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Shreiner School Strives to Make Learning Fun
By Don Plummer Special to The Journal-Constitution
Fun is the philosophy that has put an East Cobb school at the top of achievement scales while filling its classrooms with eager learners. Shreiner Academy headmaster David Shreiner acknowledges the school is rarity among high pressure private schools. However, Mr. Shreiner, son of school founders Marion and Hal Shreiner, said the school was founded on the principle that its purpose is “not to push these students as hard as possible, but to make learning fun.” “Its throwback to bygone days when there was pride in craftsmanship and dedication to a standard,” he said. The school has also prospered without high pressure advertising. “Our basic philosophy is to create the best possible product and trust the parents to be our sales representatives.” Mr. Shreiner said that approach to fun learning has resulted in impressive growth. As school enrollment has grown, the school’s campus has been expanded to include the buildings of an adjacent office park and several former residences. Today, the grounds encompass 27 classrooms, a performing arts center, computer labs, two swimming pools, basketball courts, eight playgrounds, picnic and overnight camping areas. The wooded campus between Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill roads in the midst of East Cobb’s most affluent neighborhoods, and the school’s 7 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. operating hours have made Shreiner a favorite of busy professionals. It also tops with kids. “We take subjects and turn them into a game,” said Mr. Shreiner. Despite the lack of drudgery, standardized test grades place Shreiner students among the nation’s top achievers in reading and math. Mr. Shreiner said the grades reflect the resources lavished on students at Shreiner. Course work routinely extends beyond classroom lectures into metro area’s museums, parks and attractions. Students from preschool through 5th grade regularly visit zoo Atlanta, the state Capitol, festivals, plays and special events. Mr. Shreiner says the school’s more-than 100 field trips each year are central to the school’s expanded curriculum. “We consider buses to be classrooms on wheels,” Mr. Shreiner said. In addition to student trips to watch butterflies at Callaway Gardens and week-long adventures on the Georgia coast, Shreiner teachers bring the world into their classrooms with guest lectures from experts, including recent visits by Canine Corps Police Officers, Atlanta’s German Consul and firemen who let students “climb all over their truck.” Another way the school “take a subject and tries to make it fun,” Mr. Shreiner said, “Is to weave learning into extra curricular activities. Language education – often reduced to droning recitation exercises at most schools – often takes place at social events like the school’s cooking club, where teachers and students plan, cook, and enjoy foreign – language meals. |
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