The 51-year-old Springmont School, believed to be Atlanta’s first Montessori school, has a Sandy Springs campus that serves 270 students. But not all learning happens in the facility’s classrooms: Ten years ago, the school acquired 86 acres in northwest Georgia that has become an outdoor center that introduces students to a range of subjects well beyond textbook lessons.
Classes at the former church camp site, called the Poplar Springs Landschool, are a key component of the school’s curriculum that brings students closer to nature. Twice a year, groups travel to the site in Summerville to work on math, writing and science studies, as well a self-reflection and evaluation.
Springmont is located at 5750 Long Island Drive, Atlanta. Learn more about its programs online at www.springmont.com.
“It’s particularly important to have our middle schoolers there as a way to extend their creativity,” said Jerri King, a 15-year Springmont faculty member who has led the school for the last eight years. “It’s a time when they’re trying on social lessons and experimenting with who they are, and being away from parents and society, and having a sense of what their impact can be is highly valued in our approach to education. You certainly get a deeper experience when you get away. ”
The property offers a wealth of nature encounters, from beavers building dams to wild turkeys running by. Students get outside for exploration, team building and group activities while also learning about the natural history of plant and animal life in the region. A naturalist is part of every trip and leads students outside, regardless of the weather.
“Even if it’s misty or cold, they go hiking and talk about how would you survive outdoors, what plants and natural resources there are,” said King. “Knowledge tied to classes is a great thing, but understanding how to make rope using tree bark is also connected to problem solving and time and place. It touches on topics such as remote civilizations, cultures and our heritage in a very tactile way. It also promotes critical analysis, decision making and intellectual, creative, social and physical engagement beyond the classroom.”
When not outdoors, students stay in a lodge with bedrooms, kitchen facilities and a great room outfitted with games and a piano. Electronic gadgets are banned. “It’s a completely natural, unplugged experience,” said King.
The Landschool trips have been so popular with the middle and high school grades that Springmont has started sending lower-school students as well. Those in first grade begin by making day trips, and visits get longer as they go into higher grades. The first visit includes parents, so students get comfortable with the environment, but after that, parents are, King said, “uninvited. It’s a space just for the children.”
Having such a vast outdoor resource is a terrific support to Springmont’s learning initiatives across the board, said King.
“There has been a lot of research that says being outside calms children,” she explained. “Children who spend time outdoors were measured over long periods of time, and research found those who did scored higher in standardized tests. When children are thrilled and the spark of curiosity has been lit, they talk about it, they’re very engaged, they’re very animated - and they also start noticing more things. We see that here: Children remember the experience more than if they were just told about it.”
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