A Network of Learning
In a society which emphasizes teaching, children, and students - and adults - become passive and unable to think or act for themselves. Creative, active individuals can only grow up in a society which emphasizes learning instead of teaching. (A Pattern Language, 1977, p. 100) The Montessori School featured here emphasizes learning.
Schools are designed on the assumption that there is a secret to everything in life; that the quality of life depends on knowing that secret; that secrets can be known only in orderly successions; and that only teachers can properly reveal these secrets. An individual with a schooled mind conceives of the world as a pyramid of classified packages accessible only to those who carry the proper tags. (Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich. Vol. 44 in World Perspectives series, Harper & Row, 1971)
Athens Montessori School, Athens Georgia
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Note the human scale of this building and the clear sense of entrance and landscaping. It is easy to determine the front of the building, without necessarily looking for the flag pole. This is, indeed, a "school house," not an institutionalized structure. |
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This is a site overview showing old and new wings and the context. The lower drawing represents the foot print of the building shown above. The new building's site is indicated by the bold line drawing in the center. |
Over the past few years the Athens Montessori School has been expanding on a five acre site which holds several teacher designed buildings. Each phase of construction has been a blend of cost effectiveness that "facilitates" the school's program and also adheres to specifications such as those handed down by the State Fire Marshall and the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).
The elementary school is constructed for children 6 to 11 years of age. The program is divided into a lower multi-age division of 6, 7, and 8 year old children who are served by the front building with a two story middle as shown above. The 9, 10, and 11 year old students attend classes in the building directly behind this structure.
To show the range of spaces, we have drawn from the old and new wings of the building. For the purpose of cost and square footage comparisons we have used the new wing opened in November of 1997, for which we have the 1997 construction cost.
