A Saint Louis Sudbury School student volunteered to come up with questions to ask Phoebe Love, a staff and board member. Phoebe talks about what she likes at Sudbury, how students learn, the Sudbury model, the school environment, and more.

What is your favorite thing about Sudbury?
At the moment I like not knowing what to expect. Who could expect, for instance, that you would want to help me revise the enrollment contract? Or that the student board would want to organize a school dance? Or that a bird would fly into the building and spend the night in the library?

Do you think Sudbury is a positive environment for the students and staff?
Yes. We are nice to each other, and when we aren’t we fix it.

Why do you think Sudbury works?
Because we want it to work. The flexibility of the structure and the size of the school means that when we see something isn’t working, we can figure out why and try something new.

Do you think kids at Sudbury are learning?
Definitely. Sometimes they learn things that they didn’t expect to learn, and I don’t mean information. Information is easily had, especially with the internet now, but here they — you — are learning how to work with others, whether it’s getting a bird out of the building, figuring out how to say someone is doing something that is bothering you without being mean about it, arguing for the right to bring in a whittling knife, or interviewing a staff member because a board member requested it for the blog.

Do you like the Sudbury model?
Yes, as I interpret it! When I first got here, I was interpreting it in a way that was too restrictive for adults, where we were supposed to be helpers IF someone asked for our help, or just doing our own thing, so that the kids could watch us doing it and get sucked in, or not. Both of which are fine, but to restrict it to that is practically a “Don’t speak unless spoken to” edict, which is unnatural and depressing. I was pretty much violating it, then feeling guilty and retreating into a shell, and now I’m just me, and if I’m being too pushy or bossy you can give me a talking-to, and we’ll figure it out. There has been a recent precedent for that, with students/staff, which I hope was a positive experience overall, even if it was uncomfortable in the moment.

Do you think we need more students to keep Sudbury going? If yes, how many more?
We definitely need more students, and I hope the flyer you designed yesterday sucks them in! How many more? At this location I would like maybe twenty more.

Do you think Sudbury is a good place to enroll at?
Yes, although it might not be for everyone. What we want to do is create an atmosphere where, if you are thinking it’s not for you, you could say something, and we could figure it out together, and make it work. The students have a lot of power here, individually and collectively, and that can be bewildering to some, especially if they came straight from a school where they were told what to do every second of the day. Conventional school promises success in the world if you obey all instructions (inaccurately, we believe), and it takes a scary leap of faith to chart your own course, even if you have a group of people to help you with it.