... So a new school had to be built - but where? The old site was not big enough to meet either modern standards OR the needs of the children. The hunt was on. In the end, the best land for the new school turned out to be a few miles out of the village on highway 112 as it runs up the hill toward the south (Cape Street), a fine new location, but too far away and too dangerous for any of the children to walk to school (except perhaps Phil Pless's, since they live a few doors up the road). So a fleet of big school buses now transports them to and from school. The new school is a sight to behold, beautifully designed, with light and spaciousness abounding, a facility to be proud of - but its installation has raised taxes, of course, which increases the burden on townspeople.

But what a boon to the children!

 

My grandmotherly visits to the school to attend classroom programs in Sunil's class bookmarked for me both the unabashedly splendid aspects of the school AND one I found distasteful - namely, the authoritarian policing of the children's lunchroom by members of Ashfield's police department and other adults - which, for me at least, contrasted starkly with the totally delightful and democratic atmosphere created by teachers and children in the earliest grade classrooms!

I need to add hastily that the ONLY reason I mention the lunchroom situation is my great admiration and respect for the new Sanderson, its staff and, above all, its welcoming atmosphere - for both learners and visitors!

It contrasted vividly for me with my experience of a noon lunch I enjoyed a few years ago at a very popular and innovative Japanese school named Kinokuni, Children's Village, in Wakayama Prefecture founded by Shinichiro Hori, a former Professor of Education, in 1992, for children 6-12. Here the children and the adults ate at circular tables of their own choices, after themselves selecting the foods and the amounts of those foods they wished to eat from a line of hot dishes - food prepared by a well-known local chef who was a father of one of the children, and of gourmet quality - found their own tables, where they chatted and ate at leisure with their friends, then carried their dishes and food leavings to the designated containers, and then left the lunchroom to go and play with their friends. No policing was either present or necessary! The meal was far too pleasurable to evoke such a need! I do not see our Ashfield children as in any way different from those Japanese children, both groups being healthy, friendly, active, school-age kids. I hope that one day this unnecessary practice of policing our kids will finally be abandoned!

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A Public K-6 Elementary School for Ashfield and Plainfield

808 Cape Street Ashfield Massachusetts 01330

(413) 628-4404, 4664

(413) 628-4697 (fax)

Sanderson Academy is a public elementary school located in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains in rural western Massachusetts. The school is in the Town of Ashfield, yet students from neighboring Plainfield also attend. Sanderson has 212 students from Kindergarten through Grade 6, with two classes at each grade level. Beyond their regular classes there are many enjoyable activities in which students can participate such as Sports, Band, Student Council, and Student Mediators. Our school is part of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, which spreads across nine towns. 

We live in two small, yet beautiful country towns. Ashfield has a population of about 1,700 people, while Plainfield has about 800 residents. We live in the deciduous forest where the maple and oak trees turn to spectacular colors in the fall. Bear and deer frequent our forests and meadows. In 1999, Sanderson constructed a public hiking trail through the field near our school. Both towns have small lakes where people enjoy swimming and fishing. Our rocky pastures support dairy farms where the local farmers produce milk. Every fall Ashfield hosts a Fall Festival, a weekend filled with locally made crafts, music, tasty treats and fun! Meanwhile in Plainfield, during the summer, children can participate in strength building games at the Junior Olympics.  Sanderson is a wonderful school, and we are all very proud of it!

 

We have our own weather station! Click the URL below to learn the latest weather report.

 

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