Sudbury Valley School

We tried to like it. Before my wife passed away she home schooled my older two boys. I thought this would be as close to homeschooling/​un-​schooling as possible.
The tour was awesome — met some very bright kids that thrived.
In the end though, I had to take my eldest out of the school. Continual bullying by 14 year old kids (targeted at an 8 year old boy who lost his mom, no less). Judicial committee suspended them, but the kid convinced my son that he will get in big trouble if continued to write the kid up (e.g. report the bullying). In between the 5 hours of daily minecraft, my son was exposed to kids watching horror flicks (Saw, based on what he said). Not the vision I walked away with after the tour.
When asking the staff for help on learning how to read or with basic math, the immediate response was «who told you to ask about reading/​math? Was it your dad or nanny?» After repeatedly answering «no» and that he really wanted to learn, he was told to «ask again in a week». If he still showed interest they would spend time with him. They spent a lot of time telling him the evils of public school. Just wish they focused on actual learning instead of their anti-​school messaging.
I think the school may work for some people — we met some smart seniors who cared. Reality did not match up with the poetic waxing you’ll find in their many books.
There was a similar, negative review, that mirrored our experience — but it seems to have disappeared. Wish I saw it before spending the money and exposing my son to the environment. It has left long lasting marks that we are still trying to undo.

My two children, ages 4 and 6, started at SVS in September. The reason I put them in this school is that twelve years ago, it transformed my brother from a miserable, angry high school drop-​out to a happy, confident, successful honors college graduate. Yes, he spent the first six months making bracelets. But after that, he realized it was all up to HIM — he had to take responsibility for his own education and future. So for the next two years, he worked through a series of college textbooks, with help from staff, figured out what college he wanted to attend, got accepted, created his own dual degree in Biology and Education, and graduated with honors. Now he is a teacher himself, and he is also extremely happy and productive.
My children have also experienced great benefits from being at this school. At their old school, which was a very good school — small, private, non-​profit with an emphasis on hands-​on, experiential, theme-​based learning and an empowering, nurturing community — they were fine. But even there, they did not get enough time outside, they were often forced to endure collective punishment (where the whole class is denied recess because of a few rowdy kids), and they always had to work on whatever the teacher directed. Thus, my oldest child went from absolutely LOVING math — she had spent weeks tearing through math workbooks, spent hours every night learning math far above what they were doing in class — to deciding she didn’t like math, because the teacher was always forcing her to do it when she wanted to be doing something else.
Studies show that students who are taught math every year from first through sixth grade do no better, and sometimes worse, than students who receive one year of math education in sixth grade.
Now that my children are free to learn what they choose to learn, their innate love of learning has resurfaced. Instead of having to force them to do homework at night, they voluntarily do hours and hours of homework every night. They don’t think of it as homework. They teach themselves to read by writing letters to their cousins. They learn math by counting days on the calendar until holidays, or planning their allowance purchases. They come up with every imaginable kind of creative project — science projects about dinosaurs, gardening, outer space, the sea, wilderness skills; carpentry projects; elaborate physics projects with balls and swings and slides; Baking and cooking projects are teaching them fractions and chemistry; they ask for books about historical figures and ethical issues, write stories, act out plays, make up songs to sing and play on the piano — their desire to sit and watch TV is far lower than it has ever been.
Also, they are much stronger — the six year old went to the park and competed in some informal races. She won every race, even against boys who are two years older than she is. Today’s children have far less «core strength» than is considered healthy, because they sit all day. My children are strong and healthy; they move their bodies all day, except when they choose to sit and become absorbed in some sort of project.
Yes, some kids will go through phases when they just want to play video games. Then they will realize there is much more to life. The staff at SVS know what they are doing. They are caring, compassionate, and incredibly conscientious about the safety and well being of every student. The student body itself is also very caring and conscientious — they look out for each other with great empathy. There are 45 years worth of data to back up the success of this school and its approach. I recommend it to anyone who is open-​minded enough to consider that education based on research about what actually works best may be a better system than our country’s current public model, which is based on socializing factory workers.

Contrary to suzanne m’s comments, Sudbury Valley School remains «full of dreams» with students encouraged to understand who they are and what they want to achieve in life. The staff remain vibrant people engaged with the students at every level of school life.
Graduates and former students look back at their years here as having helped them, develop into responsible individuals able to pursue their dreams and aspirations.
For more, visit the school’s website

Located in an old stone mansion on 10 acres of land, the Sudbury Valley School is a wonderful, magical place full of free, happy, curious, imaginative students from age four to the late teens. Since 1968, it has been a free, democratic community where students are responsible for their own education from a very young age, and students participate in running the school.
It really says something about the place that when my children first went to the school they would be disappointed every Saturday when they realized that it was the weekend and there was no school until Monday. Similarly most of the parents I know struggle to some degree with kids who go into mourning each summer when school ends for the year. Not exactly the typical experience of school.
If you want to learn more about the Sudbury Valley School, I’d encourage you to check out the school’s website:
There are also a number of very useful videos on YouTube, and the school holds several open houses each year for prospective students (and their parents) to meet students, staff, and parents.
Although very, very different from most other schools in America, I highly recommend the Sudbury Valley School as a perfect education for 21^st century students.