But Does It Work?

Working

Some parts of our school intuitively make sense: parents can see that their kids would be happier in a model like ours, that their children are naturally curious, that kids learn better without piles of homework and endless standardized tests. But then the anxiety kicks in--do the kids really turn out okay? Can they go to college? Can they function in the workforce after spending their student years in an unstructured environment like Tallgrass?

It takes a lot of trust to send your kid to a school like ours. But when it comes to outcomes, you don’t have to take our word for it--you can look at the history of this type of education and the results reported by other Sudbury schools.

The Sudbury model started in 1968 with the Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts. In the almost 50 years since then, they and dozens of Sudbury-influenced schools have graduated thousands of students.

Sudbury graduates are:

  • Successful: Sudbury graduates go on to many types of careers and many types of postsecondary education. For graduates of the Circle School, a Sudbury-like school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the most common field of work is in science and technology (33%).
  • Independent: The Circle School also reports that about 13% of its graduates are self-employed, compared to a national average of 6-10%.
  • Happy: 80% of Sudbury Valley graduates reported that they are happy with what they are doing now, whether that’s employment, school, or another activity, like full-time parenting.
  • Satisfied with their education: In a study conducted by Prof. Peter Gray, 67 out of 69 respondents indicated they were “very” or “moderately” glad they went to Sudbury Valley School.

Sudbury graduates go on to college at equal or higher rates to those who attend more conventional schools, according to studies conducted by the Circle School and Sudbury Valley School. You can hear from some of our school’s graduates in this video featuring alumni who decided to attend 4-year colleges.

Sudbury students learn about real life by practicing real life. They make real decisions with real impacts. They learn about time management by managing their own time. They practice conflict resolution, learn to be part of a community by forming relationships with people of all ages, and work out the problems among themselves. And for our graduates, that translates into success at college, in work, and in life.

Want to see our school in action? Contact us to schedule a time to tour the school for you and your child.

For much more on the topic of college, check out clips from our alumni panel, where Tallgrass graduates discuss the details of how they got in and address hot topics like playing video games at school. We also did a one-on-one video interview with alumnus Claire Harper.  

References

1.      Circle School Graduates in 2015: College Attendance, Academic Degrees, and Occupations.
2.      Greenberg, Daniel, and Mimsy Sadofsky. Legacy of Trust: Life after the Sudbury Valley School Experience (Sudbury Valley School Press, 1992).
3.      Gray, Peter, and David Chanoff. Democratic Schooling: What Happens to Young People Who Have Charge of Their Own Education? American Journal of Education 94(2), 182-213.

Join Tallgrass August 22 for a Special Event!

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Free Range Parenting: A talk and discussion about how to give your child the space and freedom to be a kid

Tuesday, August 22, 6-7 pm (time afterwards for questions and discussion)
Hosted at Tallgrass Sudbury School
82 Woodside Road, Riverside IL 60546

RSVP here

Free range parenting is basically the practice of helping your child develop age-appropriate independence skills that we once all took for granted, such as biking to school or playing with friends without adult supervision. Tallgrass founder and parent of two Melissa Bradford will share what free range parenting is, how it helps kids be happy and healthy, and how to do it safely.

We hope to see you there! Feel free to comment below or email us at info@tallgrasssudbury.org with any questions!

How You Can Support Us

Love the idea of Sudbury education, but not the parent of a potential student? There are many other ways you can help support our school and Sudbury education!

The best way to support us is to share information about Sudbury education with someone you know who is looking for educational alternatives.  Most of our students first hear about us through word of mouth. You never know who may be looking for a new school! Mention Sudbury in conversation about education, post Sudbury-related thoughts on social media, or share our contact information with someone who is seeking a new school.

You can also support us by:

  • Contributing part of your online purchases to us by shopping through Amazon Smile or Goodshop (does not increase the price of your purchase).
  • Making a donation. Tallgrass is a 501c(3) nonprofit, and financial and physical donations are tax-deductible. 
  • Volunteering. Tallgrass often has a need for adult volunteers to help out around school. For more information, contact us at info@tallgrasssudbury.org. 
  • Like our Facebook page and like and share our social media posts so they are seen by more people and potential students.

The Unschooling School

Pioneered by education reformer John Holt, unschooling has grown from a niche phenomenon to garnering attention from mainstream media like the Washington Post and The Guardian. The basic concept is simple: don't send your kids to school, and instead, let them do what they want. It looks something like this description from the Christian Science Monitor:

On a late Monday morning in this rural New Hampshire town, Dayna and Joe Martin’s four children are all home. Devin, age 16, is hammering a piece of steel in the blacksmith forge he and his parents built out of a storage shed in the backyard. Tiffany, 14, is twirling on a hoverboard, deftly avoiding the kaleidoscope-painted cabinets in the old farmhouse’s living room. Ivy, 10, and Orion, 7, are sitting next to each other using the family’s two computers, clicking through an intense session of Minecraft.  

It looks a lot like school vacation, or a weekend. But it’s not. This, for the Martin kids, is school. Or, to put it more accurately, it’s their version of “unschooling,” an educational theory that suggests children should follow their own interests, without the imposition of school or even any alternative educational curriculum, because this is the best way for them to learn and grow.

Adults unschooled as children report that:

  • "they benefited from having had the time and freedom to discover and pursue their personal interests, giving them a head start on figuring out their career preferences and developing expertise in relevant areas"
  • "the experience enabled them to develop as highly self-motivated, self-directed individuals"
  • they appreciated "having a broader range of learning opportunities; a richer, age-mixed social life; and a relatively seamless transition to adult life."

Unschooling and Sudbury schooling have a lot in common. Like unschooling, a Sudbury education gives children the freedom to explore their interests and learn in the ways that work for them, free from the forced march of tests, bells, and grades. Staff at Tallgrass and other Sudbury schools support students' natural curiosity and motivations, much like unschooling parents do. And graduates of Sudbury schools use similar language as unschoolers do to describe their experiences--and, as adults, report similar high levels of satisfaction with their childhood education.

The major difference between unschooling and a Sudbury education is the role of family versus peers. Many unschooling families are part of homeschool groups, Scouts, sports, and other activities, but geography and scheduling, it can make it difficult for children to have as much peer interaction as they want. At a Sudbury school like Tallgrass, students are part of a wider community every day -- a community that learns and plays together, spends time working through conflicts, and makes decisions democratically.

For families who believe in unschooling but don’t have the flexibility to homeschool or want a more social environment, a Sudbury school can be the perfect solution.

For more information about unschooling, check out the list of resources compiled by Peter Gray.

For more information about enrollment at Tallgrass, visit our enrollment page or contact us.

Staffing Opportunity at Tallgrass Sudbury School

Tallgrass Sudbury School, located in Riverside, IL, just outside Chicago, is a democratic K-12 school community where students are free to pursue their interests at their own pace and in their own way. Tallgrass is seeking a staff member to start part-time and potentially transition to full-time as we grow. An integral part of Tallgrass is School Meeting, a body made up of students and staff, which makes all schoolwide decisions. The students and staff have an equal vote in all matters of school governance, including making school rules, approving expenditures, and even staff hiring.

 In a typical week as a staff member at Tallgrass, you might:

  • engage with students, staff, and the greater community
  • respond to inquiries about enrollment or from potential visitors
  • work with committees that include staff, students, and parents to make decisions collaboratively
  • write or revise policies or rule changes and propose them to school meeting
  • talk to parents about questions and issues
  • teach classes in response to student requests
  • act as the staff member on the Judicial Committee
  • be an active participant in School Meeting
  • be part of a dynamic community dedicated to living out its democratic principles

 Required Qualifications:

  • Belief in the natural impulse of children (and adults!) to strive for personal growth; commitment to one’s own personal growth.
  • Excellent communication and literacy skills, including expressing thought in writing and interacting effectively with children and adults from a wide variety of backgrounds.
  • Be an interested, interesting, engaged, and passionate person.
  • Strong self-management skills, including high levels of initiative and ability to authentically and effectively prioritize.
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality of student and family data.
  • Pass required background checks before beginning employment.
  • Ability to solve problems creatively with limited resources.
  • Ability to trust in the school’s democratic School Meeting and peer-based judicial system to adequately resolve rule infractions.

You will join a team of two full-time paid staff as well as regular volunteers, and will have a wide variety of responsibilities. Tallgrass hopes to grow our small community significantly in the near future, and the ideal candidate will be willing and able to act as one of the leaders in this effort. While you do not need to have marketing experience, a willingness to gain skills in this area and to think flexibly and creatively about how we can promote our school are essential. Our school is open 9:00 to 4:00 Monday through Friday, with some hours outside of school hours expected for meetings and administrative or marketing work.

Staff members should be able to act as models of responsibility, resourcefulness, initiative, and good conflict resolution, and be willing to listen to and accept feedback. Staff are expected to work within the Sudbury model.

Please submit a letter of interest and resume to info@tallgrasssudbury.org or, if you have additional questions, contact us either by email or by phone at 708.777.1037.  The application period will close on April 13. 

If Kids Could Vote

A student at Tallgrass asked me recently, “If you could do anything to change the direction our country is going in, what would you do?” As a school, we don’t take political positions, but the contentious election has naturally been on people’s minds.

I said, “I would let people under 18 vote.”

Our school ballot box, used for staff and clerkship elections.

Our school ballot box, used for staff and clerkship elections.

I said that if your goal is to create social change, letting young people have a real voice would be the best way to make it happen more quickly. Studies show that attitudes about issues like race and LGBT rights split clearly along generational lines, with younger people more and more in favor of equality for everyone.

We talked through the pros and cons: Should you have to prove yourself competent to vote? What about adults who aren’t well-informed—they don’t have to prove themselves. What if parents tried to influence their kids’ votes?

In the 1960s, political pressure lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, since 18-year-olds were being sent to fight and die in Vietnam, yet had no voice in choosing the leaders of the country. Fifty years later, that same issue is on the minds of some Tallgrass teenagers, who are worried about being forced to fight in a possible war started by people that they never would have voted into office. (NB: At least one student thought Hillary Clinton would have been equally bad if not worse.) They were angry that they couldn’t vote in this election, even though they will have to live with—and be personally affected by—the results.

Could we lower the voting age again? Should we? Takoma Park, Maryland, lowered the voting age for municipal elections to 16 in 2013, and in some other cities those 16 and up can vote in school board elections.

The chair of our school aesthetics and use committee (right) consults with an interior designer about changes to the school. 

The chair of our school aesthetics and use committee (right) consults with an interior designer about changes to the school. 

Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone at the national level is seriously considering lowering the voting age. But at Tallgrass and other Sudbury schools, kids CAN vote—and they vote on real issues, with their votes equal to those of adults. When we’re talking to people about our school, we often point out that the kids far outnumber us—only four adults are eligible to vote at school meeting, versus about 20 students. Students vote on everything from field trips, to the budget, to who the staff should be. As in the real world, not everyone chooses to vote on every issue. But when they do vote, they take their votes seriously, weighing the issues to the best of their ability.

We say that kids are equal here—and we mean it.

Challenge: Give to Help Support Tallgrass Sudbury School

**UPDATE: ALL gifts through the end of the year (midnight on 12/31) will be matched. Thank you to the generous friends of Tallgrass who have donated so far!**

Want to help a unique educational institution and reduce your tax burden at the same time? An anonymous donor will match donations to Tallgrass Sudbury School up to $500 through the end of the year.

To donate, send a check to Tallgrass Sudbury School, 82 Woodside Rd., Riverside, IL, 60546; or donate through the Paypal button below. 

Tallgrass is the only Sudbury-model school in the Chicago area, and offers students the space and time to discover their true passions. Tallgrass has a policy of charging  low tuition compared to other private schools and offers tuition reduction to put the Sudbury experience within the reach of as many families as possible.

If you’re new to the Sudbury philosophy, this explanation from the original Sudbury Valley School sums up the principles our school is based on: “SVS is a place where people decide for themselves how to spend their days. . . The fundamental premises of the school are simple - that all people are curious by nature; that the most efficient, long-lasting, and profound learning takes place when started and pursued by the learner; that all people are creative if they are allowed to develop their unique talents; that age-mixing among students promotes growth in all members of the group; and that freedom is essential to the development of personal responsibility.”

If you think this type of school is a valuable option for families in Chicagoland, please consider making a donation. Even if you aren’t able to donate yourself, please pass this message along to others who may be interested.

Thank you for your support of Tallgrass! Our best wishes for a great holiday season…and taxes that are just a little lower! 

Tallgrass Sudbury School is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All contributions from US donors are tax-deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.