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Why Sudbury?

• Your child will be well prepared for a rapidly changing world.
• Your child will become a successful problem solver.
• Your child will develop personal character traits above and beyond what other educational models can achieve.
• Your child will develop social etiquette and be able to deal with his or her surroundings.
• Your child will be given full responsibility for his or her education.
• Your child will have access to resources and learning according to his or her needs and interests.
• Your child will attend a school where cliques, bullying, and preening are virtually nonexistent.
• Your child will benefit from boredom.
• Your child will not be sent home with homework.
• Your child will be ready for the adult world.

Your child will be well prepared for a rapidly changing world. Because Sudbury education does not limit or direct your child to a certain path of study, your child may gravitate toward vast and varied activities, both conventional and unconventional. Because of this, your child will develop the ability to stretch her mind to handle, mold, shape, organize, play with new and old material, new ideas, new and old facts. Graduates of Sudbury schools have gone on to a wide range of careers.
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Your child will become a successful problem solver. Throughout the day, your child will take a problem, think about it, and somehow come up with a solution that is valid within his model of reality. He will challenge his ability to interact with others, formulate plans of action as he spends time among differing people, and then adjust in accordance to the events that occur because of those interactions. Your child will internalize the process of problem solving which prepares him for bigger challenges as he matures.
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Your child will develop personal character traits above and beyond what other educational models can achieve. Your child will develop such strong, desirable character traits because she spends her educational hours on a campus where she has full respect, responsibility, and freedom. You will notice your child emerge as more independent, self-reliant, confident, and open-minded. Your child will learn tolerance of differences, have a keen ability to concentrate and focus, and be resilient in the face of adversity.
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Your child will develop social etiquette and be able to deal with his surroundings. In a Sudbury school, your child is not segregated by age or ability. Providing a free flow of interaction among people of differing points along the maturation process means there will always be someone just a few steps ahead and a few steps behind. Your child will be learning from those ahead as well as refining their understanding of something learned by explaining and re-explaining to someone else who is asking. Your child will develop comfort and confidence in knowing that he can both contribute to and learn from others.
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Your child will be given full responsibility for her education. At Blue Ridge Sudbury School, your child will have full responsibility to direct her day, her learning, and the evaluation of her education. Traditional and progressive schools offer students only a certain degree of responsibility where they specify not only the amount of time a student can focus on a certain topic of interest, but also what courses of study are of value. While other schools might have required classes, grading systems, and testing, Blue Ridge Sudbury School does not. As members of a participatory democracy, your child and the staff of Blue Ridge Sudbury School are responsible for the running of the school, establishing and enforcing of school rules, and advocating for the learning she individually wishes to pursue. Sudbury education has proved that students have a natural drive to learn and will set out to accomplish what is of interest and/or necessity for their progress either within the school community or the larger society. When the time comes for graduation, your child must present a thesis of preparedness for the adult world.
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Your child will have access to resources and learning according to his needs and interests. Blue Ridge Sudbury School has no limitations as to what or how your child can learn information. When your child decides he wants to learn something specific, like swimming, algebra, chess, or a foreign language, for example, staff will support him in the process of accessing what is needed. Your child may make requests to go on field trips, purchase new school equipment, hire a tutor, or hold a class in a specific topic by adding it to the weekly School Meeting agenda.
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Your child will attend a school where cliques, bullying, and preening are virtually nonexistent. Once your child recognizes that she is among individuals of equal stature in both learning and contributing to the surroundings, the need to show off, bully, or depend upon the approval of a limited circle of friends seems to dissipate.
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Your child will benefit from boredom. Sudbury education assures that a certain degree of boredom in your child's education will allow him to truly listen to himself and decide what he wishes to do. Blue Ridge Sudbury School staff provides availability to your child without a continuous presence. Traditional and progressive schools tend to schedule the day so that children are 'productive' at each moment. Traditional schools also try to make sure that ample resources are available to students before students may advocated for them. In addition to not scheduling a student's day (except for the 11:00 a.m. daily Judicial Committee meeting and the weekly 12:30 pm School Meeting), Blue Ridge Sudbury School staff will not try to entertain or fill in those 'quiet moments.' Blue Ridge Sudbury School staff trusts that your child will advocate for what he wishes to do when he is ready to do it.
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Your child will not be sent home with homework. While other schools keep students busy with pre-selected coursework that oftentimes must be finished after school hours, Blue Ridge Sudbury School does not place this burden on students. This means that if your child does decide to pursue something after school hours, perhaps practicing the guitar, building a model plane, writing a poem, or studying for the SATs, it is of her own volition.
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Your child will be ready for the adult world. Your child will spend his school years in a real world setting. He will learn to advocate for himself, interact with people of differing ages, types, ability, and backgrounds. He will also learn how a true democracy works. Your child will use his school years pursuing what is of interest to him while being responsible for supporting the running of his school community. Your child must decide when he is ready for graduating and moving into the adult world. He must convince members of the School Assembly that he has achieved the necessary tools to go on to work, college, apprenticeships, or any other path he is seeking for himself.
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