Albert Einstein said, “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.” Right here in the New River Valley lives a small intergenerational learning community that is doing the mighty work of reimagining the purpose and practice of education. Springhouse Community School envisions a culture of lifelong learning, where people feel true belonging to themselves, their community, and the Earth.
Springhouse is more than just a school. It is a cultural experiment, committed to personal and collective transformation, starting with redesigning education. Springhouse offers a day school program for 7th-12th graders, rites of passage programs for pre-teens and teens, and personal development programs for adults, including The Well; a nine-month residency for adults focused on creating a healthier culture.

THE CHALLENGE Springhouse is taking a bold, creative, community-based approach to educational design in order to better support adolescents. Adolescence is a relatively newly defined phase of human development that requires more attention than it is currently receiving.
In the United States, teenagers are suffering, as evidenced by the rising numbers of teens addicted to various substances and technology. Loneliness and lack of belonging is being reported at higher levels, with bullying and violence in schools increasing. Teen suicide has become the second greatest cause of death in young people. To create healthy communities, we must better support our teenagers.
Too often we make teenagers the problem. We must have the courage to face, rather than turn away from, the complexity of this challenge. At Springhouse, we are facing this challenge head on by exploring how education can be part of the solution for our teenagers, rather than the problem. We need new designs for how we learn. Using the metaphor of a house in disrepair, we cannot simply rearrange the furniture and make superficial refinements to a structure that is fundamentally problematic. We must experiment with new ways to structure education to better care for our teenagers.

THE RESPONSE Springhouse’s educational approach is unique because it is intergenerational, learner-centered, and competency based. Springhouse is a living organism that is deeply embedded and connected to the community it is part of. Over the past six years, Springhouse has served over fifty learners through the day school program, while also serving nearly thirty young adults in The Well program, and over seventy-five adults in the personal development programs. Further, over two-hundred community members have volunteered their time at Springhouse, donating nearly five thousand hours in the last year alone.
Springhouse is building a strong, passionate, and engaged community of young people, as well as adults, by supporting them as they become more fully who they are. Springhouse is a living laboratory that is designing education in such a way that it’s in alignment with life. The educational design, starting with the pedagogical foundation and rippling through the curriculum and methodologies, supports and fosters vitality. Orienting around life-giving values, and building from the foundation of living systems principles, makes for an educational experience that is alive, creative, and sustainable. Since this educational design is oriented around universal life-giving principles, it can be replicated anywhere. Springhouse has visitors apprenticing regularly to learn more about the school’s example and design, and how it can be applied to their own learning environments. An educational design that cultivates and supports life is contagious. The staff at Springhouse are finding this to be true, as interest in the learning community to be found there continues to grow. Springhouse was recently accepted into a professional education program at Harvard, where they hope to further scale the important work they have begun here in the Blue Ridge mountains.

THE GIFT Last summer, with Head of School, Jenny Finn, donors initiated the conversation about helping the school find a permanent location. The search for a permanent home began soon after this philanthropic offer.
Finn recalls, “When I received the call that a permanent home was going to be bought for the school to use, I was completely astounded and so grateful. My gratitude was not only for the offer itself, but for the people who believe in the mission and vision of Springhouse deeply enough to do such an amazing thing for us.”
On July 18, 2019, Springhouse Community School supporters purchased for the school’s use, a well-loved property and building just inside Floyd County. It is situated on vibrant acreage, with a barn and greenhouses. It features a beautifully crafted building with a large, timber-frame hall in which to dance and learn. During last summer, community members helped move the school to the new location at 144 Silver Maple Lane in Pilot. The learning community is settling into the space beautifully. During this school year alone, it held at least four community-wide events, including an Open House potluck and concert with Lobo Marino. Over one hundred people were in attendance.

LOOKING FORWARD Springhouse launched in the fall of 2013, with ten learners. Six years later, twenty-three full-time students and eight committed staff members stepped into a new location for the 2019-2020 school year. Adult programming has expanded along with the school’s growth, with offerings and in-depth learning opportunities for all stages of life.
Finn shared, “Springhouse is an intergenerational learning community where teens and adults are learning and growing together. Through our programs and as a learning community, we practice the life-giving values of connection, individuality, resiliency, trust, creativity, and integrity.”
Springhouse will be holding an Informational Evening for Prospective Families on March 16 and May 18 from 6:00pm-7:30pm at our new location. We will hold a Prospective Student Visit Day on April 6, 2020 from 9:00am to 3:30pm.

For more information, visit online at www.springhousecommunityschool.org, or follow Springhouse Community School on Facebook.
Springhouse Community School 144 Silver Maple Ln, Pilot, VA • 540-651-4673 www.springhousecommunityschool.org www.facebook.com/springhousecommunityschool/