Marty Meade and Karen Voets spent a day a week for months sorting through boxes of photos spanning all the years of the Open Classroom. They created 44 posters worth of them, some themed, some by year. Then they added in the posters that were made for the 25th...

It had been on my mind for 5 years, and in a more active state since January 2020. On May 14th it came to fruition so magnificently!! There are so many people to thank who helped make yesterday's celebration a reality. Dave Cort set me on the path in the fall of 2019,...

When I got these memories from Tamina Stephenson, who attended the Open from 1985 to 1992, and from Becky Lynch, who was our Resource Specialist in the early 2000's I saw a way to link them that I hope you enjoy. First Tamina recalls: * Sock Walks: We put adult-size...

By Steve and Carol Rebscher   Like many new parents in the San Geronimo Valley my wife, Carol, and I looked at the three elementary programs in the Lagunitas School District. At the time, those were the Montessori Program, the Open Classroom Program and the...

by Amy Valens One of the things I have enjoyed so much in being part of the Open community is how even the traditions that repeat every year–the haunted house or the holiday cafe, never are the same twice, and always allow us to get excited about learning...

by Amber Rose Bauer Some of my favorite times in Open were in the art room. Lanee was the art teacher at that time, and I always remember there being endless opportunities. I would grab cardboard, tape and scissors and be enthralled in a world that could have lasted...

by Kristy Muhic Arroyo There was no designated art teacher or art room in the Open Classroom during the first three years that I was in the program (from 1971-1973), and I didn’t need an art teacher or art room to know that I could always feel free to take creative...

by Amy McConnell, Open Classroom parent I haven’t visited in a while, but the Open Classroom is not just a figment of my imagination. It really was and always will be the coziest, most inviting home for learners, for everybody. There is a connection among families...

by Alison Double Back in our family’s day, most parents co-oped at Open Classroom;  I was one of the parents lucky enough to spend a lot of time volunteering in the program.   Just to give you an idea of timing, in those days, we still used paper Scrip*, sold from a...

by Leif Glomset March 19, 2022 Howdy all; I’m Leif Glomset. I taught in the Open Classroom from 1972-79, the first years. I’m looking forward to seeing so many of you in May. I thought I’d toss out a few random good memories from those years as we get ready for the...

Those tables.  It was the first thing I remember seeing in the Open Classroom.  Year of our Lord 1975.  Imagine squat, angular, modernist mushrooms.  Seen from above they were like stop signs, except instead of equilateral octagons, every other side was triple the...

I love school. I always have. Yes, there were mornings in Marlene's room when I cried with her because I missed my mom, but even then there was something that felt so right about being there. Being at school. It felt like the place I was supposed to be. It still does....

A nervous energy fills every member of the school community before the start of the new year.  A teacher in the Open Classroom is no exception.  Can I do this?  Am I prepared?  Is the room alright?  Judy’s room looks perfect.  Mine...

When the rains started this year I remember waking up one morning and thinking: “I am retired now.  Rainy days don't mean facing all that child energy contained in a building.”  But then I had a different memory of times when rainy days were amazing, even...

    The Open Classroom resuscitated my teaching career. Through years of public and private school jobs I had stalled in a profession that stifled my idealism and desire for creative freedom in the classroom. After a five year break from the...

Asked to describe my own experience inside Open Classroom, I find myself beyond words, for something so crucial and sacred, which saved my life and those of many around me, is beyond explanation. But, if pressed, I will begin with this: Community is the core of...

When I retired after 36 years of teaching in the Tam District, I was ready for a change and thought I might like to volunteer at my local elementary school. I was welcomed by the principal who set up a schedule for me in the Montessori, Waldorf and Open Classroom...

The first time I visited Open Classroom I was overwhelmed. There were so many things happening I wasn't sure what was what, but I loved how the teachers talked with the children and the other parents talked to us. When we left I said to my husband, “I don't know what...

I sat down recently with Judy Voets. Here's what she had to say. As I think about the beginning of Open I think about how we did a lot of laughing.   We had to laugh because there was so much that we didn't know, and we didn't know where to start!  It worked...

What influenced my thinking the most probably is growing up in Berkeley and going to UC Berkeley in and out from 1950 to 1960. I was always interested in politics and how decisions were made, so I took part in politics at Berkeley, and was a member of Slate, the...

Some great memories from Clay and Play Day! http://lagunitasopenclassroom.com/photo-albums/

This is the first of hopefully many posts where members of the Open Community write about their personal experience of the program. Feel free to contact us if you'd like to write an entry! ****** We moved to the Valley in 1970 and Kate was enrolled in Sandy Dorward's...

Ally Wilson was a student 25 years ago when Amy Valens was the Open art teacher. Amy put out a call to the Open Classroom community: Come make a tile for a mural to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the program. Students like Ally made tiles on three different themes:...