Not just another school.

(From Jerusalem Post)

Byline: SHOSHANA LONDON SAPPIR

My youngest child turned six this summer and is excited about starting first grade. But unlike most first graders, he is not going to spend his days in a room full of fellow six-year-olds, learning to follow instructions, sit still and please authority figures.

At Jerusalem's new democratic school my son will be in a mixed group of kids aged 5-15, and he will continue doing much of what he did over summer vacation: play, run around, explore, ask questions, figure out how to spell things, count, and play some more.

He will also have responsibilities and opportunities he has never had before: He will have a say in community affairs through participation in school meetings; he will commit to following school rules and resolving conflicts peaceably through a committee of peers; he will …