Sudbury Schools are hands-on learning at its finest. People in the school learn to live with the consequences of their actions at all times, and hence to tailor their actions to produce the consequences that best satisfy their deepest needs. For School Meeting members (students and staff), among other things, this means acting to choose the people with whom they will spend their days.

Staff are elected at the end of each school year through a process that lasts about eight weeks. There is no tenure. Elections take place in School Meeting by secret ballot. All School Meeting Members (students and staff) in good standing are entitled to vote for staff and on the details of their contracts.

Traditional teaching credentials and experience, while admirable and desirable in most other traditional and alternative school environments, are not necessarily so in a school built on the Sudbury model. We highly recommend, if you feel attracted to working within this radically different framework, that you read as many of the excellent books about the school as you can get your hands on. Most of these are published by the Sudbury Valley School Press and available to order online. We also have many of them for sale at our site.

Some things you might want to consider before filing an official application with us, or any Sudbury School:

• There is no curriculum - all learning is initiated and carried forward by the student.
• There are no grades, nor any type of assessment.
• There is no age segregation.
• There is no tenure - staff are elected on an annual basis by the the School Meeting, the governing body of the school, which is comprised of students and staff, all of whom have an equal vote.
• Staff are resources for students, but are expected not to initiate activities. This is a hard thing for most traditionally trained teachers to understand, and harder still to integrate into their work. The main purpose of staff is to model effective adult behavior, and be available to respond to specific requests from students, should they arise. Staff are also expected to handle administrative and secretarial duties as needed.
• Staff have no arbitrary authority "over" students. All matters of conflict or discipline that can't be resolved on a person-to-person basis are referred (in writing) to the Judicial Committee for resolution. The J.C. is a judiciary body composed of students and staff chosen by lot from all representative age groups; it hears, investigates and renders binding decisions on all complaints.

If, after doing the "homework" (educating yourself on the basics of the philosophy) you have any further questions, or seriously wish to pursue a career as a Sudbury Staff person, feel free to contact us!