Academics

Children are given the opportunity to embark on their quest for knowledge and understanding at their own pace. We provide many resources for this journey, including experience, support, encouragement, a variety of hands-on learning materials and opportunities for field trips. With a student-teacher ratio of 8:1, we create the “one-room school house” model where students of all ages work together in the same class.

Children are encouraged to understand and relate to the changing world around them. Given the opportunity, the students develop self-reliance and confidence, enabling them to make decisions and to take responsibility for the results of their actions. We nurture continued self-motivation rather than dependence on external motivation.

Little River students are encouraged to help one another and learn through cooperation.

The school is committed to values that are nonviolent and nondiscriminatory regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, age and handicapping condition.

By maintaining close ties with people in the community, the activities of the school become relevant in everyday life. All school activities take place in a loving environment that nurtures self-confidence and mutual respect.

Individualized curricula are created together by the student, parents, and teachers. Special emphasis is put on the academics, emotional needs, problem-solving skills, hands-on experience and field trips. Basic skills, such as math, reading, and writing, are taught in small classes of four to eight students or on an individual basis. Students are grouped by their ability and interests, rather than by grade level.

On a daily basis, the students come together in a group circle for discussion, to make plans and to solve problems.

Students are given ample opportunity for unstructured play and to choose their own activities - be it fantasy or a project of their own design.

The students work on many activities as a group. Special classes are available to the students including farming, cooking, Spanish, music, art, nature studies, woodworking, computer literacy, theater, yoga, cooperative learning games, and others as determined by student interest and skills found among the parents, teachers, and community.

There are field trips in the local community and overnight trips to places in our region. We visit people from other cultures in places like Akwesasne, Ottawa, and Puerto Rico.    Annually, we attend alternative school gatherings, including the Northeast Association Democratic Education Conference (NADEC), held at different schools across the country. 

Students have an opportunity to do community service, such as assisting an elderly neighbor or serving food at the Campus Kitchen dinners.