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 matters. 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. JC works in a similar way to jury duty; it is a rotating group of students and staff that serve together on the committee for one week at a time. Serving on JC is a requirement of all SMM’s, from the 5 year olds to the staff. JC meets every day to handle cases, or “write ups.” A write up happens when any SMM (child or adult) believes that another SMM (child or adult) has broken a rule from the law book. When this happens, the plaintiff retrieves a write up form and records the 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 it was, what should be done about it? We call these consequences “sentences,” and the range varies depending on the case and the rule broken. Some examples of sentences might include a warning, having to wipe down the lunchroom tables if a mess was left out, being banned from a room or supply if it was used incorrectly.

School Assembly

There is a third governing body of the school called Assembly, which includes all School Meeting Members (staff and students) as well as all the parents. Assembly votes on decisions outside of the day to day running of the school, such as tuition and staff salary. Assembly meets once a year in the spring to approve the school budget and take care of 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 that 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. Two clerkships that are elected monthly are the SM Clerk and JC Clerk, each of which run, respectively, School Meeting and Judicial Committee.

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. That is to say, instead of being legislated by the entire school, the governance of a corporation and its domain is done directly by those whom it concerns.

Staff

Staff are adults charged with ensuring the continued existence of the school and the safety of all SMMs. Every year, all SMMs vote 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.