What Parents Say about Sudbury Schools...
Why did you choose a Sudbury education for your child?
It is more in line with our educational philosophy as far as individualized education. I didn’t want to have a cookie cutter kid. I wanted her to be able to explore what she is interested in and passionate about and not be restricted by a standard curriculum. - Father of 6 year old
My son was in third grade in public school and although his grades were excellent, he was becoming more and more depressed. He cried on Sunday nights thinking about going back to school on Monday. My pediatrician advised us that if we did not pull him from public school he would require anti-depressant medication. Once we enrolled at Mountain Laurel Sudbury School the change was almost immediate. He was more relaxed, engaged, and looked forward to attending school. No more crying or withdrawing from the world. We've been at MLSS for four years now and I can't imagine imagine enrolling him in any other school model. - Mother of 13 year old
It supported our values of education, enabling our children to foster their own passions in a supportive environment with other children. It had all the philosophical reasons why we were homeschooling but provided it on a larger scale, allowing for the development of consistent relationships within a community. When we homeschooled, socialization was typically organized around activities that were stimulating but did not give children the time to get bored together and have to deal with the day-in, day-out reality of working things out. Real moments happen in the "in-between" times, and you have to have lots of time with other children to get to those magical moments. Everyone enjoys the trip to Disneyland, but what do you remember most about your childhood? It’s those little moments, the mundane that are really the special times. It’s a fantasy that you can create the optimal experience for your child. The reality is those things slip past them, and the things they will choose that affect them you won’t even know - they find and create their own moments. - Mother of 12- and 14-year olds
What are some of the qualities you've seen children develop since enrolling in Sudbury school?
The are many things, but the main things I've noticed in my daughter are the benefits from her immersion in the community and the cooperative atmosphere. The age-mixing has really made a difference in her maturity level compared to other kids her age. She’s much more mature and capable of making good decisions, and that’s due to the exposure to older kids on a regular basis. The family atmosphere provided that level of cooperation I don’t think she would have gotten in a typical school. I've observed how she’s much more self-confident and capable of doing things on her own than most kids her age which I think is due to the atmosphere. - Father of a 6 year old
I've seen my child taking initiatives in volunteering and being responsible for various activities and seeing leadership qualities blossom. I’ve noticed other students maturing in unexpected ways as well, owning their responsibilities as role models. - Mother of a 14 year old
Do you worry about how your child will do when they move on to another situation, such as a more traditional school setting, or college, or work?
When we first enrolled our daughter she was four, and we had reservations for sure, concerned that she would be unable to be responsible, that she wasn’t mature enough to handle making her own choices, and being safe, but after the first two weeks, we started feeling comfortable. It was so new to us, but we were less worried about that than how a rigid traditional environment would affect her creativity and dependence on authority. Our fears of traditional school were greater than our fears that she would not be able to handle the freedom. Recently, our circumstances changed so our daughter had to transfer to a public school. She had not had as much drilling on some academic areas, but she caught up quickly and is much more mature and confident than her classmates. It was really obvious she had been in a completely different situation than the other kids. I don’t worry about the future because even at 6 years old, our daughter has demonstrated that she can take care of herself as far as her learning is concerned. If she wants to find out about something, she finds out about it. Biology, art or whatever, she'll find it. To get into college, part of it is finding out how to do it. Part of our family philosophy is figuring out how to do what you want. It may be that college is a part of that, but I don’t think it’s going to solve your career goals. Most people change occupations, majors, get different degrees. Going to college isn’t sufficient anymore. School isn’t going to prepare you for what you want to do in life. Doing what you want is going to prepare you for what you want to do in life. - Father of 6 year old
Of course I worry. We all have different ideas of what is important, and it can be hard to value every pursuit a child has. It’s a struggle for me; however, I believe the people I encounter in life, including my children, have their own skills and talents and issues they need to discover and work through, and the earlier the better. What I see as obstacles for them that I think they need to overcome to be happy & successful in their lives, they need to take on. It’s theirs, and either they will, or they won’t, and I can only hope they will. I don’t think anything else would be different if they were in a situation where others were making decisions for them. It is painful, because I'd like to think that school could automatically give them the tools they need in life, but it’s really what is going on inside, that search and that understanding that is important. A focus on skills can be a distraction from the work of knowing yourself, your capabilities and limitations. It makes you think you have a checklist – I know that, I’m done – but life is more about the ability to act than information. To do that, you have to know who you are, your strengths and weaknesses and passions. - Mother of 12- and 14-year olds
Every parent worries about their kids' future. But for us, this model provides the freedom for students to figure out what they're truly passionate about and develop the skills they'll need to pursue those passions. Sudbury schools are free from judgement - students are encouraged to be themselves, and as their image of their own self evolves those changes are supported. It's a unique environment that offers a gift to be found nowhere else in life - the gift of self-discovery. The concepts of responsibility, consequences, self-actualization, democracy - these lessons are far more valuable to my child's future than a grade on a test. - Mother of 13 year old
Why did you choose a Sudbury education for your child?
It is more in line with our educational philosophy as far as individualized education. I didn’t want to have a cookie cutter kid. I wanted her to be able to explore what she is interested in and passionate about and not be restricted by a standard curriculum. - Father of 6 year old
My son was in third grade in public school and although his grades were excellent, he was becoming more and more depressed. He cried on Sunday nights thinking about going back to school on Monday. My pediatrician advised us that if we did not pull him from public school he would require anti-depressant medication. Once we enrolled at Mountain Laurel Sudbury School the change was almost immediate. He was more relaxed, engaged, and looked forward to attending school. No more crying or withdrawing from the world. We've been at MLSS for four years now and I can't imagine imagine enrolling him in any other school model. - Mother of 13 year old
It supported our values of education, enabling our children to foster their own passions in a supportive environment with other children. It had all the philosophical reasons why we were homeschooling but provided it on a larger scale, allowing for the development of consistent relationships within a community. When we homeschooled, socialization was typically organized around activities that were stimulating but did not give children the time to get bored together and have to deal with the day-in, day-out reality of working things out. Real moments happen in the "in-between" times, and you have to have lots of time with other children to get to those magical moments. Everyone enjoys the trip to Disneyland, but what do you remember most about your childhood? It’s those little moments, the mundane that are really the special times. It’s a fantasy that you can create the optimal experience for your child. The reality is those things slip past them, and the things they will choose that affect them you won’t even know - they find and create their own moments. - Mother of 12- and 14-year olds
What are some of the qualities you've seen children develop since enrolling in Sudbury school?
The are many things, but the main things I've noticed in my daughter are the benefits from her immersion in the community and the cooperative atmosphere. The age-mixing has really made a difference in her maturity level compared to other kids her age. She’s much more mature and capable of making good decisions, and that’s due to the exposure to older kids on a regular basis. The family atmosphere provided that level of cooperation I don’t think she would have gotten in a typical school. I've observed how she’s much more self-confident and capable of doing things on her own than most kids her age which I think is due to the atmosphere. - Father of a 6 year old
I've seen my child taking initiatives in volunteering and being responsible for various activities and seeing leadership qualities blossom. I’ve noticed other students maturing in unexpected ways as well, owning their responsibilities as role models. - Mother of a 14 year old
Do you worry about how your child will do when they move on to another situation, such as a more traditional school setting, or college, or work?
When we first enrolled our daughter she was four, and we had reservations for sure, concerned that she would be unable to be responsible, that she wasn’t mature enough to handle making her own choices, and being safe, but after the first two weeks, we started feeling comfortable. It was so new to us, but we were less worried about that than how a rigid traditional environment would affect her creativity and dependence on authority. Our fears of traditional school were greater than our fears that she would not be able to handle the freedom. Recently, our circumstances changed so our daughter had to transfer to a public school. She had not had as much drilling on some academic areas, but she caught up quickly and is much more mature and confident than her classmates. It was really obvious she had been in a completely different situation than the other kids. I don’t worry about the future because even at 6 years old, our daughter has demonstrated that she can take care of herself as far as her learning is concerned. If she wants to find out about something, she finds out about it. Biology, art or whatever, she'll find it. To get into college, part of it is finding out how to do it. Part of our family philosophy is figuring out how to do what you want. It may be that college is a part of that, but I don’t think it’s going to solve your career goals. Most people change occupations, majors, get different degrees. Going to college isn’t sufficient anymore. School isn’t going to prepare you for what you want to do in life. Doing what you want is going to prepare you for what you want to do in life. - Father of 6 year old
Of course I worry. We all have different ideas of what is important, and it can be hard to value every pursuit a child has. It’s a struggle for me; however, I believe the people I encounter in life, including my children, have their own skills and talents and issues they need to discover and work through, and the earlier the better. What I see as obstacles for them that I think they need to overcome to be happy & successful in their lives, they need to take on. It’s theirs, and either they will, or they won’t, and I can only hope they will. I don’t think anything else would be different if they were in a situation where others were making decisions for them. It is painful, because I'd like to think that school could automatically give them the tools they need in life, but it’s really what is going on inside, that search and that understanding that is important. A focus on skills can be a distraction from the work of knowing yourself, your capabilities and limitations. It makes you think you have a checklist – I know that, I’m done – but life is more about the ability to act than information. To do that, you have to know who you are, your strengths and weaknesses and passions. - Mother of 12- and 14-year olds
Every parent worries about their kids' future. But for us, this model provides the freedom for students to figure out what they're truly passionate about and develop the skills they'll need to pursue those passions. Sudbury schools are free from judgement - students are encouraged to be themselves, and as their image of their own self evolves those changes are supported. It's a unique environment that offers a gift to be found nowhere else in life - the gift of self-discovery. The concepts of responsibility, consequences, self-actualization, democracy - these lessons are far more valuable to my child's future than a grade on a test. - Mother of 13 year old
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