Naturally Amazing

Testimonials are the bread and butter of Sudbury school PR: there's nothing like an up-close glimpse of the countless and wonderfully moving examples of what this kind of education can do.

Those testimonials are all the more powerful when they come not from students, parents, and staff, but rather people outside of Sudbury schools who, for one reason or another, have that sort of front-row-seat encounter with our students and alumni.

For example, take James Davis, Director of Programming and Marketing for Vanderkamp, a camp and retreat center. When a group from the Hudson Valley Sudbury School in upstate New York visited his facility, he was blown away by what he called "a few startling differences" between them and the thousands of kids and young adult staff he's known.

In Davis's own words, "the first [thing] was a willingness to ask for help...Every group I've worked with until this week struggled mightily at the section [of a ropes course] that requires help." The Sudbury students, on the other hand, "had no difficulty at all." Instead, they assessed the situation and asked for help, helping others as needed.

Davis then remarked that the Sudbury emphasis on individual choice seems to foster the sort of positive traits associated with community: empathy, collaboration, etc. 

While Sudbury school students are given the freedom to do things on their own in their day to day lives, they collaborated more seamlessly than any group I've worked with, whether child or adult.  They also embraced the challenge happily.  Children from 3 years old, to 7 years old, to 17 years old worked together with the adults in the group in a totally natural way. I was amazed.

Davis's fascination was stoked throughout the Sudbury school's visit.

I was amazed by how peacefully the children negotiated, and how awesome they were at playing. 

I never heard a child complain about being bored, and I never saw a child arguing over a scarce resource…Those items were happily shared with kids of all different ages.

I noticed a lot of wonderful non-violent communication in the impromptu school meeting that impressed me a ton as well.

[One student] communicated his needs earnestly without a hint of self-consciousness.

The unprompted thankfulness at the first meal was amazing to me too. 

In closing, he offered a few more observations.

I'd say one thing that really jumped out to me as well was the lack of fear for adults…They spoke respectfully to them without cowering before them.

The last thing, of course, is how easily they blend with ages…These kids definitely didn't suffer the illusion that age is in any way important.

Some people might be inclined to discount what Davis witnessed on the grounds that it was a fluke, just a group of good kids well-behaved for a limited time. But it resonates so deeply with our experience over the past 14 years at Alpine Valley, I see it not as an aberration but solid evidence of what Sudbury schooling can bring out in nearly any young person. 

Do you want the children in your life to be this well-adjusted, this capable of identifying and satisfying their needs in a respectful, responsible way? Check out Sudbury schooling, and tell your friends and family about it! Support us as we support the natural growth of students into amazingly capable, effective, happy, and successful young adults.