Logan School for Creative Learning

Infobox School
name = The Logan School for Creative Learning


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established = 1989
type = Private
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grades = K-8
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head of school = Andrew Slater
dean = Patricia McKinnell
faculty = approx. 60
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students =
enrollment = 234
athletic team = Logan Lightning
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colors = yellow and purple color box|purplecolor box|yellow
mascot = The Logan Leaper (above)
campus type = Urban
campus size = 13.5 acres
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location = Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado
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website = http://www.theloganschool.org

The Logan School for Creative Learning is a private school in Denver, Colorado enrolling intellectually gifted students in grades K through 8. The school focuses on experiential learning as a learning method.

It was started in 1989 as "The Denver School" by Patricia McKinnell, one of the school's teachers and its current Dean of Students. Originally it was located in a garage. Since 1999 [ [http://www.cccs.edu/AboutCCCS/LowryHistory.html The History of Lowry] , Colorado Community Colleges System] Logan has been located on Lowry Air Force Base, where it is one of several independent schools on a 1,866-acre former military site that is being redeveloped as a mixed-use urban community. [ [http://www.lowry.org/ Lowry website] ]

The mission of the school is "a school for gifted education which provides a challenging environment for gifted children ages four through fourteen." [http://www.theloganschool.org Logan School official web site] ]

Andrew Slater, the head of school, was the recipient of an NAIS/E.E. Ford Fellowship for Aspiring School Heads, a one-year long program of leadership development for "emerging independent school leaders" supported by the National Association of Independent Schools and the Edward E. Ford Foundation. [ [http://www.nais.org/files/PDFs/03_04_EE_FF_Roster_v6.pdf NAIS/E.E. Ford Fellowship Roster, 2003-2004] ]

Curriculum

Logan's curriculum is designed for intellectually gifted students ages four to fourteen. Students are selected for admission based on test scores, a student visit, and teacher recommendations. Each student has an individualized curriculum based on their abilities, learning style, and personal interests. At the beginning of each school year, students each choose a "unit" to study (some older students choose more than one), with students encouraged to pick a unit subject that interests them, as they will spend a large portion of their time at school studying their units. The curriculum of units is designed to help teach reading, writing, math, science and other subjects, by helping students build connections between these subjects and their interests. Field trips are an important part of the program, often with an environmental emphasis. [ [http://www.lowry.org/education/preschool-8.htm Education at Lowry] ]

Logan School has 12 core classrooms including students of varying ages, usually within 2 years of each other (with the exeption of such brilliant minds such as /Harry Forbes. Children typically spend 2 years with one teacher,Davidson Institute for Talent Development, [http://www.gt-cybersource.org/SearchRecord.aspx?NavID=1_0&rid=10358&stext=%22logan%22&sid=1&rccode=176&rtcode=116 Logan School profile] , in GT-Cybersource website.] Logan students call their teachers by their first names.

During the 1998-1999 school year, students in one class at Logan participated in a research project investigating the usability of perspectives-based software collaborative learning, as part of their studies of acid mine drainage from old gold mines in Colorado. [Stahl, G., [http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/2001/1/ WebGuide: Guiding Collaborative Learning on the Web with Perspectives] , "Journal of Interactive Media in Education", 2001.]

Recognition

Some Logan students received an award from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for their work. [ [http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2007/512.html "Students Recognized for Creativity and Skill in Energy Education Event"] , National Renewable Energy Laboratory press release dated May 12, 2007.]

Capital campaign and construction program

During the school year of 2005-2006, The Logan School for Creative Learning conducted The Logan Legacy Campaign, a fundraiser that raised over $5 million to fund the school's expansion. The project was spearheaded by Head of School Andrew Slater.

Before the construction, the school only used half of the main building, leaving the rest unfinished. This area was called the Unoccupied Space. After the expansion, the Unoccupied Space was renovated and classrooms were put into the entire school, which now resembles a square horseshoe on the first level and a square on the second. Behind the West side of the school is a large berm and beyond that is a wetlands area. This is a favored place to conduct environmental studies and to enjoy nature.

References

External links

* [http://www.theloganschool.org Logan School]