NewsBreak Original

Almost seven years ago, members of Three Rivers Village School started planning a move to the Hazelwood area. We were leaving our original location in Stanton Heights and looking for a more permanent place for our community—one where students could continue to thrive and grow—and we hoped we would find the perfect building somewhere in this neighborhood.

At Three Rivers Village School and the other 50 or so similar schools across the US and the world, we paused this month to honor the passing of Daniel Greenberg (1934-2021). In 1968, Greenberg left his job as a professor at Columbia University to found Sudbury Valley School in Framingham MA, alongside his wife, other parents and educators. That school centered the humanity of children by committing to protect their freedoms and their right to be heard as full members of a community. Greenberg worked at the school and promoted the model until his death, along the way writing more than twenty books about education and democracy. That school provided the inspiration and structure that shaped the foundation of Three Rivers Village School.

The fall weather is beautiful in Hazelwood. Three Rivers Village School students are feeling inspired being among so many trees whose leaves are brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows. They’ve been sweeping up leaves and creating piles to play with outside, in the parking lot of the Spartan Center. Kids here can choose to spend lots of time outdoors during the school day. One group of five students decided recently to spend a full day outside, only coming in to use the bathroom and to help clean up at the end of the day.

As we say goodbye to 2021 and prepare to move into the former YMCA building on Chatsworth, Three Rivers Village School would like to reflect on our time at the Spartan Center. TRVS moved here in 2015 before the Spartan Community Center of Hazelwood formed, back when Deacon Tom Berna was the de facto manager of the mostly empty former St. Stephens Catholic School building. We had planned to move to Millvale, but zoning exemptions and renovation challenges prevented that late in the summer. We were scrambling to find a suitable spot.

My family and I are planning to relocate to the Orlando area next year. I've heard that a lot of the public schools in the area aren't so great which concerns me because we'll be leaving a really great school district in the DC suburbs. Thoughts/opinions on which high schools are the best in the Orlando area would be greatly appreciated. "