Fairhaven School was founded in 1998 in

Upper Marlboro, Maryland Upper Marlboro, officially the Town of Upper Marlboro, is the seat of Prince George's County, Maryland. Aso of the 2020 census, the population was 652. although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger. Etymology Upper Marlboro was establ ...

. It is one of over 30 schools based on the

Sudbury Model A Sudbury school is a type of school, usually for the K-12 age range, where students have complete responsibility for their own education, and the school is run by a direct democracy in which students and staff are equal citizens. Students use t ...

. The model has two basic tenets:

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

freedom and

democratic governance Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

. It is a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

, attended by children from the ages of 5 to 19. The school was founded by Mark and Kim McCaig after learning about

Sudbury Valley School The Sudbury Valley School was founded in 1968 by a community of people in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States. As of 2019, there are several schools that state that they are based on the Sudbury Model in the United States, Australia, Belgiu ...

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popu ...

.Vangelova, Luba
"How Students Lead the Learning Experience at Democratic Schools"
KQED, October 10, 2014, accessed February 27, 2019. Fairhaven School practices a form of

democratic education Democratic education is a type of formal education that is organized democratically, so that students can manage their own learning and participate in the governance of their school. Democratic education is often specifically emancipatory, with ...

in which students individually decide what to do with their time, and learn as a by-product of ordinary experience rather than through classes or a standard curriculum. Students are given complete responsibility for their own education and the school is run by a

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

in which students and staff are equals.Anderson, Nick
"Learning on Their Own Terms"

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

, April 24, 2006, accessed March 3, 2011. Fairhaven School enforces a flexible attendance policy, in which students must attend for 5 hours per day, but can intersperse the premises as long as they meet that minimum time requirement.

Philosophy

Fairhaven School is run on the concept that all students and staff members should have equal rights and voices in the running of the school. Students that attend Fairhaven are entirely responsible for their success in academics. Because the Fairhaven has no set curriculum or classes, students are allowed to request what classes they want to attend.

School Meeting

Every Wednesday the School holds a meeting in which major decisions such as electing staff and approving the budget are voted on. The School Meeting is run by a Chair and Secretary. This meeting serves as a place for students or staff to make announcements, and approve motions. All students and staff have the right to vote during these meetings. The School Meeting also acts as a court for Referrals and Not Guilty Trials.

Judicial Committee

There is a daily judicial committee which meets to address grievances and give consequences to students who break rules. Two clerks are elected every six weeks, along with the two alternate clerks. One staff member sits in on J.C. Every student in the school takes their turn on JC, and serves a two-week term. There is a yearly election for Law clerks who act as overseers to the smooth functioning of JC, and Not Guilty trials in School Meeting. Students may write up fellow students or staff members for breaking the rules in the law-book. A JC meeting unfolds as the following. First all available information is about the case is gathered, both the

Defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

, and

Plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...

are given a chance to state their case. After a report has been approved the JC decides whether to charge any individuals with breaking school rules stated in the Law Book. If an individual is charged they have the right to plead either Guilty or Not Guilty. If the individual is found Guilty they are given a punishment, if they plead Not Guilty their case is sent to School Meeting for a final verdict. If a crime is considered to extreme to be handled by JC it is referred to School Meeting for further sentencing.

Committees & Corporations

Many aspects of the school are determined by groups of students who form various Committees and Corporations. Corporations such as Kitchen Corp, Computer Corp, and even Board Game corp, meet regularly to decide how best to allocate their funds. Whereas Committees such as Judicial Committee, Cleaning Committee, Public Relations Committee, work on governing different areas of the school and even maintaining it. A new corporation or committee may be chartered at any time, given there is enough student support and a favorable School Meeting vote.

Graduation Process

In order for a student to graduate from Fairhaven School, a student must write a thesis on how they have used the school's philosophy to become effective adults. This thesis is presented to tribunal of peers from other Sudbury schools, and thoroughly evaluated. During the process known as "Thesis Defense" the student is interviewed by the tribunal to ensure said student is ready to graduate. If the student passes both the "Thesis Defense" and the thesis review they are allowed to graduate, and provided with a high school diploma.

Gallery

File:FH Sign1.jpg, A picture of the Fairhaven Sign. File:FH OB1.jpg, A picture of the Old Building in the Spring. File:FH NB2.jpg, A picture of the side of the New Building.

References

External links

Fairhaven School Website
{{authority control Schools in Prince George's County, Maryland Private elementary schools in Maryland Private middle schools in Maryland Private high schools in Maryland Sudbury Schools