The Howard Gardner School Dedicates New Building

When students move into the new building at The Howard Gardner School, they will have no desks or chairs. But that's not a problem for this small, progressive, independent school whose students find it perfectly normal to have classes in the fields, on the lawn, at the beach or sitting on the floor in their new building.

"I am grateful to the church for renting the space to us," said Katherine Keith, the school's director. "But we are so excited about moving into our new space. The teachers are thrilled."

For the past few years, teachers have been operating out of rooms provided by the church next door. The round design of the new building features a large inner atrium that will be used for school meetings and other events. The five classrooms surrounding the atrium on the main floor all open to the outdoors, while the space on the lower level includes a lunch room, a theater and a music recording studio.

Keith said the building shell came from a zero landfill factory in North Carolina; it was delivered in sections and was assembled in a week and a half. The finishing touches and permits, of course, have taken much longer.

In keeping with the school's environmental philosophy, Keith said that they would build a pond and wetlands to manage the stormwater with an emergency overflow.

Students have already signed up for an elective class to plant the pond edge with native grasses and wildflowers. The entire student population will be involved in planting seeds.

And in keeping with the natural approach that the school promotes, the path will not be laid until they determine the course that students tend to take while walking to and from the pond.

There are currently 40 students in grades 9 through 12. A new eighth-grade class was started this year with eight students; eight more will be added when the new building opens.

"We will stay small," Keith said. "We want to be able to continue to go to places as a group."

They currently have three buses available for their yearly trip to Assateague and other places.

When Keith scheduled The Howard Gardner School's Open House for October 16, 2010, she had high hopes that the building would be completed.  Almost a month later, they are still waiting for the official opening, but they are so close.

"Two more weeks – that is what they keep telling me," said Keith, for whom this new building is the culmination of a dream that began almost a decade ago.

In 2000, Keith founded Reach for the Stars, a study and support group for middle and high school students in the Alexandria area. After working with students for four years, it became clear that many capable students were not thriving in their school environment.

With the encouragement of parents, Keith and Emily Pavot formed The Howard Gardner School in 2004, providing a unique learning environment for high school teens from all over the Washington, D.C. area.

For a few years, they worked out of a small building near Duke and Quaker Street. It was next to the skateboard park and Keith quipped that they should have handed out their flyers at the park since so many of their students were skateboarders.

More recently, The Howard Gardner School has been operating out of a small house located on Franconia Road near the Rose Hill Shopping Center. Some classes are held in the house, while others are held in the church next door.

With a focus on environmental science and the arts, the school's mission is to help bright, creative non-traditional learners use their unique strengths to thrive academically, intellectually and emotionally.

Hands-on learning and weekly field studies keep students active and involved, and internships let students explore their interests through work. Their Web site lists the following items as key elements to their teaching style.

• Enthusiastic, knowledgeable staff

• Very small classes

• Exciting, active hands-on learning

• Creative, college-prep curriculum

• Experienced college counseling

• Support for different learning styles

• Reduced homework load

• 10 a.m. start time

• Accelerated graduation for academically gifted students

On Fridays, all students perform community service or intern. Some students are currently helping in classrooms, while others have internships at Connection Newspapers, a local music store, and the National Aquarium in Washington, D.C. One student, who is doing a fossil study in the Chesapeake, recently published a paper on paleontology.

"Our students are bright, creative and thrive in small groups," Keith said.