Staffing Opportunity at Tallgrass Sudbury School

Tallgrass Sudbury School, located in Riverside, IL, just outside Chicago, is a democratic K-12 school community where students are free to pursue their interests at their own pace and in their own way. Tallgrass is seeking a staff member to start part-time and potentially transition to full-time as we grow. An integral part of Tallgrass is School Meeting, a body made up of students and staff, which makes all schoolwide decisions. The students and staff have an equal vote in all matters of school governance, including making school rules, approving expenditures, and even staff hiring.

 In a typical week as a staff member at Tallgrass, you might:

• engage with students, staff, and the greater community
• respond to inquiries about enrollment or from potential visitors
• work with committees that include staff, students, and parents to make decisions collaboratively
• write or revise policies or rule changes and propose them to school meeting
• talk to parents about questions and issues
• teach classes in response to student requests
• act as the staff member on the Judicial Committee
• be an active participant in School Meeting
• be part of a dynamic community dedicated to living out its democratic principles

 Required Qualifications:

• Belief in the natural impulse of children (and adults!) to strive for personal growth; commitment to one’s own personal growth.
• Excellent communication and literacy skills, including expressing thought in writing and interacting effectively with children and adults from a wide variety of backgrounds.
• Be an interested, interesting, engaged, and passionate person.
• Strong self-management skills, including high levels of initiative and ability to authentically and effectively prioritize.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality of student and family data.
• Pass required background checks before beginning employment.
• Ability to solve problems creatively with limited resources.
• Ability to trust in the school’s democratic School Meeting and peer-based judicial system to adequately resolve rule infractions.

You will join a team of two full-time paid staff as well as regular volunteers, and will have a wide variety of responsibilities. Tallgrass hopes to grow our small community significantly in the near future, and the ideal candidate will be willing and able to act as one of the leaders in this effort. While you do not need to have marketing experience, a willingness to gain skills in this area and to think flexibly and creatively about how we can promote our school are essential. Our school is open 9:00 to 4:00 Monday through Friday, with some hours outside of school hours expected for meetings and administrative or marketing work.

Staff members should be able to act as models of responsibility, resourcefulness, initiative, and good conflict resolution, and be willing to listen to and accept feedback. Staff are expected to work within the Sudbury model.

Please submit a letter of interest and resume to info@tallgrasssudbury.org or, if you have additional questions, contact us either by email or by phone at 708.777.1037.  The application period will close on April 13. 

If Kids Could Vote

A student at Tallgrass asked me recently, “If you could do anything to change the direction our country is going in, what would you do?” As a school, we don’t take political positions, but the contentious election has naturally been on people’s minds.

I said, “I would let people under 18 vote.”

Our school ballot box, used for staff and clerkship elections.

I said that if your goal is to create social change, letting young people have a real voice would be the best way to make it happen more quickly. Studies show that attitudes about issues like race and LGBT rights split clearly along generational lines, with younger people more and more in favor of equality for everyone.

We talked through the pros and cons: Should you have to prove yourself competent to vote? What about adults who aren’t well-informed—they don’t have to prove themselves. What if parents tried to influence their kids’ votes?

In the 1960s, political pressure lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, since 18-year-olds were being sent to fight and die in Vietnam, yet had no voice in choosing the leaders of the country. Fifty years later, that same issue is on the minds of some Tallgrass teenagers, who are worried about being forced to fight in a possible war started by people that they never would have voted into office. (NB: At least one student thought Hillary Clinton would have been equally bad if not worse.) They were angry that they couldn’t vote in this election, even though they will have to live with—and be personally affected by—the results.

Could we lower the voting age again? Should we? Takoma Park, Maryland, lowered the voting age for municipal elections to 16 in 2013, and in some other cities those 16 and up can vote in school board elections.

The chair of our school aesthetics and use committee (right) consults with an interior designer about changes to the school. 

Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone at the national level is seriously considering lowering the voting age. But at Tallgrass and other Sudbury schools, kids CAN vote—and they vote on real issues, with their votes equal to those of adults. When we’re talking to people about our school, we often point out that the kids far outnumber us—only four adults are eligible to vote at school meeting, versus about 20 students. Students vote on everything from field trips, to the budget, to who the staff should be. As in the real world, not everyone chooses to vote on every issue. But when they do vote, they take their votes seriously, weighing the issues to the best of their ability.

We say that kids are equal here—and we mean it.

Challenge: Give to Help Support Tallgrass Sudbury School

**UPDATE: ALL gifts through the end of the year (midnight on 12/31) will be matched. Thank you to the generous friends of Tallgrass who have donated so far!**

Want to help a unique educational institution and reduce your tax burden at the same time? An anonymous donor will match donations to Tallgrass Sudbury School up to $500 through the end of the year.

To donate, send a check to Tallgrass Sudbury School, 82 Woodside Rd., Riverside, IL, 60546; or donate through the Paypal button below. 

Tallgrass is the only Sudbury-model school in the Chicago area, and offers students the space and time to discover their true passions. Tallgrass has a policy of charging  low tuition compared to other private schools and offers tuition reduction to put the Sudbury experience within the reach of as many families as possible.

If you’re new to the Sudbury philosophy, this explanation from the original Sudbury Valley School sums up the principles our school is based on: “SVS is a place where people decide for themselves how to spend their days. . . The fundamental premises of the school are simple - that all people are curious by nature; that the most efficient, long-lasting, and profound learning takes place when started and pursued by the learner; that all people are creative if they are allowed to develop their unique talents; that age-mixing among students promotes growth in all members of the group; and that freedom is essential to the development of personal responsibility.”

If you think this type of school is a valuable option for families in Chicagoland, please consider making a donation. Even if you aren’t able to donate yourself, please pass this message along to others who may be interested.

Thank you for your support of Tallgrass! Our best wishes for a great holiday season…and taxes that are just a little lower! 

Tallgrass Sudbury School is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All contributions from US donors are tax-deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.