A democratic school, as the term is used on this site, is a school where students are trusted to take responsibility for their own lives and learning, and for the school community. At such a school, students choose their own activities and associate with whom they please. If courses are offered, students are always free to take them or not. Generally, evaluation is in the form of self-evaluation by the learner herself. Most of these schools accept students across a wide range of ages (commonly age four through the late teens) and do not segregate students by age, so that students can learn from interacting with others who are older and younger than themselves. Below is a partial list of democratic schools in North America. Each organization listed under the “democratic schools” category is a “school” and recognized as such by the locality in which it operates. If you believe that your school is in accordance with our aforementioned definition, please contact us.
For each state we also list homeschool resource centers, parent cooperatives, unschooling groups, North Star models or other variations of alternatives to compulsory schooling.
Virtual Schools
Pearl High School thepearlhighschool.org
Virtual Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Galileo – Self-directed online school
Workspace Education – Self-directed online school
The Hub – Customized learning & community
Inspired Virtual – Online self-directed community for teens
CANADA
British Columbia
Fraser Valley Free Learners foxglovedemocraticlearning.org Mission, BC
Maple Hill Free Learners nanaimofreelearners.com, Nanaimo, BC
Southlands Farm Outdoor School southlandsfarm/farm-school Vancouver, BC
Windsor House School windsorhouseschool.org North Vancouver, BC
Ontario
Alpha II Alternative School schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/alpha2/Home.aspx Toronto ON
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Passages Centre – Toronto, ON
Learning in the Woods – Hamilton ON.
USA
California
Altadena Free School altadenafreeschool.org – Altadena, CA
Diablo Valley School diablovalleyschool.org Concord, CA
Play Mountain Place playmountain.org – Los Angeles, CA
The Open School openschooloc.com – Orange County, CA
Angeles Workshop angelesworkshop.com – Los Angeles, CA
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Alcove Learning -Downtown LA, CA
Bungalow Lane ALC – Fresno, CA
Free to Learn ALC – Rocklin, CA
Urban Homeschoolers – Edenhurst Ave. LA, CA
Realm Academy – Santa Monica, CA.
Rock Tree Sky – Ojai, CA
Colorado
Alpine Valley School AlpineValleySchool.com Wheat Ridge, CO
The Boulder Sudbury School bouldersudbury.org Boulder, CO
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Proprius Learning – Colorado Springs, CO
Creative Bridges – Evergreen, CO
Natural Learners – Boulder, CO
Connecticut
Mountain Laurel Sudbury School mountainlaurelsudbury.org
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Beacon Self-Directed Learning – New Haven, CT
Delaware
The New School, thenewschool.com Newark, DE
Florida
Grassroots School grassrootsschool.org Tallahassee, FL
Miami Sudbury School miamisudburyschool.org Miami, FL
Spring Valley School springvalleyschool.com Palm Harbor, FL
Sunset Sudbury School sunsetsudbury.org Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Real Life Agile Learning Center RealLifeALC.org Tampa, FL
Georgia
Sudbury School of Atlanta sudburyschoolofatlanta.
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Freedom to Grow Unschool – Hull, GA
Hawaii
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Agile Learning Center – Oahu, HI
Illinois
Tallgrass Sudbury School tallgrasssudbury.org Riverside, IL
Kentucky
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Lousiana
Lafayette Sudbury School lafayettesudbury.wordpress.com – Maurice, LA
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Dat School ALC – New Orleans, LA.
Maryland
Fairhaven School fairhavenschool.com Upper Marlboro, MD
Arts & Ideas Sudbury School aisudbury.com Baltimore MD
Massachusetts
Sudbury Valley School sudval.com Framingham, MA
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Bay State Learning Center – Dedham, MA.
Ingenuity Hub: Personalized Learning Collaborative – Leominster, MA
Macomber Center – Framingham, MA
North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens – Hadley, MA
Parts and Crafts – Somerville, MA
Michigan
Clonlara School, clonlaraschool.org, Ann Arbor, MI
Little Lake Learning Community, littlelakeschool.org, Ann Arbor, MI
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Open Doors: Center for Self-directed Teens Grand Rapids, MI.
Little Lake Learning Community – Ann Arbor, MI
Montana
Glacier Lake School glacierlakeschool.com St. Ignatius, MT
New Jersey
The Jersey Shore Free School jerseyshorefreeschool.org
South Jersey Sudbury School southjerseysudburyschool.org Medford, NJ
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Raritan Learning Cooperative – Flemington, NJ.
South Mountain Coop – Elisabeth, NJ
The Princeton Learning Cooperative – Princeton, NJ.
New Mexico
The Tutorial School tutorialschool.org/index.
New York
Agile Learning Center nycagile.org New York, NY
Brooklyn Free School brooklynfreeschool.org Brooklyn, NY
Harriet Tubman Democratic High School tubmanschool.org Albany, NY
The Albany Free School albanyfreeschool.org Albany, NY
Hudson Valley Sudbury School sudburyschool.com Kingston, NY
Longview School longviewschool.org Brewster, NY
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Brooklyn Apple – Brooklyn, NY
Cottonwood – Brooklyn, NY
Dida Academy – Brooklyn, NY
Kite’s Nest – Hudson, NY
North Carolina
ALC Mosaic alcmosaic.org Charlotte, NC
Gastonia Freedom School ALC gastoniafreedom.org – Gastonia, NC
Zig Zag ALC zigzagalc.org Asheville, NC
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Endor Initiative – Asheville, NC
Dimensions Family School – Durham, NC.
Pathfinder Community School.com Raleigh/Durham, NC
Wildwood ALC Boone, NC
Minnesota
Gaia Democratic School GaiaDemocratic.org Minneapolis, MN
Ohio
Antioch School, www.antiochschool.org Yellow Springs, OH
Kokosing Valley School. kokosingvalleyschool.org. Gambier OH
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Arcadia Learning Commons – Wilmington, OH
Leaves of Learning – Deer Park, OH
Columbus Learning Cooperative – Columbus, OH
Oregon
Eugene Sudbury School eugenesudburyschool.org St, Eugene, OR
The Hive: Self-Directed Learning for Teens thehiveforteens.org Eugene, Oregon.
The Village Free School villagefreeschool.org Portland, OR
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Open Road Learning Community for Teens – Portland, OR.
Village Home – Beaverton and Northeast Portland OR.
Oklahoma
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Rivers and Roads ALC – Oklahoma City, OK
Pennsylvania
The Circle School circleschool.org Harrisburg, PA
The Philadelphia Free School phillyfreeschool.org Philadelphia, PA
Three Rivers Village School threeriversvillageschool.org 34 East Elizabeth Street, Pittsburgh, PA
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Buckslearningcooperative – Langhorne, PA
The Natural Creativity Center Philadelphia, PA
Open Connections – Newtown Square, PA.
Talking Stick Learning Center Philadelphia, PA
Puerto Rico
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Experiencia Alternativa ALC – Cupey, Puerto Rico
Tennessee
Nashville Sudbury School – nashvillesudburyschool.org, Nashville TN
Texas
Abrome abrome.com – Austin, TX
Clearview Sudbury School clearviewsudburyschool.org Austin, TX
EC Stanton Community School ecstanton.org – Fort Worth, TX
Houston Sudbury School houstonsudburyschool.
Makarios Community School makariosschool.org – Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Inspired Learning Academy ALC – Dallas, TX
Utah
The Alpine Valley Academy AlpineValleyAcademy.org, Lehi, Utah.
The Sego Lily School segolilyschool.org – Murray, UT
Virginia
Raw Learning rawlearning.org Staunton, VA
Compass compassclasses.com Centreville, VA
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
Embark Center for Self-Directed Learning – Loudoun County, VA
Washington
The Clearwater School clearwaterschool.com SE, Bothell, WA
Learning Coops and Resource Centers:
The Attic – Seattle, WA
Triskele Rivers ALC – Hood River, OR
D.C. Village Learning Cooperative – Washington, DC
West Virginia
Highland School thehighlandschool.org Ellenboro, WV
Wisconsin
Milestone Democratic School www.milestonedemocratic.org, Madison WI
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