ADMISSIONS

The Admissions Process

We encourage families considering enrollment at Arts & Ideas to attend an open house, especially if they are unfamiliar with our model of education. Students may enroll at any time during the school year, subject to availability. To access a current open house schedule, please click here!

Step 1: Research

If you can't make an Open House, it is essential that you familiarize yourself with our educational approach before you come to an interview. Our website, and its links, are a good place to start. If, after looking through our site, you would like to learn more, please email us, and we can send you some additional links, and perhaps answer some preliminary questions.

Step 2: Schedule an interview

The interview is a chance for us to get to know you and your family, and for you to get to know us and ask us questions about the school. You will get a tour of the space, and since interviews take place during the school day, you will get to see the school “in action.” Interviews typically last about an hour, but we are happy to take as much time as you need to make sure all questions are answered. Email, at aisudburyschool@gmail.com, is the preferred way to schedule an interview, but you are also welcome to schedule via phone at 410-426-0001. There is a $40 interview fee.

Step 3: Visiting week

Once the interview has been completed, the next step towards enrollment is the visiting week - where the student, who wishes to enroll, attends school for 5 full days (typically Monday-Friday). At the end of the visiting week, there is a follow up meeting. The Admissions Clerks will meet with your family to debrief - answer any new questions, talk about surprises or expectations that were met or not met, and to discuss if full enrollment is a good next step. There is a $125 visiting week fee (prorated tuition for one week of school).

Step 4: Enrollment

The final step is the signing of the enrollment contract, only after the visiting week and the follow up meeting have been conducted. The enrollment contract is for the entire school year, or for the remaining duration if enrolled during the school year. In order to build a stable environment at the school and a successful experience for each student, it is important that each family trusts the process of self-initiated learning and commits to the long-term process of community building.

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Tuition

Our next Open House is Wednesday, August 17th, 6PM

“What we’ve found at Arts & Ideas is the space for [our daughter] to swim on her own terms, in her own way, at her own pace.”

Even the most innovative of public charter schools has assignments, tests, strained teachers, and deadlines. For [my daughter], the stress, anxiety, and resentment that came from struggling within those constraints got in the way of actual learning. Rather than blossoming, this incredibly bright kid was failing. Her “off the charts” intelligence didn’t matter; she felt “stupid” and gave up because “success” was based on scores. Her anxiety flared and her self-esteem plummeted. She was getting sick at school and struggled socially. I’m sorry, but a test score does not equal aptitude! We knew the system wasn’t working for her and decided to jump ship.

What we’ve found at Arts & Ideas is the space to swim on her own terms, in her own way, at her own pace. There’s room to breathe, play, stretch, and imagine. In just the few months that we’ve been at A&I, I have already seen a big change in [my daughter's] sense of self. They ebb and flow but the confidence and autonomy she could not find are really starting to bubble. The chance to look inward as well as outward has provided her with her own huge canvas to fill – a scenario she never found herself in while tackling public school. The elimination of deadlines has freed her mind (and schedule) to discover herself and bloom, which is exactly what one should hope to find in any schooling.

I’m not going to lie – there are bumps in the suddenly open road to a teen’s self-sufficiency and the non-accrediting thing scared us a bit going in. BUT we had (and continue to have) faith that the pieces missing in her public school experience –the independence, the time to focus on passions, a fantastic staff that’s always ready and willing to hear her—THESE are what we need and what we’ll find in a Sudbury environment. And that these things in the forefront will make learning exciting – not dreaded. In the few months we’ve been at A&I, she’s already: plotting RPG game designs, playing music, critically thinking about the world around her (“Homestuck as the modern day Odyssey” could totally be a college course), learning about democracy and judiciary responsibility, filling her art portfolio, studying mythology, advocating feminism and social justice, making great friendships, and more. Now THAT’S an education!