Writing by:
Hanna Greenberg
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A broken leg is no fun. However, since at SVS almost any new situation can become a window into what is going on in the minds of the kids, my broken leg led to many unexpected insights for me.
My mobility was seriously curtailed by my inability to… Read more ›
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We were talking about birthdays, Audrey, Ben, Christine and I. All three children had just turned six and their birthday parties were recalled with much joy.
As a normally foolish adult I asked the kind of questions that kids consider really dumb.… Read more ›
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"Where do you work?"
"At Sudbury Valley School."
"What do you do?"
"Nothing."
Doing nothing at Sudbury Valley requires a great deal of energy and discipline, and many years of experience. I get better at it every year, and it amuses me to see how I… Read more ›
Blog post |
This is a confession: It took me many, many years to learn how not to pounce and use what are called "teaching moments" at home with my own children and here at school.
Like most people, I like to tell stories, to talk about things that I know and… Read more ›
Essay post |
Hanna: I am talking to Teddy Barnes, who is 17. He has been in school 2½ years and has served on the JC twice, the second time in October, 2017.
Hanna: Teddy, have you ever been brought up?
Teddy: I have—for littering, once which was an accident, of… Read more ›
Blog post |
October 2, 2019 was a very rainy day, just the kind of day to stay indoors and be cozy.
Not so at SVS. At least half of the student body was outside, either disregarding the rain altogether, or carrying out their activities as if it wasn’t wet… Read more ›
Essay post |
Hanna reads her blog, Celebrating Fairhaven At 20 posted June 18, 2018, in which she gives her perspective as a visitor at Fairhaven the day before the Interview took place.
Mark: We’re here with Hanna Greenberg… Read more ›
Essay post |
During the Fall of 2017, Sudbury Valley hosted three guests from a school in Copenhagen called “Den Demokratiske Skole” which was inspired by SVS. Rikke Faxoe founded and was staff at the school for its seven years, until it closed in 2015. Rikke is… Read more ›
Blog post |
In the car on the way home from the Maynard Fine Arts Theater on Saturday, January 26, Danny and I were elated.
We had just seen the movie “Drowning in Pennsylvania”, which was written, produced and acted by Sudbury Valley students and… Read more ›
Essay post |
Author’s note: Lots of people, and parents especially, are perplexed at best and horrified at worst, about the extensive use of computers by children these days. It is not something that they have experienced, and thus it makes them uncomfortable… Read more ›
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Originally appeared in the June Journal of 1992, Volume 21
After so many years of explaining the philosophy of SVS I occasionally get tired. Tired of the same old questions which show me over and over again how difficult it is for people to… Read more ›
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It is odd but true that the things we most value in our lives are things which are hard to quantify but easy to feel.
We all want our epitaphs to say that we were good and decent folk, not that we were rich and thin and got all A's in school.
So… Read more ›
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Fifty years of working to keep SVS alive and vital is my personal equivalent of summitting K2 the toughest mountain on earth.
Warning! Unlike most of my writing, which dwells on the joy and optimism of daily life at SVS, I am going to go to the… Read more ›
Blog post |
The last days of the fiftieth birthday year of Sudbury Valley were days of fun, of laughter, and also of tears.
The fun part was greeting the 35 students returning from a five day camping trip to Nickerson State Park on Cape Cod. Despite having to… Read more ›
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Twenty years ago a Sudbury type school was established in the state of Maryland. Its group of founders, with help, bought twelve acres in a wooded area, built a large structure with their own labors (and with a little help from their friends), and… Read more ›