Students know that they are each responsible for their own education. Our students do not depend on someone else to tell them how to prepare them for life in the twenty-first century. Instead, they make and implement their own decisions and then experience the consequences. Thus our students experience the responsibility of real life while remaining in a caring and supportive environment. Visit the school and you will see some of the evidence.
Cedarwood is full of unusually articulate, self-reliant, and mutually respectful young people.
The school is governed democratically by students, staff members, and parents. Every student and staff member has one vote in the School Meeting, which is patterned after a New England town meeting. The School Meeting meets once a week to write rules, allocate funds, and hire and fire staff. The group also elects clerks, who may be either staff members or students, to carry out administrative functions according to the rules set out by the School Meeting. Rules are enforced by the Judicial Committee, a group that includes both students and staff members.