Mountain Laurel requires the filling of a
variety of administrative roles in order to function. These roles may be filled
by either staff or students.
Corporations, Committees and Clerkships
Mountain Laurel requires the filling of a
variety of administrative roles in order to function. These roles may be filled
by either staff or students.
Clerks are basically administrative officers. For example, there is an Attendance Clerk who supervises attendance records, after-hours use of the building, keys, etc. There is an Office Clerk who manages correspondence, provisioning of office supplies, etc. When the School Meeting creates a Clerkship, it spells out the officer's exact powers and duties and confers its authority on the Clerk within the domain it has defined.
Committees take care of broader tasks. For example, the Aesthetics Committee takes care of all matters relating to the school's appearance, interior and exterior design, furnishings, exhibits/art work, cleanliness.
School Corporations are formal interest groups. They are Mountain Laurel's equivalent of Departments at other schools. For example, there is a Computer Corporation to take care of all computer-related activities; a school store corporation (which purchases and sells food); and so forth. Corporations are chartered for a specific set of purposes by the School Meeting and given certain powers. Funds are channeled through the Corporations to support various educational activities. The great advantage School Corporations have over Departments is that the former can be formed and disbanded according to the needs and interests of the students, while the latter, unlike old soldiers, never die or fade away, but just keep rolling along.
The school's disciplinary problems are taken care of in the context of the Complaint Court established by the School Meeting.
This article is derived from an article by Daniel Greenberg and appears courtesy of the Sudbury Valley School, Framingham, MA.
Books by the SVS press are available at http://www.sudval.org/books.html, by calling (508)877-3030, or by fax to (508)788-0674. You can write to the Sudbury Valley School press at The Sudbury Valley School Press, 2 Winch Street, Framingham, MA 01701. You can email the school at office@sudval.org.
Permission to freely copy and distribute this document is given, provided that the text is not modified or abridged and this notice is included. For more information about SVS available electronically, check http://www.sudval.org.
Sudbury Valley is a democratic school run by a School Meeting. Students and staff each get one vote on all matters of substance; including the school rules and hiring/firing of staff. The school has no grades, tests, or scores.
Mountain Laurel Sudbury School
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