Sudbury International

08/03/2026

We've just published a new blog post, from Larry Welshon over at Alpine Valley School, about the magic of a justice system that treats students and staff as equals.

"I was reminded that the search for truth in a fair system does not depend on age, title, or experience. Sometimes it comes down to who is paying close enough attention to ask the right question at the right time. In this instance, that person happened to be 11 years old."

Click below to read the full article:

07/09/2026

A new episode of Sudbury in Depth has been published! Join us as we interview three staff members from Sudbury schools about the role of staff in a Sudbury school.

Welcome to the Sudbury in Depth series, where we take a deep dive i...

06/21/2026

We've just published a new blog post! This is a classic article from Daniel Greenberg, founder of Sudbury Valley School, on why it makes sense to mix ages in school.

"How do you advance in a job? You do not advance in a job by limiting yourself to contact with other people who are at your level. You advance in a job by observing people who are good at it, and trying to get better yourself. The essence of learning is communicating with, seeing, following, interacting with, and trying to learn from, people who are good at the things that you aspire to."

The main way people learned throughout history was by observing people older than them. So why do schools have same-age classrooms?

05/11/2026

A new episode of Sudbury in Depth has been published! Join us as we interview four staff members from Sudbury schools about the concepts of equality between students of all ages, as well as equality between students and staff.

Welcome to the Sudbury in Depth series, where we take a deep dive into the philosophy and practice of the Sudbury model. Each episode, 3-4 staff members from...

04/26/2026

We just published a new blog post! Aaron Browder from The Open School reminds us that what our kids are doing right now is educational, whether it looks like it or not.

"Social and emotional skills are far more complex than practical skills, and take a long, long time to master. Conventional education, which spends tremendous resources and years of kids’ lives teaching them to do simple things like read and calculate, would have us believe otherwise. But kids learn to read and do math quickly and painlessly when they are ready and truly interested. Conversely, social and emotional affairs are minefields of confusion even for the most emotionally intelligent kids. That is why free children choose to spend so much time in social play."

Read the full article:

Kids are always learning, whether they are studying, building, playing, talking, or just contemplating.

04/09/2026

In the new blog post Lisa Lyons is a retired staff member at in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, U.S. talks about her experience being a staff member at a Sudbury school for sixteen years and what she’s learned in the process. Link to the blog in bio

04/03/2026

We've just published a new blog post: The reflections of a retired staff member (Lisa Lyons of Fairhaven School) on her many years at Sudbury schools and what they meant to her.

"Every day I shared my knowledge and experience, and every day students shared right back—their poetry, art, passion, humor, intelligence. The enormous resource we have in children is unseen in the larger culture. Only at Sudbury schools, and in some families, are young people treated with the respect all human beings deserve."

Read the full article below:

A retired staff member's reflection on her many years at Sudbury schools and what they meant to her.