There are Parent Meetings each month on the first and third Wednesday evenings from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm . During these meetings, decisions are made affecting all aspects of the school through consensus. These decisions are documented in our handbooks and can only be changed through a new consensus process. All parents are welcome at the Parent Meetings; Core parents are required to attend. In missing a meeting, a parent places trust in the rest of the group for any decisions which are made.

All parents are required to stay in touch in several ways. First, meeting minutes are published each week and all parents should be familiar with them. Parents keep up with information posted in the mudroom bulletin boards. Parents are asked not to drop off and pick up kids without at least checking the mudroom mailboxes and bulletin boards each day.

It is crucial in our small community that parents initiate dialogue with individuals (staff, parents, or committees) concerning problems, questions, ideas or suggestions. Email has made communication easier for us, but we also know that email is good for sharing information rather than solving problems, which needs to be done in person. The SAU community functions best with open dialogue.

We are a small school, and are restricted in the total number of children we can accept. At the present time, our enrollment cannot exceed 30 children. Since we operate as a one-room schoolhouse, it is important for us to balance younger and older students as well as male and female students. We currently have three classes, each with its own teacher. The groupings are: ages 5-7, ages 7-10, and ages 10-14. These groupings are used for much of the students' work; however, there are numerous occasions (art, theme projects, recess, school plays) when all the classes interact.

Our school day begins at 9:00 am and ends at 3:00 pm.

The School Around Us is a parent-run alternative school. Within the School there are four groups that work together to make the school function: the students, the teachers, the parents, and the Board of Directors. There is no administrative staff at the school. The current parent group is responsible for administration, fundraising, and the physical environment. The students, teachers and Board also contribute. All decisions regarding this work take place in parent meetings. The Board, comprised of student, teacher and parent alumni, has the primary role of long-term operation of the school and support of the current parent group.