Episode 46

Larry Welshon with his father, Don,

Episode 46: Founding Stories - Arts & Ideas Sudbury School

This is the third part of our special series called Founding Stories, in which we interview founders of other self-directed democratic schools around the world. On this episode, we are transported to downtown Baltimore, Maryland, to the Arts and Ideas Sudbury School. Founder Caroline Chavasse takes us through the early days of their school which includes a documentary film, a play group, and even a little sprinkle of divine intervention. 

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This episode is also available in video format on YouTube. 

Interview Transcript

Caroline: (00:00)

My name is Caroline Chavasse and I'm here in Baltimore, Maryland, and I'm one of the founders of the arts and ideas Sudbury school. I think, um, you know, of course it all came about when we had kids. And um, up until then I had not really thought much about school. Um, it's funny though, I come from a family of educators. At one point I was going to work. Isn't it funny that I ended up, you know, founding a school and then I was like, Oh yeah, I guess it's kind of in my blood. But you know, I think I kind of came at the idea of starting a school in a couple of different ways. Um, I was the youngest kid and I often, um, got a lot of, Oh, that didn't hurt or Oh, you don't want to do that. And people kind of dismissing, you know, things that I cared deeply about and that made me really mad.

Caroline: (00:56)

I, I came from a family that cared about education, but grades weren't so much emphasize, you know, but, but being educated was, I had a one-year-old in a, in a three year old and I would take them to, you know, like mommy and me gymnastics classes and when we'd go into a room where literally the whole room was padded, you know, and there was nothing, no sharp edges, nothing. And we weren't able to like let the kids go and run and play and bounce and jump and climb and build. Like the first 15 minutes of the half an hour gym class was spent sitting quietly in a circle and everyone be quiet. And that just, it did not feel right to me. My husband, Danny, my lack was kind of out in the world pursuing schools. And he came across the Fairhaven school in buoy Maryland about an hour and a half away from us.

Caroline: (01:54)

And so he, he would come, you know, I said, well, I found this school and there's no grades, there's no curriculum, it's democratic. And we'd both kind of scratch our heads. And so he, he ended up saying, well, the way to find out about it is to do a documentary on it. So he, he got approval from their school, meaning to spend some time with them and, and he ended up shooting a documentary called voices from the new American school house. Of course, I like everyone. I had a lot of initial questions. I was worried about exposure and I was worried how will they learn, you know, all the things they need to, they need to learn. Looking at the documentary footage from Fairhaven and thinking, well this, this seems great. And then actually going and visiting a Fairhaven and others, other submarine schools, I just walked in the door and you know, saw those kids and they were so great.

Caroline: (02:48)

And um, I remember vividly kind of walking into the computer lab and teens are in there and they were kind of all shaggy and hunched over their screens. And when we walked in and kind of turned around with this nice bright smile and said, hi, I want to see what I'm working on. And I just thought, Oh, these, these people are great. You know, this is, this is what I want for my kids. I kept having conversations with moms and dads like, well I, I don't want to send my kid to public school or private school but I don't want to homeschool. And, and over and over, it seemed like I had, you know, these conversations with parents that were starting to think about what they were going to do. And at the same time the moms are moms and dad. I were dad's hour, I was talking to 'em, you know, we're starting, they were opening restaurants and tattoos stores and, and haircut places, all right.

Caroline: (03:42)

Within the neighborhood. And I, I just thought, well gosh, if they can open a restaurant or a little shop, why can't, why can't I open a school along that kind of energy and momentum, we decided to go for it and we drove up and down kind of the main main strip here and I wrote down numbers of churches and we started cold calling churches. And the second church that we called, they said, well sure we do have the space come on by. They agreed to, I think they said, well, as long as you can kind of cover the heat and the winter and the electricity, you know, we'll, we'll let you, we'll sign a contract. So they were very kind to kind of let us come in and just, I think our rent was maybe $700 a month. And I remember, I'm kind of right, right as we were signing the contract and, and doing a walkthrough of the space, you know, I kind of said, this must be so odd to you, you know, we just, you know, this little, we just showed up one day and we're going to open this, you know, different kind of school and, and uh, you know, we just kind of dropped out from out of the sky or something like that.

Caroline: (04:53)

And, and the, uh, the guy who was kind of their, their president of their, their vestry, their board said, well, our whole religion is based on, you know, someone just kinda dropping out of the sky and then changing the world. So they, they saw it as, um, kind of a way to give back to their, the, the neighborhood. You know, I think we just really tried to underscore that we were thrilled to be a part of, uh, this school over here that's doing Montessori and this school over here that's, that's doing Emilio Reggio and, and, um, and isn't it great that we're all, um, here in Baltimore, you know, making the Baltimore better and, and offering more choices. So I think that mindset helped a lot. I think we just locked out on, on getting a place and, and, um, connecting with people who were willing to support the school and cut us a break.

Caroline: (05:46)

So, yeah, rewarding. I think, um, seeing, seeing, hearing parents when we have, um, kind of parent gatherings, talk about how their child, how it's been hard being a Sudbury parent, but how their child is just blossoming and how they get compliments all the time about people, other adults, being impressed with how mature and articulate their kids are. And, you know, hearing stories like that and what's rewarding is when our, when what we say will happen happens. And, um, and our, our, um, you know, our guesses are pretty good now. Uh, now that we have 11 years experience, if a parent can hang in there. And that's, that's the big thing. Cause I mean, a couple of months is nothing. You know, we've, we've had some kids sit on, sit on the couch for two years before they've kind of emerge. So, um, if a parent can hang in there and trust the school and the process, you know, of course that's, that's so rewarding when their, when their kid emerges. You know, this, this funny, um, sparkly, interesting personality emerges and feel safe enough to do so and then, and then is able to kind of push themselves. Um, it's so great.