Sudbury education discussion - Page 3

[Greaseball]

I heard (only hear-say, mind you ) that at the Sudbury in Denver (i think it was) that the teenagers would leave school and walk across the street to smoke.

That happens in all high schools, though!

What I'm not totally sold on is the low number of teachers. They say they'll try to find one for any subject a child is interested in, but what if they can't?

Of course, that also happens in regular high schools - they can't (or won't) find someone to teach kids what they want to know.

[root*children]

What I thought I was getting across is that leaving the building to go and have a smoke was allowed, part of their democratic process. I don't know what high school you went to, but most would definatly get a kid in trouble for that.

[Greaseball]

I can see how a democratic process could allow that, but don't the schools still have to obey state laws? I think in every state you have to be 18, and even 18-year-old students cannot smoke on school grounds (I think that's a law and not just a school rule).

[Dar]

The Catholic school I attended during the seventies had a smoking room for the high schoolers who smoked. I was elementary age so I wsn't allowed in, but it always seemed nasty and smoky.

This same Catholic school offered classes in tea-making and the ERA, which I took at age 8 or so... clearly not your typical Catholic school.

Dar, wandering off topic...

[weebitty2]

Originally Posted by Greaseball

I can see how a democratic process could allow that, but don't the schools still have to obey state laws? I think in every state you have to be 18, and even 18-year-old students cannot smoke on school grounds (I think that's a law and not just a school rule).

The state laws only apply to public and state-run schools, and federal programs like Job Corps - for those of legal smoking age. I don't know about other states, but at our schools underage smokers get visits with the police, as do whoever "got" them their smokes. IIRC, at least in MA and NH, it's not legal even for ADULTS (of smoking age) to smoke on school or government property - you have to be a minimum of 15 feet from the property boundary.

[weebitty2]

Originally Posted by Greaseball

That happens in all high schools, though!

What I'm not totally sold on is the low number of teachers. They say they'll try to find one for any subject a child is interested in, but what if they can't?

At least with sudbury .. you have the option of seeking out another student who may know or be interested in the topic during class times .. not just nailed to a desk bored out of your gourd because you're on the fifth week in a row about european feudal government when you REALLY want to be learning american history or holocaust studies.

[JaniceT]

We live about two miles from the original Sudbury school in Framingham, MA, and a neighbor has incredibly good things to say about it (her children, all in college now, attended throughout their K-12 years), so we've tried to check it out. Unfortunately when my husband called about it, and expressed interest in visiting the campus, he was told unequivocally: "no." He was quite taken aback. Apparently their policy is that no one (besides students) can visit the campus, unless they go through with the admissions process (cost: $50) and get an official interview. We were quite disappointed with this rather negative response. Our dd is only two and a half, and we're just in the beginning process of visiting and thinking about schools -- we don't really want to give them $50 just to get a feel for the place. We still believe in the philosophy, and may in fact end up sending dd there, but it wasn't a great way to start the relationship....

By the way, tuition at the original SVS is a bit over $5,000, which I think is quite reasonable, especially after seeing the tuitions at other private Boston-area schools!

Cheers --