Age Mixing

Cheyenne
"Talking and laughing with everybody is a lot of fun. It's nice to be able to talk to the staff and not have them treat you like a little kid like a teacher does at public school Everyone is really polite." — Cheyenne, Student, Age 16
"Our task is to provide an education for the kind of kids we have... Not the kind of kids we used to have... Or want to have... Or the kids that exist in our dreams."
— Mary Kay Utecht

Just as the lines blur between work and play, the lines of age become non-existent. There is no separation or grouping by age, instead there is a community of people with different skills and different interests. Fifteen-year-olds read to six-year-olds and seven-year-olds give skateboarding tips to sixteen-year-olds. The competition created by putting kids of the same age together is transformed into friends helping each other move through life in a natural and supportive way.

The staff's role at a Sudbury school is multifacited: they complete the age continuum, they model responsible behavior, and they handle the administrative work of running the school. Staff members are friends, sounding boards, counselors, and most importantly, they support the environment that allows the freedom, trust and responsibility to flourish in each student.