FAQ
Below are the questions we are asked most often. If you have a question that is not answered here, page down to the bottom and submit a question. For a personal response to a question, use the Contact Us page.
General
Are there scholarships available? Is there financial aid available for low income families?
We recognize that due to the uncertainty of today’s economy, some students will only be able to participate with some financial assistance. As we grow, it is our hope that we will be able to provide some financial assistance to families. In the meantime, Step Up For Students provides K-12 scholarships for low-income school children. Does your family qualify for the free or reduced lunch program? If so, you may qualify for this program too. Students who qualify may receive more than $4,000 for private school tuition. A separate $500 transportation scholarship is also available to attend a public school in another county. Visit www.stepupforstudents.org to learn more.
All of our students learn to read, write and do math when they feel that it is vital to do so. These skills develop organically, not necessarily through a planned process. We make no judgments about when students are ready to learn; those decisions are left up to the students. The school provides a setting in which knowledge is useful. For example, the written word is everywhere at the school: in books lining the walls, on rules posted for computer and kitchen equipment, and on agendas and minutes relating to the school democracy. Sooner or later, every student recognizes the usefulness of learning to read. All skills are learned in the same fashion. All of us are learning every day. Every interaction we have with another human being, or object in our environment teaches us something about the world or ourselves that we may not have known before. Recent studies have shown that play is an integral part of the process of learning. Participation in unlimited play allows for a free-flow of thoughts and ideas stimulating the development of higher thinking skills and creativity. Students at sunset Sudbury School learn about life in many varied ways – by talking with other children and adults, by taking risks and learning new skills, by participating in a democratic community and by having the time and the space to really get to know themselves.
'I wouldn’t say that there are particular types of kids that the school works for. I think that the kids make it work for themselves in different ways.' Sudbury graduate. During the course of its 34-year history, Sudbury Valley has welcomed every 'type' of child - from the highly academic student to the traditional school 'drop-out'. Students who are best suited for Sudbury type schools include: • Bright, highly motivated kids who want to surge ahead and challenge themselves. • Kids with unique learning styles who want to move at their own pace. • Kids who are 'different' in some way and want an atmosphere of tolerance and friendliness. • Social kids who want to be part of a democratic community — one person, one vote. • Little kids who are passionately engaged in exploring and creating. • High-energy, restless kids who want to be active. • Frustrated kids who are sick of schooling. • Shy, sensitive kids who want to pursue their own interests. • Self-directed kids who are ready for responsibility.
What kinds of subjects are taught at Sunset Sudbury School?
Courses are limited only by the students' interests and their willingness to meet the practical challenges entailed in investigating, arranging, and managing experiences, instruction, or research on the topics they choose. There are no required courses. Students regulate their school day and design individual curricula suitable to their interests. The staff is available to assist when asked and provide resources, advice, and instruction. Guests and specially contracted instructors will also be available, when student interest justifies them.
How do you know when a child has completed a subject?
Sunset Sudbury students pursue their interests and curiosity at their own pace and to the depth they determine. Sunset Sudbury provides the backdrop for students’ interests to be discovered and pursued. Each individual governs their own stopping point.
Do you accept children with autism or other special needs?
Prospective students will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. As with all of our students, a decision about whether Sunset Sudbury School is appropriate for a child would depend on the child’s ability to learn to take responsibility for his/her actions. Sudbury school is not equipped to handle a student who experiences severe difficulties in learning independently or in self-correcting negative actions.
Are you currently hiring any staff/teachers for the 2011/2012 school year?
At this time, we are not hiring additional staff/teachers for the 2011/2012 school year. As we grow and need additional staff, we will first open the position to our community of parents and supporters. Then, search outside of our community.
How are students evaluated? Are report cards issued?
Sunset Sudbury School doesn’t evaluate students. Absence of imposed evaluation makes several wholesome results more likely. • Development of self-assessment habits and introspective skills. • Preservation of natural curiosity and motivation. • Confidence in their own grand ideas and original perception of the world. • Natural growth based on own interests rather than to please others. Absence of parental reporting preserves individual student privacy, supports the function of the campus as a place for development of children’s independence, maximizes intrinsic motivation and supports authentic, trusting staff/student relationships. In short, absence of reporting contributes to the essential character of the program and helps to secure its benefits.
How do you deal with bad behavior?
In the enforcement of rules, democracy and the principles of due process prevail. Students have the right to a fair hearing and the right to appeal. Everyone is required to serve on the Judicial Committee for a small part of each year. The process can sometimes be time consuming and bureaucratic, as in any democracy, but is, after all, the only logical way to govern a school that aims to prepare students for citizenship in a democratic society.
Why is enrollment only open to children over 4?
At Sunset Sudbury School, we hold students as well as staff responsible for themselves and their actions. We feel that children under the age of four cannot yet grasp the concept of being responsible for themselves.
What about standardized tests?
Standardized tests can be given to students on a voluntary basis and results will be given to students only if requested.
How can they transfer back into conventional schools without transcripts?
Children generally experience smooth transitions to other schools. Schools commonly deal with children transferring in from a great variety of educational backgrounds and levels of achievement and knowledge. Families whose children have transferred out of other Sudbury Schools into traditional schools have reported no special problems. Often, they comment that their children’s increased confidence and motivation helped them to adapt and excel.
No Sudbury Valley School (the original school which Sunset Sudbury was modeled after) student has ever failed to gain admittance to the college of their choice. For democratic schools that have been in existence for many years, time has shown that the lack of grades and transcripts has been no impediment to college admissions or performance. Most students from democratic schools worldwide go on to college, most get into their first choice schools. Some of the colleges and universities attended by democratic school graduates are: Amherst College, Bard College, Boston University, Colorado School of Art, Eastman School of Music, Hampshire College, Harvard University, Mass College of Art, New England Conservatory, Northeastern University, Rutgers University, Smith College, Sorbonne University, Vassar College, the University of Oregon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge University. Some alumni have received master's degrees and PhDs. Recently Grace Llewellyn, the author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook, interviewed admissions officers at some of America's top colleges and universities. The Deans of admissions at Harvard and Brown said they believed that students at schools like these and who are pursuing their own education actually have a better chance of gaining admission in that their unusual applications force admissions committees to consider applicants for a longer period of time, and by different criteria.
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