ABOUT US
The Garden School is located in Gbarnga, Bong County, Liberia with a focus on early childhood education through an innovative educational model that is unique for the West African nation. It is the first school in Liberia based on developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education. According to the African Early Childhood Network, there are no free early learning services in the west African country. The Garden School is built on a unique model that provides an evidenced-based curriculum to Liberia's youngest citizens. Please see below for 11 key features to know about the school:​
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS
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Every Friday there is a staff meeting led by the principal and attended by an education adviser and a funder of the school. The meeting is made possible by remote audiovisual teleconference between Liberia and the United States. What would have been impossible 20 years ago is possible now. Once a month, the staff meeting is devoted entirely to professional development of the three teachers at the Garden School, in dialogue with their American counterpart advisers.
EVIDENCE-BASED, AGE-APPROPRIATE EDUCATION.
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The Garden School was founded, is staffed and is advised by teachers with over 100 years of experience working with children ages 3, 4 and 5. Children this age do not sit still for long. They learn by doing and exploring, by themselves and in small groups. Activities and games are used as the basis for creative and authentic learning. Rote learning receives less emphasis to keep their minds and imagination open.​
​OUTREACH TO OTHER TEACHERS IN THE COMMUNITY.
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The Garden School gets children started in life, but does not teach them after they graduate from the 5-year old class. The school holds workshops for teachers in the schools Garden School students will next attend, letting them know what and how the Garden School children have learned. Many of these teachers use the same techniques in their classes.
A COMMUNITY SCHOOL.
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The Garden School is designed to serve the local Gweeta Community in which it is located. It is not designed to educate the children of the most affluent or important people in Gbarnga. First priority in admission, therefore, goes to children who live close to the school. The founders think that this will engender local loyalty to and protection of the school and its premises. It will also encourage other communities in the town of Gbarnga, and communities in other towns in Liberia, to build other schools like the Garden School to educate their own children. The Garden School has offered to share its articles of incorporation, bylaws, educational and financial policies, architectural plans and advice to help the spread of other “garden schools” for early childhood education in Liberia.
CHARACTER EDUCATION.
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The Garden School takes seriously its responsibility to train the future citizens and leaders of Liberia. In the last 30 years, Liberia has been ravaged by civil war. Even today there is a lingering risk of unrest and violence. To return the country to civil society, hearts must be trained as well as minds – from a young age. At the beginning of every day, therefore, children of the Garden School pledge themselves to be honest, hardworking, respectful of others (especially girls and women), and ready to settle their differences peacefully rather than by violence. The pledge expressly connects these virtues to the kind of country the students want to live in. Whenever possible, teachers deal with behavioral problems by reference to the Garden Pledge, so the children get the connection between what they have promised and their deeds. A palaver hut – the symbol of resolving differences peacefully in Liberia – was designed by the school architect and is a central feature of the school landscape.
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
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​The Garden School has taken great pains to be careful and transparent in its use of money. The school’s financial officer is trained in bookkeeping and financial best practices. Each month the officer distributes to all board members and staff an account of all income and expenses that is tied to the school’s bank account statement. Every week at the staff meeting, the financial officer will report, to the penny, the exact amount of available funds. The school’s books have been audited twice by an independent auditor, and the recommendations were taken to heart and followed in every respect. The principal source of income to the school are distributions from the King Baudoin Foundation United States, a 501©(3) organization, which itself receives an accounting of every grant it makes. One staff member who tried to take school money was dismissed. Since then, to the knowledge of the board and principal, not one penny has been misappropriated. No money is kept on campus. All purchases in excess of $500 are competitively bid.
PARENT INVOLVEMENT.
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The Garden School expects parents to be actively involved in their children’s education. That involvement starts with volunteering at the school one day every other week. Parents are organized into two groups, the banana group and the orange group, and assigned specific days within that group, so every day the school and teachers know who will show up, and the parents know exactly when their presence is needed. If a parent does not show up on the assigned day, their child is sent home - and remains at home until the parent shows up to help. As a result, every teacher, every day, has a parent whose child is in the class assisting in the classroom. This arrangement has several benefits. The ratio of adults to students is reduced from 1:20 to 1:10. Teachers can keep teaching while the parents usher students to the bathroom. Parents see what their child is learning in school and can continue their education at home. Parents can also use the methods of education they have observed with their other children, so there is a multiplier effect. And parents know the teachers and what they’re talking about at the regular meetings of the parent -teacher organization.
FOOD FOR GROWING MINDS.
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The Garden School provides two meals a day for its students and faculty, the result of which is a generous food budget. The board believes this is money well spent. The policy levels the playing field for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It makes sure no child is hungry. It provides a powerful incentive for children to come to school on time. And it provides a powerful incentive for children to stay in school. The average daily attendance at the Garden School, whether for food or learning purposes, is over 90%. At the end of every meal,, there is virtually no extra or wasted food. This is a sign of a good policy.
BOARD INTEGRITY AND COMMITMENT.
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The board of directors of the Garden school is unique. Four of the board members were classmates at Gboveh High School, in Gbarnga,in the early 1970s. Fifty years later – after their country was torn apart by a civil war and Ebola epidemic – they decided to give back and rebuild their childhood community. The board represents a generation of Liberians from the past who could be Liberians in the future if the Garden School succeeds.. Using their education, they are leaders of education, health and business in Liberia and the United States. Two things in particular are noteworthy of this board. No board member, in eight years, has taken a penny for their services. On the contrary, each board member has made an annual donation to the Garden School. Just as the Garden School is a model for early childhood education, the board wishes to be a model for board service.
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS.
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The Garden School enjoys a unique and excellent location in Gbarnga, on a quiet road several hundred yards off a main road. The setting is more pastoral and residential than urban. The main school building was designed for 3- to 5-year old children in mind, with low window sills and protected enclosures, and for a tropical climate, with louvred windows that allow cross breezes in each classroom and ceiling fans. Thanks to the generosity of the school principal, the original acre was purchased at an extremely reasonable cost. Since then another acre has been acquired so the school sits on two acres, across which runs a seasonal stream in a shallow valley. The original acre has a guest house for visiting teachers and volunteers and a caretaker’s house for the facilities manager. If financial aid is forthcoming, the second acre will be developed to provide a playground, a football field, an orchard, and a garden where each student will grow food. The rudiments of a hedge have been planted on the perimeter of the property to provide privacy and safety. Eventually large shade and climax species trees will be planted to cool students and educate them about Liberia’s natural forest heritage.
Today, The Garden School serves as a place for 3, 4, and 5-year old children to build critical, foundational learning skills to set them up well on a path for a positive education and life. The school's community-based approach is designed to help train other local teachers. Through workshops, the school's leadership spreads its evidence-based teaching model to other educators. Additionally, the involvement of parents fosters a sense of family and a communal spirit. It is the foundation of early childhood development through powerful endeavors like The Garden School that will help improve outcomes for children and ultimately families, communities, and societies within Liberia and beyond.
