The Circle School
Encyclopedia
The Circle School is an Integral school located in Harrisburg, PA and founded in 1984, and is aligned with the Sudbury model. The term Sudbury School
means that it is modeled after the Sudbury Valley School
in Framingham, Massachusetts
. It enrolls pre-kindergarten through high school aged children.
The Circle School currently has over 70 students enrolled (a record high) and 5 fulltime staff members. It is one of two Sudbury Schools in Pennsylvania
and one of the oldest in the world.
but as a liberal elementary school intended partially as an alternative for the children of the founders. As the students attending got older The Circle School expanded to an elementary and middle school and finally to a full pre-kindergarten through high school enrollment.
Sudbury school
A Sudbury school is a school that practices a form of democratic education in which students individually decide what to do with their time, and learn as a by-product of ordinary experience rather than adopting a descriptive educational syllabus or standardized instruction by classes following a...
means that it is modeled after the Sudbury Valley School
Sudbury Valley School
The Sudbury Valley School was founded in 1968 in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States. There are now over 30 schools based on the Sudbury Model in the United States, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The model has two basic tenets: educational freedom and democratic...
in Framingham, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It enrolls pre-kindergarten through high school aged children.
The Circle School currently has over 70 students enrolled (a record high) and 5 fulltime staff members. It is one of two Sudbury Schools in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and one of the oldest in the world.
Educational method
The Sudbury Valley model of schooling has two defining characteristics. First, the students are free to spend their time as they choose. During the hours they are in school students can spend their time engaging in any activity they wish (reading, playing video games, climbing trees, conversing, studying, playing trumpet etc.). The only requirements placed on them are that they must follow the rules and that they must do a chore each day (the school has no custodian). There are no grades or evaluations, the idea being that every activity students engage in, they engage in because they wish to do so. The second defining characteristic is that the school's administration is placed principally in the students' hands. All the "day to day" affairs of the school are governed by a democratic body called the School Meeting. There, decisions are made concerning such things as student admissions, creating, repealing or amending a rule, suspensions and expulsions etc. The School Meeting is composed of all students and staff members (teachers) and since the students greatly outnumber the staff members most of the administrative power lies with the students. This model of education receives a great deal of skepticism as it is very different than the other methods of teaching.History
The Circle School was founded in 1984 by Beth Stone, Jim Rietmulder and Sue Narten. They were soon joined by dee Holland-Vogt. The school was not originally founded as a Sudbury Valley SchoolSudbury Valley School
The Sudbury Valley School was founded in 1968 in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States. There are now over 30 schools based on the Sudbury Model in the United States, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The model has two basic tenets: educational freedom and democratic...
but as a liberal elementary school intended partially as an alternative for the children of the founders. As the students attending got older The Circle School expanded to an elementary and middle school and finally to a full pre-kindergarten through high school enrollment.