Are you familiar with the Sudbury Valley School or Democratic model of education?

I would pick the individual school you are interested in and ask the administration who accredits them, The standard umbrella accrediting organization for Independent Day School is NAIS, The National Association of Independent Schools.

I am a little suspicious of young children who are supposed to design their own curriculum. And I found it curious that there was no mention of accreditation on the web site.

My experiences have been with traditional Independent Day Schools, including The Town School in NYC and Germantown Friends School in Phila. (My then-husband was headmaster, and there wasn’t anything I didn’t know about the school.) He then went on to be the Executive Director of The New York Association of Independent Schools, the accrediting outfit for NYS schools.

I loved having my kids at a Friends (Quaker) School.

I know a number of people who went to Sudbury Valley. they seem generally self-aware, assertive and self-confident. even if it has to do with the kind of upbringing they have (not all parents would want to send this kids there) I figure that it would influence your children in a good way.

I too know a number of people who went to Sudbury Valley (and to other Sudbury model schools). (Full disclosure: I have been associated with Sudbury Valley and have served as a corporate officer and member of its board of trustees throughout its lifetime.)
With “open enrollment”, students appear at Sudbury model schools with a broad spectrum of interests (and sometimes, lack of apparent interests). Nonetheless, a large majority continue with higher education, and find colleges and universities are welcoming. Often this is due to the students ability to choose schools appropriate to those interests and the students goals. This echos the points mentioned by Ria777.
Many Sudbury model graduates, my own children and others, have told me about their amazement in seeing college classmates from prestigious public and private schools (non Sudbury model schools) who lacked the self discipline and initiative to address their courses. They seemed to look for instruction in what and how to study.
My kids went to competitive colleges and universities, earned 2 PhD’s among the three, and went on to pursue satisfying careers in their chosen fields. They continue to reflect fondly and admiringly at their years at SVS.

Thank you for the input. @gailcalled I have looked into the local Friends School here and it does sound wonderful to us. Sadly, in this area, it is beyond our funding capabilities. I hear your suspicions and they give me questions to explore with the school.

@MikeS I am glad you found my question. I wonder if you would answer a couple more questions for me.

What sort of system is in place for noticing and addressing remedial issues that the child may not be aware of?

How do children who have ’special needs’ traditionally fare in this environment? (In particular, I am thinking about cognitive processing issues and difficulties.)

I’ll try to address this, but I anticipate that my response will be inadequate. I urge you to raise these questions with staff personnel at the school in question, especially if you feel they apply to your child. And my comments will apply ONLY to SVS, where the School takes pains to make it known that it is NOT a remedial institution.
First, most children in the Sudbury model will individually recognize their personal areas of weakness and find ways to deal with them, including putting more energy into overcoming them. This may not include recognition and articulation of the weakness in the same way that an adult might diagnose, but more in the fashion of wanting to be able to keep up with ones peers and finding ways to do so.
Secondly, thew relationships that come to exist between staff and students often is much more personal than in a conventional school, and allows the staff member to interact with the student (and parents) in a more guiding way when that is seen as appropriate.
On the other hand, SVS is much more cognizant of the fact that we are all individuals and develop individual capabilities and strengths at different ages. So, for example, the lack of interest and ability in reading may not be seen as a developmental issue, but simply reflect the fact that the student has higher priority interests. SVS has seen children develop basic reading skills only at age ten or twelve and quickly reach parity with their age group.
There is much written material on these topics in the SVS literature, some available on line, some in print and on other media available on the SVS website. http://www.sudval.org/

MikeS

@MikeS We are discussing these things with the school. We are drawn to SVS because it doesn’t follow a traditional remedial model and I am familiar the Sudbury ideology and literature that relates. I was curious about your insights as well, thank you for taking time to share those.