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By Sue Narten
The Circle School
The buzzing sound is always present. Sometimes it swells up, loudly cloaking us all in an almost tangible roar. Sometimes it softens to background murmur. But always it changes, moment to moment, day by day, a living force, an electromagnetic surge of power and energy.
It can be disorienting to hit it cold - particularly when you enter later in the morning when the force is "up and running" for the day. I imagine it can seem overwhelming, chaotic, to a visitor or a parent stopping by briefly. I know sometimes it feels overpowering to me and I have to create a space around me or inside myself to "catch up."
It has certain fairly predictable peaks - mass arrivals, mass departures, the time right before a big event or trip, and the times when everyone is gathered in the same room by serendipity or design. And not so predictable, but also happening frequently every day, there are these little magical moments when the volume drops off suddenly and if you're listening with a bigger ear you can hear growing, exploring, becoming - real education - going on all around you.
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By Connor Tyrrell
The Circle School
Why do you want to go to The Circle School, anyway, Connor? Connor attended the summer session and liked what he saw. He dictated this list of his own personal reasons, as part of his family's discussions prior to his enrollment this fall.
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By Scott David Gray
The Sudbury Valley School
Realizing that youth is the time in which most of our long-standing opinions and personality traits are formed, those of us between the ages of six and sixteen were herded like cattle onto buses. Many of us had only heard rumors about the place we were going; we didn't know what these camps were to really consist of.
Most of the parents didn't want to think about the terror we would go through. A few fought back tears as we embarked on that first ride. Other, bolder parents, tried to prevent their children from being so humiliated and abused; and refused to give their children. But these parents were found guilty of breaking the truancy laws and subjected to the same kinds of humiliation as their children; being told by the Authorities that the State knew what was best for them.
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The Best Advice I Can Give Any Teen |
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By Eugene Atwood
The Sudbury Valley School
Drop out of school. Do it, right now. That is the best piece of advice I can give you, because dropping out can get you a lot farther in life then staying in school. I dropped out about 10 months ago, and I have no regrets.
I had been going to the prestigious Boston Latin School for two and a half years, which fucked me over a whole lot. I call it brain rape. The school was set up for teachers to teach, and not, definitely not, for students to learn. I grew a fierce hatred for books, and any sort of learning. I became depressed, and secluded myself from anything. School was my entire life.
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