WE’RE MOVING!

Have a look at the Master Campus Plan and the watercolor rendering for our new school! For more detailed information regarding the Capital Campaign, please click here.

To see photos of our joyous groundbreaking celebration held on March 13, 2008,
click here.

To see pictures on the progress of the building, click here.

PHASES OF THE MASTER PLAN: There are several options for phasing in the Master Plan as resources become available. The certainty is that The Monarch School will begin operating from our new location at Kempwood and Rosefield in late spring 2009!

OUR HISTORY: During the past ten years, we’ve witnessed the dream of a therapeutic day school for the Houston area come true. After a year of planning and developing in 1997, The Monarch School opened the following year with 23 students, six teachers, three part-time psychology staff, a head of school, a secretary and a development director. Now, nine years later, we are at full enrollment capacity on two campuses with 89 students and a faculty of 50 teachers, psychology staff and support staff. The school has almost quadrupled in size! And all of this has been accomplished with sound fiscal management.

OUR MISSION: Since 1997, The Monarch School has been providing an innovative, therapeutic education for students, aged 4-24, who struggle with neurological differences such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, PDD-NOS), Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, Learning Disabilities, Tourette’s Syndrome, Mood Disorders (Bipolar Disorder, Depression), Anxiety Disorders, and other neurological differences. The majority of our students also have an executive functioning disorder, which is addressed through our unique Executive Functions program. But at Monarch, working with children has never been about labels. For us, it's about knowing each child as an individual, unique in the universe.

OUR ASSETS: We are certain that Monarch’s success rests firmly on PEOPLE: our faculty, board, parents, volunteers, community supporters and most of all, on our students, who conquer enormous personal obstacles which would stop most people dead in their tracks.

OUR CHALLENGE: There’s no question that the Monarch program works to teach at-risk students who, without it, may never be able to make a contribution to society. But one huge hurdle remains. The school is located on two campuses, one on leased ground space at the Houston Mennonite Church that cannot be renewed past summer 2008, and the other in an office park.

MetroNational Corporation has generously donated 10.75 acres on Kempwood at Rosefield. This gives us an incredible opportunity to expand, so that we can impact many more children and their families.

PROGRESS TO DATE: We have a short period of time before our second five-year ground lease expires at the Houston Mennonite Church. Our capital campaign is on a fast track...similar to the way Monarch has developed so rapidly the past ten years! We're proud that 100% of our board of trustees and 100% of our faculty members have made their gifts to the campaign and that our parent campaign is approaching 100% as well. Click here for a detailed update.

OUR NEW CAMPUS: We invite you to look over the Master Site Plan and watercolor drawings of our new school. John Clements and Shelly Potroff of Jackson and Ryan Architects have translated our mission and our therapeutic practices into physical space that will allow optimal development of students at our school. The metaphor of the Monarch butterfly exemplifies the work of The Monarch School: changing lives from the inside out.

The goal for the new campus is to create a built environment that works seamlessly with and empowers the process of transformation. The Chrysalis Building, housing the Apprentice Program, invites students to enter the school through a central courtyard, creating a sense of protection, safety and well-being. From here they enter into a common living space around which three classrooms, a therapy room, a sensory area, a computer room, a “calm down” room and observation rooms are arranged. Classrooms are spacious and self-contained to properly modulate sensory input. A direct link allows movement from inside space to outside decks, small gardens, outdoor classrooms and shared pavilions for art, woodworking, dance, drama and animal care in the “village” area. As Apprentice students’ skills for successfully interacting with more than one or two persons increase, they will access learning and fun in the village setting.

Whereas the Chrysalis Building looks inward, the Butterfly Building, housing our Challenger Program, deliberately turns this arrangement inside out. Students and visitors enter a shared, central gathering space and then pass through the educational opportunities offered in one of the two outstretched wings, before going back out into the world through the wing tips. There are separate areas for elementary school, middle school and high school. Classrooms are open and free flowing, affording students multiple opportunities to practice the skills they need to function successfully in the world. Outdoor amenities include patios, gardens and a basketball court.

The Monarch Center is nestled between the Chrysalis and Butterfly Buildings to welcome visitors and serve as the campus headquarters. It houses administrative offices as well as the Monarch Diagnostic Clinic. Outstretched wings of this building house the Monarch Life Academy, combining school-based businesses, entrepreneurship and academics, as well as the Monarch Learning Center, for parent and teacher education. Both of these programs are within easy access to Apprentice and Challenger Programs.

The three buildings together form the edge of a large, protected, environmentally rich “outdoor classroom”. Here a walking trail surrounds a large garden with a pond, fireplace and a small shop for garden equipment. A soccer field serves both the Apprentice and Challenger programs and sits adjacent to the future fitness center expansion.

BUILDING “GREEN”: Our new campus is designed to be environmentally friendly and LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified according to the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system. The Monarch School’s green roots are deep and include a nature-based curriculum, much of which occurs in our outdoor classroom including trails, a pond, natural habitat and native plants. For us, beyond our personal obligation to be good stewards of the land, we also have a responsibility to design a campus that is healthy for our students and faculty.

THE “VILLAGE”: The interior campus is designed like a village to create the sense of community and belonging so essential for our students. Children with neurological differences must learn to not only function in, but also to contribute to, a community of learners, as preparation for successful participation in larger communities. Our students know that they have an important role to play in the Monarch community. They learn, from experience every day they are at Monarch, that they have a responsibility to give as well as receive. The outdoor environment affords additional and varied chances to demonstrate competence in a natural setting. We envision the students and faculty working together to learn how to construct the pond (our second!), to complete the inside of the pavilions, to care for pets, to build a vegetable garden and a citrus grove. Learning how to conserve water and energy in our new setting will bring authentic learning about care for the environment.

BENEFITS OF THE NEW CAMPUS: The work of The Monarch School has taken place over the last nine years in three modular buildings on rented land and a second campus in a business park five blocks away. We are fortunate to have worked with almost 300 students, 200+ of whom have transitioned to other elementary, middle and high schools, both public and private. So much more can be done in a permanent space that unites the campuses, allows access to the outdoors, and creates a village for practicing work as well as fun!

PHASES OF THE MASTER PLAN: There are several options for phasing in the Master Plan as resources become available. The certainty is that The Monarch School will begin operating from our new location at Kempwood and Rosefield in 2008!

MORE INFORMATION: If you would like more information about the building project, and how you can get involved, please contact Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School, or Bob Brooks , project manager.