Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Altadena Free School to Hold Open House Saturday, June 27

Parents who are interested in learning more about the Altadena Free School are encourage to see for themselves what kind of learning environment awaits children during the school’s first Open House at its new home – the Children’s Country House on 2821 Santa Rosa Avenue.

The school recently signed a new lease on the building, which is just one block away from the originally planned campus. Altadena Free School will be using the upper floor as well as the south side of the exterior which includes a garden, where children could play with the goats, ducks, and a pony named Starbright.

The Open House will be on June 27, a Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. It will also be the last Open House before school starts on September 8^th.

The Altadena Free School, the first of its kind in the San Gabriel Valley, uses the model of successful democratic schools or alternative schools where every student “is free to pursue his or her own interests at any time, with as much or as little input from the staff and each other as they desire,” according to the school’s website,www.altadenafreeschool.org.

The school has no grades, no age segregation, no formal classes, no testing and no homework. The students actually participate in the democratic process of running the school, implementing rules, resolving conflicts, and making collective decisions out of ideas discussed “in regular meetings where student and staff have equal power through a debate and voting process.”

During the Open House, the school is inviting parents and their kids to come and visit, meet the staff, meet the animals, and pick up a registration packet. A post on the school’s Facebook page highly suggests that parents and students “research all the material on our website, from articles and links to videos so you have a working knowledge of how free schools work,” before attending the Open House.

Staff will be available to guide visitors and may also discuss plans for the year, but will not be able take the time to explain the philosophies of the free school movement.

Registration is going on on a first-come, first-served basis, and is open for a limited number of students – only 20 slots for the first year.

About the tuition rates, the Altadena Free School charges $8,850/year for full-time education, and $6,400/year for part-time.