The Circle School
| The Circle School | |
|---|---|
|
|
| type of school | Democratic school , kindergarten through high school |
| founding | 1984 |
| place | Harrisburg |
| student | 80 |
| Teachers | 6th |
| management | School meeting |
| Website | www.circleschool.org |
The Circle School is a Democratic school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . It was founded in 1984 and is based on the Sudbury model , which was developed by the Sudbury Valley School in Framingham , Massachusetts . It is one of three Sudbury schools in Pennsylvania and one of the oldest in the world. The school is an all-day school and goes from preschool to high school . It has approximately 80 students and six full-time employees.
Educational concept
Based on the Sudbury model , The Circle School has two distinctive features. First, the students are allowed to manage their time free and self-determined with any activity spend, they want (read, play video games, climbing trees, talking, learning, harpsichord playing, etc.). The only requirements placed on them are that they follow the rules and do a cleaning service every day (the school has no external cleaning staff). There are no grades or exams . The idea is that all the activities that the students participate in are done by them because they want to, that is, they are intrinsically motivated to do so. The second crucial feature is that the school is run democratically. All "day-to-day" school matters are regulated by a democratic body, the school assembly , in which pupils and teachers have equal voting rights . This is where decisions are made regarding the creation, repeal or change of rules, all aspects of school administration, admission and exclusion of students, etc. Since there are more students than employees (teachers), the students have greater decision-making power. Most of the administrative tasks are incumbent on the employees. This educational model is met with great skepticism, as it is very different from the usual teaching methods. The school has its own recording studio.
history
The Circle School was founded in 1984 by Beth Stone, Jim Rietmulder and Sue Narten. The Holland-Vogt soon joined them. The school was not founded as a democratic school, but as an innovative preschool and elementary school. In 1997, The Circle School was expanded to include a high school.
In 2017 the school moved to its current location, a new 800 square meter building on a three hectare campus.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b General information. In: www.greatschools.org. Retrieved November 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Laura Kriegel: What is a Democratic Free School? - The Circle School on YouTube , February 11, 2017, accessed November 21, 2019 (2 minutes, English)
- ↑ a b The Circle School - An introduction. In: www.circleschool.org. Retrieved November 21, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Jim Riet Mulder: When Kids Rule the School: The Power and Promise of Democratic Education . New Society Publishers, 2019, ISBN 978-0-86571-904-0 , chapter Acknowledgments (English, limited preview in the Google book search).