At a time when students across the country were challenging the rules of school and society, a small group at the high school had an idea: what if school could be different? What if students and teachers learned together?

School Within a School, (SWS) is one of the high school’s longest-running alternative education programs. Founded more than 50 years ago, it started when students and teachers were pushing back against strict, traditional education. What began at first as a small experiment has grown to become a permanent part of the school.

Today, located on the 4th floor of 115 Greenough, it is a tight-knit community where students and teachers call each other by their first names, make decisions democratically and prioritize discussion-based learning.

The climate of the 1960s

In the late 1960s, the high school stood at the uneasy crossroads between the rigidity of the 1950s and the rising winds of social change. There was a strict system: bells rang, students required passes to leave class and dress codes banned facial hair for boys and pants for girls.

The structure extended to academics as well. Classes were tracked into basic, standard, honors and Advanced Placement, with little room for students to move between levels. One student described in what was then called The Sagamore [now The Cypress] that the system was “stifling,” and discouraged growth rather than encouraging it.

At the same time, students across the country were questioning authority, protesting the Vietnam War, and pushing for change. Brookline was no exception. In 1969, hundreds of Brookline High School students walked out of class for Day of Peace, marching to the Boston Common with teachers at their side.

A push for change

Within this changing atmosphere, students and teachers began to imagine a different kind of school.

In SWS teacher emeritus Beth Thompson’s upcoming book “The Founding,” about the history of SWS, Linda Bloom and Bill Weinberg, two of the first SWS students, said that they weren’t motivated to found SWS by antiwar activism, but rather the need for a “real community.”

Trudi Goodman, who transferred from Boston schools to Brookline, said in “The Founding” that she wanted a school community with students from all backgrounds and “not just a bunch of doctors’ kids.”

According to “The Founding,” some teachers, too, were ready for change. Math Department Chair Bob Wiggin led a committee that recommended reforms such as an open campus and the SWS model. English teacher Geoff Pierson and history teacher Keith Shahan were part of a younger group of faculty who believed students needed to be known as whole people and not just through test scores.

“We were with the kids rather than against them,” the teachers said in “The Founding.” “We wanted to know them better.”

Thompson said that the movement was not top-down.

“It came up from the students and the teachers, and the new headmaster and eventually the school committee supported it,” Thompson said. “They didn’t plan it, it wasn’t their idea, but they did support it.”

Founding SWS

In May 1970, a group of students and teachers presented their proposal for SWS to the Brookline School Committee. The plan promised smaller classes, more student involvement in decision making and a flexible curriculum.

By the fall, SWS officially opened with 100 juniors and seniors and five teachers. Students spent most of their time in SWS classes, but were also free to take electives in the main school.

Thompson said that one of the hardest parts of getting the program started was convincing students to join.

“The school committee needed to know that there were people who would sign up, and the students needed to know that [SWS] would happen, but it was also just an abstract idea,” Thompson said. “How do you get people to sign on to an idea?”

SWS quickly developed a reputation for being a space where students could be themselves.

According to “The Founding,” Goodman said that when she was having a hard day at school, she would go up to SWS and find comfort.

“No one gave me a hard time for who I was,” Goodman said.

Thompson said the space was critical to that sense of community.

“That space just felt like the students owned it. It was theirs. And that was so comforting and exciting for the students and the teachers,” Thompson said.

Early days

According to “The Founding,” the first years of SWS were experimental, and not everything worked out smoothly. Town meetings, where students and teachers made decisions together, often lacked broad participation. Some students struggled with freedom and needed more structure.

But for many, the experience was transformative. Barbara Stahler, one of the first students to join SWS, said in “The Founding” that SWS allowed her to pursue projects that mattered to her.

“Being able to pick the topics I was interested in was radical,” Stahler said.

Teachers also found new energy in the program. Bruce Pennington, who taught English in SWS, described it as a rebellion against the rigidity of traditional schooling.

“We addressed student alienation by making them feel like they belonged to something: what they belonged to was a shared cultural value of rebellion,” Pennington said in “The Founding.”

Thompson said the now-strong democratic traditions developed gradually.

“The development of town meeting as a democracy was an organic process. At first, some kids weren’t that interested. Over time, it became part of the identity,” Thompson said.

Lasting impact

According to chemistry teacher and SWS alum Steve Lantos, the survival of SWS comes from a balance between innovation and stability.

“It was founded at a time where there was a lot of change happening in public schools,” Lantos said. “Most of them have folded for many reasons, but SWS has not only maintained after 50 plus years, but is still thriving.”

According to Lantos, while SWS started as a haven for students at risk of dropping out, it gradually shifted into a place that supported personalized learning and close relationships with teachers.

“We have students every year who come back from college and say, ‘My SWS class was run like a college class,” Lantos said.

The history of student-led change still influences the way SWS operates today. Even as it became more established, SWS retained its democratic traditions.

Looking back on his own decisions to join as a student, Lantos said the appeal was simple.

“I was just looking for something more personalized,” Lantos said.
”I wanted to have deeper relationships with my teachers.”

Reflecting on SWS’s future, Thompson said she hoped that students would continue the tradition of fighting for change.

“Because SWS is more established now, people are more content with authority,” Thompson said. “I would always want the students to still keep a little bit of that hunger and skepticism about power.”