ABSTRACT
The small number of communes that lasted longer than one generation points, among other things, to the problems of instilling the values. In the religious communes there was the additional motivation of providing a religious education in the spirit of the sect. Lessons included a history of the commune and the sect, its theology and rituals. High-school education and coaching students for Harvard was an important source of income. In the religious communes, rituals, prayer meetings, communion of young members and new ones, and special festivals reaffirmed the member's feeling of commitment. State supervisors were most impressed by the level of education on commune schools and spread their fame as institutions for character-building and religious education. Communal schools had a reputation of being excellent institutes of education with a high level of proficiency. Schools differed from commune to commune. Each commune had its own special educational institutions with their unique set of values and ideals.
