Blog
When new students arrive on our campus and I volunteer to show them around, there are some SVS basics I always hit on.
I tell them no staff can give them a detention here like they can at their traditional school. I tell them no one will force them… Read more ›
What I love about children is their abiding optimism.
Sure they don’t like to fail and they can become very frustrated at times, but unlike adults they rarely give up hope and become gloomy. To most children, the world is full of wonders. Each… Read more ›
Hanging the photo exhibit on Friday, January 24th proved to be an exhilarating experience for me.
It goes without saying that the photos are varied in their subjects, beautiful and interesting. What else would one expect from kids at SVS? They are… Read more ›
Maybe my memory is foggy but never do I remember the ice on our pond being as perfect as it was the week of January 6. On Tuesday, we were all, young and old, stuck inside as the “polar vortex” kept the wind chill dangerous.
The next day was still… Read more ›
Some of you may have read the earlier post about making gingerbread houses at Sudbury Valley during this season. Even if you missed it, you can find a delightful video of the activity on our website and tons of pictures of gingerbread activity on… Read more ›
When I went to traditional high school, the place reeked of rebellion. Contempt for the establishment was a badge of honor and students impressed each other with tales of misdeeds. Some circles were more obedient than others, sure, but there wasn't… Read more ›
Twenty-thirteen was a big year for Sudbury Valley School. Last Spring, we decided to dip a toe into the social media water and soon took the plunge for real, launching an “official” Facebook page and a blog, as well as a presence on Twitter.
The… Read more ›
Yes, they can break bones. But sticks and stones, are more importantly, the life blood of a great deal of imaginative play here and indeed not used to wound at Sudbury Valley at all.
People sometimes look around the our campus, outside and in, and… Read more ›
I’ve grown to love the interactions with the guests at Open House. It’s fun to stumble onto someone who has little or no knowledge of the school, and also to see their reaction to hearing about the model for the first time.
I had a particular… Read more ›
Not so many of us are here at 8:30. Just enough for a gentle but lively start to the day. But when I retreat to the office to pick up some tasks from the day before, or tackle some new ones, there is Dana playing magically on the piano. Kyle, Hanna… Read more ›
I often ask myself why I am so enamored of the December ritual of making gingerbread houses (and trees) at Sudbury Valley. It is a big deal! Everyone has to put a lot of work into it. Not everyone in the school, but a much wider cross-section than… Read more ›
I’m a sucker for live theater. It’s all magical to me, whether it’s a Broadway show or a local production. So when I went to see “An SVS Musical” last June, I had no doubt that I would be entertained. I knew the actors. I’d heard snippets of the… Read more ›
Walking into our art room is usually fascinating. It seems that most young people love to do art in all sort of ways. They make things out of clay. They draw and paint and make amazing collages. And, they do many other things, like building… Read more ›
Human beings love to name things. A name serves as a convenient shorthand, identifying something without going into a long description. Some names aren’t obviously connected to what they name: “My doll’s name is Joseph.” Some are: “This room is the… Read more ›
Sometimes when I’m explaining SVS to people who aren’t familiar with it, they’ll ask me how kids will be prepared for the real world if they can do whatever they want all day. It’s not easy to explain in words -- or at least not without a lot of… Read more ›