watching her daughter grow and learn on her own made her question what she had been taught in the traditional education model. When she learned about the Sudbury model everything about it immediately clicked and she knew she would have to create this school in South Florida. Dionne currently works in the Applied Research Center at Nova Southeastern University’s school of education where she is slowly spreading the Sudbury idea. She can’t imagine her daughters attending any other school.
Kathy Williams – is mom to Joshua (8) and Benjamin (5). Before her children were born, she used her computer science degree to build a one-woman software consulting business with both national and international clients. Once her children were born her focus shifted to spending her time doing things that would allow her to focus on her role as a parent. She co-created the Hollywood Attachment Parenting Support group and by doing so developed a strong connection with other parents in South Florida. She went on to create an internet cloth diaper business that deepened her connection to the local mom community. She has 8 years of experience unschooling her boys. Both boys are excited to be entering our new school this fall. And Kathy is excited for them to be part of a community that will provide such fantastic opportunities for them to grow, build, learn and relate.
In the Spring of 2011 students will take part in the first staff elections that will occur annually. At that point students may choose to retain staff or to vote staff out of their position.
We invite your questions, comments and thoughts on this topic.
Site Selection Update
Here’s the story on our site search. We have literally looked at hundreds of sites over the past few months. We follow up on each and every lead that comes our way. At the very least, we drive past and decide whether to follow-up with a closer look. Our first choice is Davie, so we have spent a lot of time looking there but we are not limiting our choice to any one particular city.
There are 2 sites at the top of our list right now.
1 – A space located in a church building with a green outdoor area.
2 – A space located in a retail mall. It is very nice indoor space, but does not include green outdoor space.
We could potentially commit to either of these locations in the next 2-3 weeks but we continue to look for a strong 3rd option. We are hoping to find a house zoned for commercial use as our 3rd option so keep your eyes and ears open and let us know.
Survey Results
Happy New Year everyone! This is the year that Sunset Sudbury School opens its doors. 2010…Here we come! Thank you so much for your participation in the survey sent to you shortly before the holidays. We were able to gather a lot of useful information that we are using to make decisions as we move forward. Here is a brief summary of what we learned.
Raising Awareness
The majority of those who responded (75%) first heard about Sunset Sudbury School by word of mouth. Among those who responded, 60% have attended at least one information meeting and most found the meetings to be worthwhile. Those who have not been able to attend (40%), cited busy lives, hectic schedules and young children for whom they did not have childcare as the reasons they couldn’t attend.
Location
The majority of respondents were comfortable traveling 30 minutes to school but were less comfortable with a 45 – 60 minute commute. Enrollment We asked you to rank the factors you are considering in making the decision to enroll at Sunset Sudbury School. The top 3 factors identified by respondents are: 1) Staff 2)Tuition and 3)Location. This is not, of course, to say that the other suggested factors were not important (outdoor space, ages and number of students) but by ranking these factors we can better focus our priorities and our communications with families in this community as we take next steps.
The Student Body
If we consider the survey as a snapshot in time, this is what we see in the picture right now. We can be fairly certain that 14 students are ready to enroll now for the 2010 school year. There are an additional 12 students that may be enrolling if their families are able to get the additional information they seek. These respondents said about the decision to enroll, “maybe, but I need more information”. Our snapshot in time shows that our 14 students are almost evenly divided into boys and girls. They range in ages between 4 – 13 with the majority of the students being on the younger end of the range
Over the next few weeks we will be elaborating on each of these topics, sharing some of the decisions we’ve made based on these responses and answering questions raised by respondents as they completed the survey. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this and the follow-up messages that you will soon receive.
Sunset Sudbury School featured in the Miami Herald
Earlier this summer, our founders group was contacted by a reporter from the Miami Herald, Patti Roth. Patti had heard about our efforts to start a school and was interested in doing an article about us. We met with Patti as a group and each of us spoke with her individual to answer her questions. We were excited for the opportunity to get the word out about our school to our community.
The link to the article on the Miami Herald website is no longer active. So, we have provided it here.
Freedom at the Heart of this New School
Students will choose what they want to learn at a school being planned by a small group of South Florida parents who want to model it after a ‘democratic’ school founded in New England in the 1960s.
by Patti Roth
Several South Florida families are working to launch a school that gives students unconventional freedom.
At this private school, which organizers want up and running by next year, youngsters pursue their own interests — learning what they want, when they want and how they want.
It’s a philosophy that organizers agree sounds far-fetched. But they like the theory and the way it’s working at some similar schools around the world.
”When you’re driven to learn something by your own desires, you learn it,” says Kathy Williams of Hollywood, mom to Joshua, 6, and Benjamin, 3. “I just think when children are left to learn what they want, they’ll be more inspired.”
The plan here is based on Sudbury Valley School, established in 1968 in New England. Enrollment at the Framingham, Mass., school is about 180 students. About 30 similar schools exist elsewhere in the world, each functioning separately. Among them is Spring Valley School in Palm Harbor, north of Clearwater. That school, with 23 students last year, opened in 1997.
NATURAL CURIOSITY
The idea behind Sudbury Valley School, which accepts students ages 4 to 19, is that people are curious by nature. Students initiate their own activities. The school runs democratically, with all youngsters and staff members receiving a vote. Students are not required to study any pre-set lessons.
”They come to school and figure out what they want to do and do it,” said Mimsy Sadofsky, one of Sudbury’s original founders. “Kids who go to school here leave extremely confident and competent of their ability to find their way.”
Dionne Ekendiz of Plantation is among the parents who think Sudbury’s academic freedom makes sense. She’s enthusiastic about it for daughter Leila and wants to enroll her in the South Florida version – called Sunset Sudbury School — when the little girl is old enough.
”I don’t want anyone telling her what she has to learn and then sitting in judgment about her work,” said Ekendiz, who has a master’s degree in education. “I want her to keep in touch with her own interests and inner strengths.”
Some of the South Florida parents planning the nontraditional school say they originally wondered if the Sudbury Valley style went too far. But the more they read about it, the more they liked it.
”Basically, it’s trusting that the child is going to want to learn,” said Idelma Quintana of Hollywood, a former elementary school teacher who is mom to 5-year-old Ian.
UP FOR A VOTE
Quintana said adults in the program, referred to as ‘’staff members,” might offer a lesson or demonstration on a specific topic — and it’s up to the students whether they want to participate. At some schools, students interested in a particular subject might vote to hire an instructor if none of the regular staff members are suitable for the topic.
Another key element is the democratic approach to running the school. Students and staff members vote on various aspects of how the organization is run, from policies and purchasing equipment to hiring and retaining staff members.
Debbie Marin of Hollywood, mom to Munirah, 6, was among those initially skeptical of giving students so much independence. Now, she’s a strong supporter and thinks academic freedom would be great for her daughter.
”It’s her education,” Marin said. “It taps into her desire to learn what she wants, to learn when she’s ready to learn it.”
Marin said that when she attended traditional school, she remembers doing well if she was interested in a topic. But she also recalls being bored, sitting at a desk, staring out of the window. She also sees value in the mingling of different age groups, rather than separating students by grade.
Williams of Hollywood believes the Sudbury model functions similar to the way life functions. Throughout life, humans generally learn what they need to know, along with what they’re personally excited to learn, she said. Her enthusiasm for the snowy slopes, for example, prompted her to learn to ski. She believes that through Sudbury, her boys are going to be able to pursue their passions and learn what they need.
”I don’t know if they’ll ever learn the Pythagorean theorem,” she said. “And I don’t think they’ll be hurt by it if they don’t.”