For the Long Run Davidson Green School

from Lake Norman CURRENTS September 2022

by Lake Norman Currents

Renee Wants to Know

Innovative Education since 2013

Davidson Green School Head and Executive Director Jennifer Jakubecy founded the school in 2013 with Kathleen McIntyre.

Davidson Green School strengthens its roots

by Karel Bond Lucander | photography by Jon Beyerle

With a recent 2,800-square-foot building expansion, Davidson Green School has upgraded classrooms and added a Science and Sustainability Lab, a Makers Space (for art and 3-D projects) and new library. There are currently 45 students to 12 teachers, a ratio that facilitates unique learning opportunities, such as studying physics through sporting activities. “We are small by design and intend to stay small to offer our students amazing experiences,” says Jennifer Jakubecy, head and executive director of this pre-K through eighth grade school.

Jakubecy was a classroom teacher with a Ph.D. in education before founding DGS in 2013 with Kathleen McIntyre. Their approach includes the belief that “the best learning comes from internal motivation, and children need to make mistakes to learn. To make mistakes, they need a safe learning environment.” And when they have that, the sky’s the limit. Here, kindergartners regularly do division and first graders read chapter books. An eighth grader recently completed ninth and 10th grade math. “Our job is to keep up with them, and sometimes just to get out of their way!”

Middle school can be especially challenging, and DGS offers an alternative to students who attended other elementary schools. Their middle school provides advanced academics and real-world projects that make a difference in the community. Students have collaborated with Davidson College to research the effects of cankerworms on area trees and to help with an initiative to reduce Styrofoam use in downtown restaurants. They also collected recycling data, presenting it to EcoDavidson. Jakubecy says DGS middle-schoolers have all confidently gone on to thrive, including at Hough High, J.T. Williams, and even highly selective United World Colleges overseas and UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. “After going through our program, students have a strong sense of self; they know who they are and what they want.”

Schoolwide, their engineering program encourages innovation and creative thinking. “When you have a challenge and it doesn’t work the first time around, you learn from it, problem solve, and then try again,” she says. “It teaches students how to fail, and to keep going.”

At DGS, sustainability is part of the life skills they learn. Students study soil health, aquaponics, vermiculture and practice composting. They also learn to be responsible community members, growing leafy greens in the aquaponics system and donating them to Ada Jenkins food pantry. They offer classes through Davidson Parks and Recreation on sustainable landscaping, edible gardens and medicinal herbs.

Located on three wooded acres, students spend a lot of time daily outdoors—taking walks, practicing yoga and exercising. They also have regular field and wilderness adventure trips off campus. “Being in nature allows them to experience a sense of calm and develop more internal awareness,” Jakubecy says. “Nature also boosts the immune system and stimulates the brain.”