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The Philadelphia Free School also known as Philly Free School or PFS, is a Democratic Free School in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Philly Free School operates on the
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, wit ...
or '' Sudbury school'' model. The school opened in the fall of 2011 and offers a sliding scale tuition to students ages 4 to 19. Philadelphia Free School emphasizes critical thinking, personal responsibility, and democratic governance, rather than standardization and hierarchy.


Structure

Unlike conventional schools, the Philadelphia Free School has no principal or hierarchy among its employees. Every member of the school, student and staff alike, possesses an equal vote on all matters of substance. The school is governed through the School Meeting, and all students and staff participate in the school's Judicial Committee. Students direct their own learning. There is no prescribed curriculum. Students learn from each other, the staff and from the learning materials available to them in the school, in the city, and beyond.


History

Co-founders of the school include: Robert and Michelle Loucas, Mark Filippone, Eric Marr, Suzy Eachus, Nancy Golumbia, Karen Wolfe, Joel Price, Amanda Lanham, Smith Jean, Lani Bevaquan and Darian Shiranni, who had a goal of bringing to Philadelphia a school similar to
The Circle School The Circle School is a self-directed democratic school located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and founded in 1984, and is operated similarly to the Sudbury Valley School (Framingham, Massachusetts) and Hudson Valley Sudbury School ( Kingston, New Y ...
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In July 2010, the Philadelphia Free School incorporated as a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
.


See also

*
List of democratic schools This is a list of some of the current and former democratic schools around the world. This list also includes sub-branches of democratic schools such as Sudbury schools inspired by the Sudbury Valley School and certain anarchistic free schools ...
*
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, wit ...
*
Education reform Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, t ...


References


External links

* {{Coord, 39.941330, -75.175924, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Democratic education Schools in Philadelphia Private high schools in Pennsylvania Private middle schools in Pennsylvania Private elementary schools in Pennsylvania 2011 establishments in Pennsylvania