Fairhaven opened in 1998 on a 12 acre site complete with a fossil-filled stream, woods and fields. Fairhaven is one of a growing number of schools around the world modeled after Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, which opened in 1968. For more information go to About Us.

Enrollment: Fairhaven enrolls year round.

Hours: Fairhaven is open from 8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday, from September through the first few weeks of June.

Attendance: Students may arrive and leave at any time during those hours, as long as they are on campus a minimum of five hours a day. Students under the age of seven may attend part time.

Tuition: Tuition for the 2009-2010 school year is $7995 for the first child in the family, progressively less for each sibling. See Admissions.

Diploma: Students who have attended for at least three years are granted a Fairhaven diploma by writing and successfully defending a thesis.

School Closings

If Prince George’s County schools are closed or are opening late, so are we, except in cases where families are notified to the contrary by someone on the Fairhaven phone tree.

In addition, you can check the School's Out website at http://www.schools-out.com

To find out if Fairhaven is closed or opening late, families can do the following:

• Listen to any radio station that lists PG County school closings.
• Listen to WRNR (103.1 FM) Annapolis, Baltimore, Graysonville or WAMU (88.5FM). They will list Fairhaven.
• Call the school. We will post a recording announcing school closure or late opening—unless the school’s power is out.
• Watch Channel 4 (NBC) on TV for a mention of Fairhaven.
• Check the Internet: http://www.schoolsout.com

Parents, or students who are in charge of their own transportation, must make their own judgments about whether it is safe to travel to school from their homes. Whenever there is questionable weather, the school will respect the decisions made by the families, and such absences, if any, will not reflect on the students’ attendance records.

Whenever an emergency closing, other than a snow emergency, is announced a day or more in advance, the Attendance Clerk will begin a “phone tree” to inform every School Meeting member of the closing.

In the event that Fairhaven has to close early, families will be notified. However, we realize it’s not always possible to leave work early to pick up your children. Families are asked to make their own emergency arrangements as to what houses their children should go to for later pick-up.