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High Meadows is situated on the south side of Roswell, on a 40-acre campus that consists of natural woodland and rolling meadows. In this peaceful environment students are taught to respect the earth as well as academics.

The Academic Program
The school is one of only two Georgia private schools that participate in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program for elementary and middle school students. Many public schools participate in the program, too, but Liz Gembecki, head of High Meadows Schools, says that “most of the programs are for the bright kids — a school within a school. Our whole school participates.”

The school enrolls children from three years old through 8th grade. Each class of about 22 children, has two certified teachers so that if a child has a problem with one topic, one teacher can give that child additional help while the other teacher continues with the lesson. Classes are comprised of six multi-age groups that include all the pre-K children (3, 4 and 5 year olds) in one section; primary children (K and 1st grade, 2nd and 3rd grade); elementary (4th and 5th grades together); middle school (6th and 7th grade); and 8th grade. The total enrollment is 420 students.

Teaching in such a unique environment requires some tinkering with standard materials and the teachers frequently make up their own lessons, as well as the examples to illustrate those concepts. One challenge is to intertwine the IB units (six in all per year) with the Georgia standard curriculum. For instance, in a Civil War unit for Georgia, the war is studied, but it is also put into a world model that encourages children to think about repressed areas and impoverished areas around the globe. This then satisfies both the state and IB standards.

Gembecki maintains, “here you can give so much more. We are not teaching to a test, yet our kids consistently test in the top 10 percent.” Gembecki also keeps a watchful eye on all the children and wants to know about them regularly. This is accomplished by meeting with the teaching teams every six weeks to discuss each child. Problems that develop can be noted and addressed very quickly.

The Campus Contributes to the Curriculum
Some of the more unique opportunities at the school come from its location. With plenty of room, High Meadows has a small petting zoo. Each year for Earth Day a local expert comes to shear the sheep in the zoo and the students then wash, rinse, and spin the wool.

The school also keeps a small garden which the students maintain with recycled water while growing a variety of vegetables. Additionally, there are small areas around the campus that can be adopted for cultivation. This encourages children to adopt and look after an area.

All the topics that are taught in a multi-sensory way and generally include a portion of outdoor experience. When learning about gravity, the children learned the theory inside, then went outside and rolled balls down the hill into the meadow. Bowling balls, soccer balls and beach balls were all tossed down the slope. Although the school does not specifically offer facilities for learning problems, the method of learning and the outdoor experiences make teaching all children more productive. In this beautiful and stimulating environment the teachers clearly thrive as do the students. High Meadows has low teacher turnover, and three past students have gone on to become certified teachers so that they could return as teachers to the school.