Beginning with the free school movement of the 1960s, a number of different alternative education schemes were tried out in various locations within the United States.

[4] While the Parkway Program often focused on vocational goals,[2] the Leonia one was intended to be more academically oriented,[3] while still breaking down some of the barriers typically seen between a school and the surrounding community.

[5] These teachers taught core subjects (including those required for graduation by the state of New Jersey), supervised community resource instructors, did organizational tasks, and acted as advisors to the students.

[5] As with other alternative schools of the time, informality and departures from the norm reigned:[3] students called teachers by their first name, attendance was not kept, and letter grades were replaced by written evaluations.

[9] The school and its students also reflected the counterculture of the early 1970s:[10] personal development took form in activities such as self-awareness and consciousness-raising.

[6][11] Other community classes were given in their homes by resident biologists, psychologists, university administrators, writers, journalists, artists, and musicians.

[12] Some of these classes taught various foreign languages,[13] or explored the literature of different nationalities,[5][10] or were related to sociology,[14] or discussed alternate political systems.

[6] This organized opposition was unusual during the 1970s, because many alternative schools of the era were focused on rescuing difficult, troubled students, whom teachers were just as happy to have out of their classrooms.

"[18] The Leonia Education Association suit dragged on for years, with various twists and turns, procedural delays, and a prolonged debate over what the word employ meant.

[14] Supporters of the alternative school also brought in the American Civil Liberties Union, and there was a legal battle over whether as an intervenor it was allowed to intervene.