Our Structure

School Meeting

The overarching governing body of the school is School Meeting, which is comprised of all enrolled students and staff. Hence, each member of the school is called a School Meeting Member, or SMM. School Meeting convenes once a week to vote on decisions related to running the school, such as rule changes, spending proposals, visitor approvals, election matters, and difficult judicial cases. Every SMM can cast one vote in every decision, regardless of the type or magnitude of the decision.

Judicial Committee

While School Meeting creates and amends the rules and policies of the school as needed, Judicial Committee (JC) enforces all the rules in the law book. Similar to jury duty, a rotating group of students and staff serve together on JC for one week at a time. Serving on JC is a requirement of all SMMs, from the 5 year olds to the staff. JC meets every day to handle cases, or “write ups.” When any SMM (child or adult) believes that another SMM (child or adult) has broken a rule from the law book, the plaintiff writes up a grievance form and records details of the incident.

The case is usually heard the next day in JC, which is run much like a small court

• all testimony from both sides is heard, evidence is presented, and JC makes two decisions by vote: was a rule actually broken, and, if so, what should be done about it? The consequences or "sentences" are case-specific; examples include a warning, cleaning up a mess, or being banned from a room or supply that was used incorrectly.

School Assembly

The third governing body of the school is called School Assembly, which consists of all School Meeting Members (students and staff) and parents. The School Assembly votes on decisions beyond the day-to-day running of the school, such as tuition and staff salary. The School Assembly meets once a year in the spring to approve the school budget and to address any other needed business.

Clerkships

Much of the school’s day-to-day administrative needs are managed by clerks. Clerks are elected officials within the school who are designated to handle one particular duty impacting the whole school community. Some examples of clerkships are Admissions Clerk, Attendance Clerk, PR Clerk, Buildings Clerk, and Grounds Clerk. Clerkships may be held by students or staff and are generally elected yearly. SM Clerk and JC Clerk, who are elected monthly, preside over School Meeting and Judicial Committee, respectively.

Corporations

Corporations are groups of School Meeting Members that are given authority over a specific non-essential sphere of activity (e.g., cooking, electronics, gymnastics, etc.) and generally have a budget approved by School Meeting. Rather than legislated by the entire school, the governance of a corporation and its domain is done directly by those involved.

Staff

Staff are adults entrusted with ensuring the continued existence of the school and the safety of all School Meeting Members. Every year, all SMMs vote on whether to rehire each staff member for the following year. This is a true vote, taken with great care by all involved. Children seem to know when an adult is both useful to the school and respectful to all SMMs. Staff do not try to curry favor nor inflict control over children; their task is to maintain the community and to be authentic in their interactions with all.