In the late 1960’s, the San Geronimo Valley, like most of the country, was in a state of flux.  New residents, a good number of them artists or working in helping professions, found homes in its canyons and clearing.  Often they found common ground around civil rights issues.  Many were raising families.  They became involved in cooperative pre-school groups.  Sandra and Jack Dorward were part of a growing group of parents with school-age children who were looking for a more progressive, pragmatic approach to education, and  attended school board meetings of the Lagunitas School District to start a dialogue about innovative educational ideas with board members, talking about ways to accomplish them in the public school.

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Members of the Open Classroom community see social, physical, emotional, and academic growth as being interrelated and of equal value. In order to meet the needs of the total child, we emphasize respect for the individual and individual learning styles, emotional growth and freedom of choice. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget has shown that there are patterns and sequences to the learning of certain skills; we use these as guides and recognize that individuals do not follow precise timetables. To help our children develop a sense of responsibility for their own progress, we encourage them to make choices. As educator John Holt said, “Only from making choices and judgments can the child learn to make them better, or learn to trust his own judgment.”

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