New Idea Lab Opens at Rocky Hill School

EAST GREENWICH, RI — The Idea Lab recently opened at Rocky Hill, and it's not just a new classroom, according to the school. In fact, it's a room the students and teachers can redesign and then break down to suit their projects.

"It can effectively accommodate a presentation model where students or faculty are addressing the class as a whole," said Peter Hanney, school spokesman. "It can then be quickly rearranged to support small teams for creative brainstorming, with students using the whiteboard wall spaces and portable white boards to capture and record their ideas for all to see."

"Unlike any other learning and making environment on campus, the Idea Lab, or I-Lab for short, is a dynamic, technology-infused space for students and faculty across all divisions and disciplines," he said. "With cutting-edge projection capabilities and a high-tech interactive whiteboard, Steelcase mobile furniture, rolling dividers, and six new, large screen iMac desktop computers, the I-Lab actively invites and promotes design thinking, creativity, collaboration, and multiple forms of learning, producing, and communicating knowledge."

The I-Lab was paid for by donations from The Champlin Foundations and parents from the Class of 2016, he said. Located in the Hale Science Center building, it will also serve as a training space for teachers from Rocky Hill School and later, the broader academic community.

“We envision the I-Lab as an environment where students are encouraged to step out of their comfort zone and become problem solvers and strategizers,” said Head of School Dr. James Tracy. “The proper learning environment invites and depends upon collaboration and teamwork, which in turn builds listening and communication skills, as well as leadership qualities. These are some of the most critical skills needed in our 21st century learners."