South Bay School Boasts No Grades, No Tests
Students Create Their Own Curriculum, Schedule

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Some South Bay parents don't have to worry about their children ever receiving a bad grade on a report card.

That's because the school their children attend doesn't give grades -- or tests. They don't even have teachers.

Cedarwood Sudbury School is a small private school in Santa Clara with some pretty big ideas that challenge the notion of a traditional education.

Students here have to put in four hours a day, but how they spend the time is up to them. All they have to do is clock in.

There are no textbooks, and students only get homework if they ask for it. A video game can be considered part of the learning process. The students are in charge of their own day and are free to play, talk, work on a computer or read.

If Ferris Bueller went to school here, he probably would never have taken the day off.

"A lot of them, especially the younger ones, spend most of their time playing but while they're playing, they're figuring out a lot of things that kids in regular schools are learning while sitting at a desk," a school official says.

Staff members -- they are not called teachers at Cedarwood Sudbury -- say the idea is that kids can acquire the necessary life skills and knowledge through experiences triggered by their own interests and curiosity.

"No matter what school you send your child to, you're picking what they're learning, you pick that they have this core curriculum or you pick that they get a chance to explore their artistic side, you pick something," a staff member says. "Here, you're picking responsibility, self-determination and being passionate about their interest and goals."

Students admit enrolling as a new student at Cedarwood is no easy adjustment.

"I'm so used to having people tell me what to do most of the time, it's kind of a shock when you get here and no one's gonna tell you what you should do everyday with your time," a student says.

Jesse, 14, now speaks Japanese, a language he says he wouldn't have had the time to pursue at his old school.

Cedarwood is challenging what it means to be educated, and there are several schools like it in the United States, based on a school set up in the northeast in 1968.

So what about college?

These students depend on references, SAT scores or interviews.

Copyright 2006 by NBC11.com.