Longview School : High School : Middle Schools Brewster : Putnam Valley : Mahopac : Carmel NY : LongviewSchool.org

For a guided introduction to the school, click here.

“What you should learn in school is to learn to live, not to live to learn.” Former Longview student

“The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.” John Ruskin

“A child pursuing knowledge; not knowledge pursuing a child.” George Bernard Shaw

$\"Every time we try to manage the lives of young people, we give up the chance to see how they might have managed their own lives.\" John Holt$

$\"Children are by nature smart, energetic, curious, eager to learn, and good at learning...they do not need to be bribed and bullied to learn.” John Holt$

$\"Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.\" Roger Lewin$

$\"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.\" William Butler Yeats$

$\"What we learn with pleasure we never forget.\" Alfred Mercier$

$\"Never let formal education get in the way of your learning.\" Mark Twain$

$\"It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry.” Albert Einstein$

$\"We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.\" Ralph Waldo Emerson$

“What you should learn in school is to learn to live, not to live to learn.” Former Longview student

01/12

Longview School is a K-12 non-profit, NY state recognized private school located right on Main Street in Brewster, NY. Because of our small size—30 to 40 total students—we are able to customize our program based upon each family’s educational needs.

Educational Tracks: Longview offers three main educational tracks. Each family can choose the track which best fits its educational approach. Individuation and customization is also possible within each track.

Sudbury/Unschooling: Students have the greatest flexibility in choosing their own educational paths. Students can take as few or as many classes as they so choose, pursuing their interests throughout each school day.
Exposure: Students take classes in a range of academics but are required to do limited homework or tests.
Regents: Students take rigorous Regents classes and exams, and are regularly required to complete homework assignments and take tests.

Teaching Independence and Responsibility: We believe what children learn outside of class is just as important as the academic curriculum. Longview uses four main components to support development from childhood to adulthood.

Democracy: Longview is a true, not mock, democracy. All decisions governing the operation of the school (other than those involving safety or the curriculum) are made by our School Meeting, a democratic body in which each student and each staff gets one vote. By participating in School Meeting, students learn Social Studies through real life experience, rather than just from books.
Justice: Longview has a student-run judicial system. With the guidance of a teacher, students work out conflicts using a process modeled upon the American court system. Students learn to apply moral reasoning as they develop a solid sense of right and wrong, and learn how to solve problems that challenge the smooth functioning of a school community.
Clerkships: Students share in the work of running the school. They learn real-life skills by helping to pay the bills, balance the bank account, keep attendance, give tours, make minor repairs, buy supplies, etc. Internships teach the skills children will need to live as independent adults.
Internships: For older students, Longview offers the opportunity to explore the real world of work. Students do unpaid internships for local businesses in return for getting first-hand experience in jobs in which they are interested. This helps students make career choices based upon first-hand experience.

Longview School

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