Students

SWW Student Handbook Introduction
Goals of the School Without Walls
Table of Contents

SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SCHOOL WITHOUT WALLS

You already know that all students at School Without Walls are here because they asked to be here, but you may not know that students were involved in the creation of the school and its development and changes over the years.

School Without Walls has been around for a long time now. Its history goes back to 1968 when a couple of students at Monroe High School presented a proposal to the Principal for a program similar to School Without Walls. The next year, in October of 1969, a group of teachers began to talk about what could be done to help students attain their goal. These discussions continued for almost a year before they discovered that parents and more students were also talking about the same question. They all joined forces and kept on discussing the kind of school they would like to see. Eventually they developed a proposal for the School Without Walls which was presented to the Superintendent of Schools in January of 1971. On February 4, 1971, the Board of Education approved their proposal and passed a resolution creating the School Without Walls. School Without Walls opened in September 1971.

So, you see, we – teachers, students, and parents – created our own school. Though the School Without Walls has changed over the years, we have always tried to be true to our beginnings and the changes have almost always been worked out by the entire school community.

This handbook records the results of these decisions made by the School Without Walls community over the years. Almost all of the many rules, regulations, procedures, and guidelines in it were developed and refined by all of us at the school. They are not my rules, nor are they the staff's rules; most were proposed by students who worked on them and ratified them through the decision making process defined in the Administrative Information section. Most are open to question or change by the use of the same process.

Become familiar with this document – don't lose it; it is the governing document of the School Without Walls. Not only does it contain the rules, it details cautions, rewards and penalties, possibilities and limits, and an appeals process. I refer to it constantly and base my decisions on it. If you don't like what it contains, exercise your rights as a member of School Without Walls' Community. Use the decision-making process and propose changes.

Dan Drmacich
Principal