ABSTRACT
The Sudbury Valley School, in Framingham, Massachusetts opened in 1968, a date that both suggests its mission and philosophy and belies its continued existence after nearly 30 years. Sudbury Valley School, which has maintained a radical educational philosophy over 30 years, is an exception. The Sudbury Valley School founders and staff have written extensively and critically about learning theories that underlie traditional educational practices. In a personal account of the beginning of Sudbury Valley School, Daniel Greenberg described a meeting that was pivotal for the democratic shape the school was to take, and recounts the role Newman played in advocating for full inclusion and openness. Greenberg and Sadofsky suggested that the process by which Sudbury Valley School graduates make decisions about pursuing post-secondary school education and applying to schools and, once accepted, how they function as students is more deliberative, informed, and mature than the route taken by the typical high school senior.
