Posted on 01 June 2013.
The Davidson Green School hopes to open this fall at 511 S. Main St.
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net
Organizers of the planned Davidson Green School have chosen a single-family house on 3.2 acres on South Main Street in Davidson as the home for their environmentally focused private school and the related Davidson Green Center. If all goes according to plan, the new school will open this fall with about 30 students in grades K-4.
Local educators with an interest in the environment are joining forces to found the new private school, which will offer instruction through ?the lens of environmental stewardship.?
The Davidson Green School has meeting with parents of prospective students in recent months, while at the same time hunting for a suitable location. The school plans to grow gradually, eventually reaching maximum of 150 students in grades K-8. (Another meeting is planned Tuesday; see the box at right.)
| INFORMATION SESSION The Davidson Green School will hold an information session on Tuesday, June 4, at 5:30pm at Davidson Public Library, 119 S. Main St., Davidson. It?s open to the public and will include information about the school?s curriculum, programs and enrollment. |
?Our vision is to stay small,? co-founder Jennifer Jakubecy said this week.
The school has a contract on 511 S. Main St., a two-story house just north of Twin Oaks Road near the Davidson-Cornelius line. The property has old-growth woods, a small stream and open space.
School organizers are currently working with Mecklenburg County Building Code Enforcement and Davidson planners to determine what work needs to be done to prepare the site for a school.
Educational uses are allowed in most parts of town under Davidson?s planning rules. Davidson Green School will need approval to change the use from residential to educational. That means some improvements a sprinkler system and a handicap-access ramp.
Jakubecy said the school also has begun working with neighbors to ensure the school does not disrupt its South Main and Twin Oaks neighborhood. One neighbor has requested a fence, and Jakubecy said, ?That works for us.?
Other neighbors have expressed concern about traffic. Town planning officials say there are no current town rules governing traffic or parking around schools. But the organizers are working with town officials and neighbors.
At the suggestion of one nearby resident, the school plans to stagger drop-off and pickup times to limit the number of cars in the area. Current plans call for two shifts, with half the morning drop-offs 8:30 to 8:45am, half from 8:45 to 9am. Afternoon pickups would be 2:30-2:45pm, and 2:45-3pm.
Jakubecy also said organizers are inviting neighbors to continue discussing their concerns.
While the school still hasn?t finished working with building officials, ?It?s looking very positive,? she said.
TEACHING LEADERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP
Jakubecy, who has her M.A. and PhD in education from the University of Virginia and N.C. certification to teach exceptional children in K-12, has worked 17 years in public education. But she also has a vision for a new kind of school. It will teach leadership, entrepreneurial, and environmental skills, as well as subjects required in the North Carolina common core curriculum ? using a problem-solving approach to learning. She will be the Head of School.
Her co-founder is Kathleen McIntyre, an educator and environmentalist who most recently was president of the Children?s Schoolhouse in Huntersville. McIntyre has an undergraduate degree in environmental health science and a master?s degree from the University of Georgia in Forestry Resources. She has taught high school and college and also is certified in secondary education and permaculture design.
The school will open with a minimum of 20 students, organizers said, though the first year target is 40 students in the first four grades. Annual tuition will be $7,900.
DAVIDSON GREEN CENTER
The school is the main initiative of an umbrella organization that Jakubecy and others have started, called the Davidson Green Center. The center will share the school?s space and offer programs aimed at the community.
?We want to be an educational site that is also open to the community,? she said.
The Davidson Green Center is envisioned as a meeting place for people who share concerns about the environment and sustainability. While the town and the area have a variety of ?green? organizations, ?There?s not a physical location for people to come together,? Jakubecy said.
The center will develop its own programs or provide a location for those organized by others.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE AND LINKS
DavidsonGreenSchool.org
DavidsonGreenCenter.org
March 12, 2013, ?With a unique approach, Davidson Green School plots fall opening?
Source: http://davidsonnews.net/realestate/2013/06/01/davidson-green-school-hopes-locate-at-s-main-st-home/
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