Shenandoah Valley Community School
News
February 16, 2010
Keep your family healthy this winter with Natural Approaches to Family Health: Panel discussions with health professionals, parents, and practitioners, 6:30pm-8:30pm, Clementine lounge, Harrisonburg.
March 9: Boosting Immune Systems
March 16: Remedying Behavioral Conditions
March 23: Treating Food Sensitivities
March 30: Fertility and Childbirth
All ages welcome! For more information call 540-435-7686.
Sponsored by Shenandoah Valley Community School, Red Tent Birth Service, On the Turtle's Back and Friendly City Food Co-op.
January 12, 2010
You are invited to an open house at Shenandoah Valley Community School on Tuesday, January 19th from 4 PM until 7 PM. Come to our parents' panel discussion 6 PM to 7 PM and hear what parents have to say about their child's experience at SVCS. Meet our director, talk with parents and students, tour the building and grounds and learn about our unique school community. Everyone and all ages are welcome! For directions and information contact Sarah Beachy at 540 476 3092 or email us.
October 12, 2009
Come to an open house for Shenandoah Valley Community School on November 18, 12PM-6PM. Meet our director, talk with parents and students, tour the building and grounds, and learn about our unique school community. Everyone is welcome! For directions and information contact Sarah Beachy at 540 476 3092 or email us.September 21, 2009
Shenandoah Valley Community School will have a table at the Harrisonburg International Festival this Saturday, September 26. Come by and see us!August 17, 2009
Shenandoah Valley Community School is on hiatus for the 2009-2010 school year. Due to a number of factors, chiefly low enrollment, we have made the decision to suspend school for this year and use the time to revitalize the school for a strong reopening in 2010-2011.
We have had wonderful support from many of you over the past four years, and we know that we will continue to depend upon that for the school to succeed. Here are some ways that you can help:
1. Help staff tables at public events. SVCS participates in community events throughout the year. In September we will have a table at the Children First Day at EMU on the 12th and at the International Festival at Hillandale on the 26th. We need volunteers to help with both these events, as well as events later in the year. An hour of your time is a great help to us.
2. Be a candidate to serve on our Board of Directors. People with community connections, non-profit experience, financial expertise, alternative education background, or just a willingness to help out are encouraged to apply.
3. Spread the word! Talk to your friends and neighbors about the school, hang a poster, give someone a brochure. Our best advertising is word-of-mouth.
If you would like to be involved in continuing to support the school in any of these ways, please contact us. You can find more ways to help here.
May 4, 2009
Shenandoah Valley Community School will have a booth at the WVPT Kids' Book Festival at JMU on Saturday, May 16th. Come to our booth for activities involving the sense of smell!
April 10, 2009
We have made the decision not to raise our tuition for the 2009-2010 school year. Families enrolling for the next school year can take advantage of our affordable tuition and flexible attendance options. Visit our admissions page for enrollment options and tuition information.
February 20, 2009
Shenandoah Valley Community School is having an open house Thursday, March 12 from 9:00AM-3:00PM. Everyone is welcome. This is an opportunity to experience a day at SVCS, talk with staff members, and learn more about our school. For more information contact the school.
February 3, 2009
This article in the February 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind highlights the need for free, imaginative play for normal social, emotional, and cognitive development. Among the findings: preschoolers show less stress from parental separation after engaging in free play; the more elementary-age boys engaged in roughhousing, the better they scored on a social problem solving test; children who played with blocks scored better on a test of language skills than those who did not.
December 12, 2008
We have organic, fairly traded coffee, tea, chocolate and other items for sale at Shenandoah Valley Community School from our Equal Exchange fundraiser. These items make great gifts and support both our school and fair trade. Available products include several kinds of coffee, both whole bean and ground; green, black, chai and rooibos tea; roasted pecans and almonds; dried cranberries; spicy hot cocoa; and mint, almond, dark, and milk chocolate bars. To purchase please contact the school.
November 14, 2008
Shenandoah Valley Community School will be participating in a gift-wrapping fundraiser at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Harrisonburg Crossing on Saturday, December 13 from 4PM to 7PM. Come do your holiday shopping at Barnes & Noble and SVCS representatives will be at the gift-wrapping table to wrap your purchases, receive tips and provide information about our school.
October 28, 2008
We were greatly saddened to hear of the imminent closing of our nearest "sister school," ARCH Academy in Staunton. They are selling a number of items, including textbooks, at a yard sale 7:00AM-12:00PM on Saturday, November 1 at Marquis Memorial United Methodist Church on 1514 W. Beverley St., Staunton. You may also contact the school founder, Brenda Rose, at 540-849-7733 for information about purchasing items before the sale.
October 16, 2008
Shenandoah Valley Community School will be having an open house Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 9:00AM-3:00PM. Everyone is welcome. This is a good time to come talk with staff and see our school in operation. Contact us for more information.
August 14, 2008
Tiffani Reynolds has joined the SVCS staff as a part time staff member. You can read about Tiffani on our staff page.
June 10, 2008
Shenandoah Valley Community School has finished another wonderful school year, and we couldn't have done it without our volunteers! At our end of the year potluck Sarah read a volunteer appreciation. Read all the things our volunteers have done for the school.June 2, 2008
Massanutten Regional Library in downtown Harrisonburg has a display of alternative education books organized by Shenandoah Valley Community School now through June 15. There are also brochures for SVCS and other alternative schools and homeschool organizations.
May 10, 2008
Shenandoah Valley Community School will have a booth at the WVPT Kids' Book Festival at JMU on Saturday, May 17th. Come to our booth for popcorn activities!
March 10, 2008
We raised enough money from our fundraiser to get a climbing dome for the school. It's a lot of fun!
January 8, 2008
Take a look at our new promotional video on our About Us page!
December 29, 2007
Harrisonburg's local paper, the Daily News-Record, has an article about Shenandoah Valley Community School today.
December 17, 2007
We have some exciting new things happening at Shenandoah Valley Community School in the coming days. Read on:
First, starting in January 2008 we will have a one day per week enrollment option for homeschoolers! We have several classes currently taught by volunteers and students, and homeschoolers can choose a day with their desired classes. We are also working to expand our class offerings. For enrollment options and information visit our admissions page.
Second, we will be having an open house at the school Tuesday, January 22, 2008 from 9:00AM-3:00PM. Please invite your friends and colleagues to come and see our school in action. Anyone who is considering enrollment is encouraged to visit.
Third, we are having a series of informational meetings for those interested in learning more about SVCS or who may not be able to attend a daytime open house. These will be held at the Massanutten Regional Library in downtown Harrisonburg from 7:00PM-8:00PM. The dates are January 8th, 16th, and 24th. For more information on any of these events please feel free to contact us.
October 18, 2007
On Thursday, October 25 from 7:00PM-9:00PM Shenandoah Valley Community School and Our Community Place will be co-sponsoring a talk by Chris Mercogliano. Chris is on a book tour promoting his latest book, In Defense of Childhood: Protecting the Inner Wildness of Children. Chris taught at the Albany Free School for 35 years and is an advocate of non-controlling education and childrearing. The talk will be at the Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalist church. It is free and everyone is welcome. For more information call 433-7738 or contact the school.
September 13, 2007
We've had a change of date for the Ryan McAllister workshop. It will be held Sunday, October 14 from 2-5PM at the Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalist church. This event is free for all ages and appropriate for children. Donations will be accepted. To register please email marcellao@comcast.net. SVCS will be providing light refreshments afterward at the school, so please stay and see our location!
July 9, 2007
Shenandoah Valley Community School will be sponsoring a workshop with Ryan McAllister on Sunday, September 9. The time and location will be finalized later this summer. Dr. McAllister's presentation is titled "Relating Joyfully with Children." He will be drawing on ideas from Nonviolent Communication and Hand-in-Hand parenting.
January 18, 2007
We are in the second semester of our first school year, and things are going well. We had an open house on Tuesday and several families visited. Anyone who missed the open house date and would like to visit the school should contact us to schedule a time.
October 3, 2006
Last Friday we received a letter from the IRS stating that our non-profit application was accepted. We are now a tax exempt public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code.
September 26, 2006
This week we welcomed three new students at Shenandoah Valley Community School! We now have four full-time and three part-time students.
Potential students and their families are welcome to come and see the school and meet the students, staff and volunteers. Contact us if you would like to arrange a visit.
August 24, 2006
We had our first day of school today--it was great! We have four students enrolled and are working to recruit more. We've updated our list of items for donation as well. We have had several generous donors of materials for the school and would welcome any items on our list, large or small.
July 25, 2006
Shenandoah Valley Community School has been getting some local media coverage. We were featured in a column in the Daily News-Record on Monday, July 24. WHSV-TV3 also broadcast a brief segment about the school on their local news Monday evening and again on Tuesday morning. WHSV has added a link to this website to the "Featured Links" section of their website.
July 8, 2006
Our July informational meeting was attended by 10 adults and 4 children. The presentation text is available online.
June 28, 2006
Shenandoah Valley Community School will be holding an open house on Monday, July 10, 2006 from 3:00PM-6:00PM at the school site at 4101 Rawley Pike. Families are invited to come to see the building, meet the director and other families, and enjoy light refreshments. Drop by any time between 3:00 and 6:00 and stay as long as you like. All are welcome. Contact us with questions; directions are below.
Directions to open house:
From Harrisonburg, take Route 33 west approximately four miles from the city center. The school building is located on the left side of the road behind the Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalists church (the old Dale Enterprise Schoolhouse building). Turn in at the church parking lot and come to the small building behind the church.June 15, 2006
We will be holding our second informational meeting about Shenandoah Valley Community School on Thursday, July 6, 2006 at the main branch of the Massanutten Regional Library in Harrisonburg from 7:00PM-8:00PM. We will present information about the school's philosophy, operations and enrollment, introduce our board, and have a time for questions. All are welcome at the meeting. If you are interested in learning more about the school this would be a good opportunity to do so.
June 14, 2006
There is an article about the Sudbury Valley School in the May/June issue of Psychology Today titled Education: Class Dismissed. It briefly describes the school's philosophy and the experiences of several students and parents.
May 24, 2006
We've sent in our non-profit application to the IRS. We should be hearing from them in the next few weeks whether it's been accepted. You can download a copy of our application (3.88mb).
March 23, 2006
Our application for admission is now available for download. You can find it on our admissions page.
March 17, 2006
We received our certificate of incorporation from the Virginia State Corporation Commission today. We're now an official corporation, and one step closer to opening as a school!
February 16, 2006
Friendship Sudbury School in Palmyra, VA is hosting a talk by Mimsy Sadofsky, the co-founder of the Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, MA. They have generously invited anyone who is interested in Shenandoah Valley Community School to attend the presentation. The title of Ms. Sadofsky's lecture is "Putting children in charge of their own education: One school's success story of 37 years of self-directed learning." Though Shenandoah Valley Community School is not a Sudbury school, we hold much in common with the Sudbury philosophy.
The presentation is on March 31, 2006 at 7:00PM at the Albemarle County Office Building, 1600 5th St. at Old Lynchburg Rd. For more details visit the Friendship Sudbury School's website.
January 30, 2006
This ad appeared in the February issue of eightyone.
January 23, 2006
We've had a lot of inquiries about SVCS from people who have heard about the school through word of mouth, reading the website, and through the alternative education community. Those who have expressed interest in the school have also been giving feedback on their interests and desires for SVCS. It's been great reading advice on non-profits, children's interests (everything from cooking to directing movies to starting a business), and about your individual situations.
Things are looking promising for the building we've been looking at for the school. We have been discussing a lease agreement with the church, and are in the process of getting an insurance quote, after which point we will be able to publish tuition rates and begin registration.
We are also in the process of recruiting board members for the school Board of Directors. If you know anyone who might be interested in serving on the board, please contact us by February 1 with their name. Feel free to suggest yourself if you would like to serve. Board members would need to be willing to meet once a month. We are especially interested in people with legal expertise, and those with experience with non-profit organizations.
November 22, 2005
Our informational meeting was attended by about 15 adults and 5 children. You can read the presentation text.
November 4, 2005
Shenandoah Valley Community School is holding an informational meeting at the Massanutten Regional Library in Harrisonburg on Monday, November 21 from 7:00PM-8:00PM. Come to hear more about the school and find out how you can be involved.
