Alumni

After leaving the Village School, students go on to middle school at various independent schools, charter schools, and public schools and continue to answer their curiosity with their love of learning.

Village School graduates have acceptances to Northfield-Mt. Hermon and the Winchendon School. After high school, alumni go on to all kinds of schools, where they can develop and feed their passion.  Here are the colleges for which alumni have received acceptances:

• Bard College, Annandale- on- Hudson
• Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA
• Colby
• Columbia College
• Gaia University
• Hampshire College
• Haverford College
• New Hampshire School of Art
• U.C. Berkeley
• Union College
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
• University of Vermont
• W.P.I.
• R.P. I.
• Sawyer
• St. Lawrence University
• S.U.N.Y.
• Yale University
• Program for Practical Farm Training, Farm School, Athol, MA

Graduate Schools

• Harvard University

Graduates of the Village School have attended the following:

• Brookline High School
• CONAMAT, Cuernavaca, Mexico
• Cushing Academy
• Four Rivers School
• Frances W. Parker School Essential Charter School
• Greenfield Center School
• Narragansett Regional High School
• North Central Essential Charter School
• Northfield Mt. Hermon School
• Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School
• The Chicken Coop School
• The Winchendon School
• Westtown School, Westtown, PA

(More) Quotes from our Alumni:

What was special to you about the Village School? 

“The Village School was a tight knit community that encourages people to be themselves. Lenient to sparse rules leave room for discovery.” – WS 

“I think the thing that makes the Village School special is that it is small, kind of like a family. Everyone knows each other and if you have problems with another they are resolved. I love everything that we used to do from the songs we sang, to the morning circle, to the lantern walk, and making lunch!” – CB 

“Mixed grade classrooms were really special to me, in 4th grade they helped me interact and work with older students. In 5th grade, I had both jobs, to work with 6th graders and watch out for the 4th graders. My last year, as a 6th grader, I had to watch out for the younger students and make sure they felt included.” – KS 

“The people. It wasn’t like the students were specially picked for their kindness and generosity, but once you got there, you wanted to be nice. It wasn’t cool for people to tease. It wasn’t funny, just mean. Of course, it wasn’t perfect, but it was close. The environment created supported kindness in every way.” – MW 

“Everyone seemed close, like a family, and I was free to be myself. I think the whole experience made me a better person because I learned so much from everyone.” EM

As you look back on your time at the Village School, what do you remember the most? 

“I remember the community the most, as I am still part of it. The majority of my classmates then comprise the majority of my good friends now.” – WS 

“The thing that sticks with me the most, after graduating from the Village School, is recess. I remember being a shy little 2nd grader and being welcomed to play capture the flag with the “big kids.” That was a big deal to me, I was included and wanted, and that feeling stuck with me, through 6th grade. When, I then realized that it was my turn to make the littler children feel as welcomed and included as I had.” – KS 

“Morning sing, when we were still groggy and tired. But then the wide-awake preschoolers started to sing some cheerful little song, and then the whole school would be singing. The 4th -6th would pretend they were too cool for hand motions, but you could tell they really did like them.” – MW 

Describe a favorite Village School Memory (one that encapsulates the Village School Experience): 

“One day in first grade, the first snow of the season began to fall. The whole class was overjoyed, and thoroughly distracted by the flurries so my teacher stopped class and we all threw on jackets and ran outside to go run around in the first snow (teachers included). When we had eaten as many snow flakes as possible and were too cold to be outside anymore, we went inside and continued the lesson. This story is a good depiction of my Village School experience because in my time there we were always encouraged to take advantage of nature and appreciate that schoolwork is important but sometimes you just have to pause and enjoy things like the first snow. Rosie 

“I have many memories from the Village School, but one of my favorites is the end of all school sing. 
The whole school would gather in one classroom, sing songs, greet each other, celebrate birthdays and so on. At the end of each all school sing, Rise always managed to shake hands with everyone, give an encouraging smile, and tell us all to “Have a good week”. It was the perfect way to start a Monday.” – IB 

“It was the Monday before my Village School graduation, and just as it had been for my last nine years, the whole school gathered together for All School Sing. This time it was outside, for it was a beautiful June morning. Suddenly voices came alive, as the whole school launched into song. I looked around the circle, at all the smiling faces, and though, I was sad to know this would be my last my last all school sing, I knew I was always welcome to come on a Monday morning and join in on the singing.” – KS 

How did the Village School prepare you for your next experiences? (Either your next school or what you are doing now): 

“I think the Village School taught me how to try and gain real understanding out of learning. I know how important it is to understand things, not just know them. In the school where I am at now, I am a big question asker of my teachers, because I really want to understand the work they were giving us. This was supported especially in math at the Village School, where I learned so much just by being able to ask questions. I think the Village School also gave me a very unique environment growing up, because it supported me as a person. Even in all the pressures of going to a public school, I always had a solid confidence in who I was, and where I came from.” – KW 

“The Village School helped to tie me down to reality with curiosity and drive. The exploration of the natural world and the shying from pop culture at an age before decision-making prowess is much developed fosters individual expression in an organic way. At the Village School, every student feels a part of something real.” – WS 

“The Village School has prepared me very well for the experiences I have had since I graduated. After one year at the Chicken Coop School, I moved to Brookline and started 8th grade at a public school in a very demanding and fast paced school system. I was worried at first, having never taken an MCAS or any other standardized test that I would not do well. But, I did, I made the honor roll, and continued on to take some honors classes in high school.” – RF 

“The school gave me a strong sense of who I was, although I lost that in the 7th grade, I have turned around to become that person again. I’m older, and more mature now, and my heart will always have a special place for the Village School because it got me where I am today.” EM 

“The Village School taught me how to interact with people. How to make friends no matter how old or young they are. It prepared me not only academically but also socially. It taught me to go out there, see things, do things, no matter how shy I felt.” IB 

“I feel like the Village School prepared me excellently for my next schools. I started out creative and now I love art class and all my friends say I am very creative. That’s all because of the Village School.” – SS 

Can you think of any other particular understanding you gained at the Village School that has helped you in your ordinary life? 

“The Village School’s understanding of nature has helped me be more peaceful in my life. Even when I am so involved with school life, I never fail to be comforted by the fact that the first snow has come, or the leaves on the trees are turning rainbow colors. Maybe the most important thing that the Village School gave me was an understanding of one place where things were really, well, good. The Village School is a place in my world even now, which brings me hope that the world can be changed, and people can be brought together. School doesn’t have to be just school, it can be a community and family, where kids grow up in, but never really leave.” – KW 

“One thing I feel that have gained from my time at the village school is I’m never intimidated by interacting with people of different ages. Because of the mixed grade classes and the interaction I got the whole community, whether it was my preschool reading buddy, all school sing, Friday lunches with Rise, or singing for the Royalston Seniors lunch, I learned to respect and interact with people of any age.” RF 

“I can’t put it into words.” – EM 

“The Village School doesn’t focus on grades and honor roll, it focuses on the smaller but much more important things, like treating everyone equally and kindness. That to me, is more useful as I progress through life, then always being on the honor roll. Not to say grades aren’t important, but in elementary school, I believe it’s more important to learn how to be a better person and make the world a better place.” KS