Help Open Fields Defeat General Rot!

In just five short years, Open Fields will begin its 50th year, and our building will reach its 200th year - but only if we can keep the evil General Rot and Major Rot at bay! Help us fight the good fight and address some much-needed building repairs so we can keep our school a safe and healthy place for the inquiring minds of curious kids.


Inside these historic walls on scenic Thetford Hill, Vermont, Open Fields School has fostered a life-long love of learning for nearly 45 years. Open Fields, founded by Jean K. Aull in 1971, treats students as individuals, in an atmosphere where they are free to do their very best, free from excessive competition with their peers, and free from the fear of failure.

Open Fields in the World

Open Fields students have attended colleges and universities including Bard, Bowdoin, Clemson, Cornell, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, the Sorbonne, Stanford, UNH, UVM, Vassar, Wellesley, and more. But more importantly, they have gone on to create lives that are meaningful to them and to the world - as engineers, farmers, actors, environmentalists, dancers, social workers - often citing Open Fields as crucial in their development.

The Open Fields School building

This school building - formerly a harness shop, residence, and post office - is in a harsh New England environment, where the cold winters, snow, wind, rain, and sun have worked their way through the wood: Our exterior staircase was getting rickety; the window sills and clapboards on the back wall of the school were decaying; one sill, buried by winter after winter of snow, and spring after spring of wet rains, has rotted and needs replacing; and the roof, which has kept snow and rain out of the building for many a year, may not last much longer!

Project Expenses

Other ways to contribute

Perks

If you'd like any of these perks to be in memory of, or in honor of, someone else, just let us know.

Help us name a room for Jean and/or Trina!

If you'd like, you can forgo your perk and designate your donation toward naming a room in memory of our founder, Jean K. Aull, and/or her partner and long-time school supporter, Trina Schart Hyman. Just let us know you'd like to contribute toward the Founder's Room!


Open Fields School works to keep tuition within reach of all families. Open Fields is a 501(c)(3) organization and contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.