Sudbury Valley School Launches New Site

The Sudbury Valley School (SVS) is a leader in the field of progressive education. First started in the 1960s, the Sudbury Valley School model has been adopted in countries around the world. As of 2018, over 50 schools are based on the Sudbury Model.

The goal of the project was an educational website redesign that provides a welcoming and innovative exploration of SVS and its principles. The Bartlett team worked closely with Dan Greenberg, Mimsy Sadofsky and others at SVS to design and develop a new website that reflected the uniqueness and spirit of the school. Highlights of the new site include extensive content management for over 600 pages, an expanded blog, a photo and video gallery, on-site search, articles, calendar, custom photography, revised information architecture, and SEO transition and configuration. The homepage includes an optional area for featured news.

The website also has a unique and alternative way to navigate using buttons located at the intersections of overlapping circles. This concept developed through visiting the school multiple times, talking with the staff and students, and understanding how the school works. The overlapping circles is a visual representation of the way students learn at SVS. The places where the circles overlap are where connections are made and discoveries happen. These connections lead to more discovery and so on. On the website, visitors can uncover and discover content conceptually in the same way that learning happens at SVS. Of course there is a traditional navigation menu as well.

Explore the site for yourself at sudburyvalley.org.