At Zena Democratic School, we offer students a rich menu of opportunities. They can sample here and there, see what their friends are trying, witness older students, younger students and staff learning new things, and have the time and space to do deep dives into what interests them the most – for as long as the interest remains.
But the most important thing that we offer here is the time and space to come to know ourselves. Students at ZDS have unstructured time to be, to reflect, to create, to rest, to talk, to play and most importantly, to learn how they want to live. They make choices for themselves throughout the day – how to spend their time and who to engage with. This is our magic recipe: time, freedom, a familiar and caring community and a rich environment in which to experiment. Whether students are making their voices heard as members of our democratic community, learning how to coexist in community with the help of the Resolution Committee or navigating their own self-chosen challenges, Zena kids are always learning. It’s our way of being.
While we don’t have a required curriculum, we do have plenty of formal and organized activities at school that students may elect to join. Field trips, classes, workshops and coops organized around particular interests all happen at various times throughout each school year.
In the Fall and the Spring, we offer nature-based programming, pickup soccer games, art workshops, river science field trips and eight-week live-action role playing workshops.
In the Winter months, the school becomes a hive of learning with two sessions of workshops or “Winter Offerings” that run six or seven weeks each. Winter Offerings strive to reflect the diversity of interests in our community at any given time, and also pepper in a few new ones for students to try. Click to view our past Winter Offerings below.
