Summit Prep teams up with Discovery Center for hands-on learning

Few Ozarks students can say they go to school in a science museum, but beginning this fall, a group of students from The Summit Preparatory School have been doing just that.

The Summit is leasing two classrooms at the downtown facility for 20 students in grades six through 10. Summit Head of School Karen Sweeney said when talks with the center began last year, the school wasn't looking for long-term classroom space.

"We were at a point in our growth where we needed science labs, and we knew that The Discovery Center has some extraordinarily well-equipped labs," Sweeney said. "We went to talk to them about how we might use their laboratories, and as we were talking, we thought about other ways that we could have the whole school involved."

Beyond access to labs, exhibits and distance-learning capabilities, The Summit's students can enjoy other benefits to having class downtown.

"They've got access to all the other cultural amenities, whether it's the theaters or history museum or Founders' Park," said Discovery Center CEO Emily Fox. She noted that the school has signed a nine-month lease for the classrooms, though she declined to disclose lease rates.

Another added bonus is the fact that Missouri State University's shuttles drive right by Discovery Center, 438 E Saint Louis St., so they can easily get to campus as needed.

"The students have done some work in physical education on the MSU campus (and) we have the same science book as the freshmen at MSU, so we are able to attend the lectures that the freshmen in college are having," Sweeney said.

Student benefits

Sweeney noted that independent schools in other cities often have ongoing relationships with science museums, and she said the classrooms at Discovery Center fit well with The Summit's focus on learning outside the classroom. That ongoing presence is a step above the day trips taken by younger grades or the times when classes at The Summit's main location, 922 W. Republic Road, host Discovery Center staff.

"Since our students come in at or above grade level, we're always looking for real-life experiences outside the school to boost their learning," Sweeney said.

She noted that the added classrooms didn't affect tuition at the school, which varies by grade level and ranges from $5,700 to $6,700 a year. The five-year-old school now has 101 students in kindergarten through 10th grades.

Pat Misterovich enrolled his three children, including seventh-grader Joe, at The Summit this fall. He said he wasn't aware of the Discovery classrooms, but they ultimately factored into the decision to transfer Joe to The Summit.

"We were considering just leaving him in the public schools because he'd been there so long, and when he heard about The Discovery Center, he wanted to switch," Misterovich said. "He loves the fact that it doesn't feel like regular school."

But Leah Blakey, a Drury University history professor whose second-grade daughter McKenzie is enrolled at The Summit, said the older students' presence at Discovery Center already is creating buzz back at the main location inside Wesley United Methodist Church. She said that's partly because the younger kids know what the facility offers from field trips, such as a recent one she helped chaperone so the kids could further their study of astronomy.

She's heard several younger kids talk of getting old enough to Explorers, the name given to grades six through 10 at Summit.

"As far as they're concerned, that's like a constant field trip," Blakey said.

Research help

Fox said Discovery Center also stands to benefit from having students on-site for the school week, because they can help research new exhibits and programs.

"We can pilot programs using that age group," Fox said. "We had hoped all along that the schools, both public and private, would utilize us ... maybe not locate here physically, but take advantage of all the amenities that we have."

Fox noted that while The Summit's students spend time in their classrooms, they don't always blend in with Discovery Center visitors.

"At times, I'll walk down the hall, and they'll have their lawn chairs out in our World Wise Gallery, having class, maybe a Spanish class, for example," Fox said.[[In-content Ad]]