It sounds a bit shocking at first: a school with no predetermined curriculum in which each student decides what to study and when. In addition, each student has one vote – the same as staff members – and participates with full equality in every decision of day-to-day school management.

Digging a bit deeper, however, one discovers that the Trillium School, a non-profit private school scheduled to open in North Kitsap this September, is based on the Sudbury model with its 36-year history of effective education in more than 40 schools worldwide. Named for the Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, Mass., it provides an environment of student-directed learning that offers freedom, trust and responsibility. The role of school staff is one of guidance; educational pursuits are chosen by the student alone.

“In a traditional setting, someone else provides the structure; in a Sudbury model, the kids create it for themselves,” explained Elisha Rain, one of six original founding members. “It opens pathways that allow children to become fully-formed people: self-reliant, confident, capable and happy. They learn that someone else isn’t responsible for their lives.”

Trillium School had its beginnings more than four years ago as the children of a local mothers’ group approached school age.

“As the kids got older we began to talk about what’s not out there,” said founding member, Mara Lindbergh. “We wanted a system that would trust what they are driven to do and allow them pursue it. If you’re excited about something, there’s no resistance to learning.”

After considering the creation of their own educational model, the founding members discovered that what they were looking for already existed. In the intervening years the women have visited Sudbury schools around the country, including the original Sudbury Valley School and Clearwater School in Seattle.

While Sudbury schools share many features such as mixed-age environments, democratic governance and self-initiated learning (without external assessments), each one is an individual entity, unique to its community.

Though allowing students a great deal of personal freedom, Sudbury is not permissive. It espouses the conventional American values of individual rights, political democracy and equal opportunity. Weekly school meetings are governed on the model of a traditional New England town meeting. Such “authentic authority” is seen as key to encouraging personal accountability and developing valuable social and communication skills. In addition, a student who breaks school rules (agreed upon, as with all other community decisions, by a vote of the students and staff) may find themselves before a jury of their peers.

According to a 2002/2003 survey of Sudbury Valley alumni, published in “The Pursuit of Happiness,” the model appears to be working. Of 119 respondents, with a median age of 30, 82 percent pursued formal study after Sudbury Valley (though there was a period of adjustment to the formal requirements and hierarchical structure of college life). Most saw themselves as self-confident communicators, accomplished in finding appropriate resources for any educational challenge. The majority said that they chose their careers on the basis of passion, innate talent or service to others.

In its first year, the Trillium School will register up to 20 students, ages 5 or 6 through 19, and follow the North Kitsap School District calendar. The founders are seeking “angel benefactors” to contribute toward the purchase of land and building costs within the next five years. The school is currently finalizing arrangements for a temporary location in North Kitsap. An ability-based tuition program is in development, with the projected tuition at approximately $4,500 though they emphasize that no student will be turned away for financial reasons.

Two information meetings are planned for the month of May (see sidebar). Interested parents and students may also visit the school Web site at www.trilliumschool.org for information on attending founders’ meetings and philosophy information events.

For the Trillium School founders, it’s a quest to sustain their children’s love of learning and foster a sense of self that will serve them throughout their lives.

“Many people can remember the moment when they lost their motivation to learn. It’s telling when you ask someone ‘when did the light go out for you?’” noted Lindbergh. “We want to keep the light on.”

Upcoming information events will be held from 10 a.m. to noon both May 6 and 20 at the North Kitsap Fire and Rescue headquarters station at 26612 Miller Bay Road, Kingston. Meetings will provide a comprehensive overview of the Trillium School philosophy and plans for the upcoming school year. There will be time for questions and to meet some of the staff. Resources will be available. For more information, call Elisha Rain at (360) 297-7480 or send e-mail to info@trilliumschool.org.

A tour of Indianola gardens will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 5 to raise funds for Trillium School. Tickets are $15.

The seaside village of Indianola holds many intimate and private gardens, tended and ornamented in unique and inspirational ways. From waterfront gardens to the Persephone farm, a 10-acre upland working organic farm, Indianola is a hidden treasure of horticulture as art. The tour will include lectures, demonstrations, u-cut lavender, live music and a plant and art sale.

Tickets, maps, garden descriptions and a schedule of events will be available at the following locations: the Indianola Country Store, (360) 297-3326; Bainbridge Gardens Nursery, (206) 842-5888; and the Trillium School Web site at www.trilliumschool.org. For more information, call Mara Lindbergh at (360) 297-8556.