Our Vision

History

Londonderry has been an innovator in education since a group of parents initiated the school in 1971 as an alternative to traditional education. Londonderry's elementary program is licensed by the Pennsylvania Board of Private Academic Schools. The preschool and kindergarten program is the longest accredited early childhood program in central Pennsylvania by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs (NAEYC). The After School program has received the highest rating from the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare’s Keystone STARS program.

Growing Bigger, Stronger and "Greener"

Beyond brick and mortar! Londonderry’s green school was completed during the Spring of 2004 after ten years of fundraising, planning and construction. The site was selected because it afforded a beautiful nature observatory within minutes of downtown Harrisburg. In 2006, Londonderry’s building received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification – a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

In addition to reflecting Londonderry School’s dedication to the natural world, the school building also serves a model for environmentally-conscious construction on a budget. Typical school construction in central Pennsylvania costs $130/square foot. Londonderry’s building was built for approximately $100/square foot, demonstrating that green design can be cost effective.

Londonderry’s school building was also designed to serve as a teaching tool. As people walk around our building, they can learn about its environmentally-friendly systems and processes, and why they were chosen. In addition to self-guided tours, visitors may take advantage of a student-guided tour, which was recently experienced by the Governor’s Green Council, and Danish government and business officials, seeking more knowledge about Londonderry’s low cost, environmentally-friendly approach to building a new school!

Not your average schoolyard! Learning about the natural world and our impact on it has always been part of the Londonderry curriculum. Londonderry’s 14-acre campus makes that easy. On a daily basis, staff and students engage in activities that preserve natural habitat, protect the watershed, reduce waste and energy usage, and teach others about caring for the environment.

Throughout the year, students, staff and parents participate in work days to help improve the school environment in a natural way. Volunteers have planted more than 100 native trees and shrubs to restore and enhance wildlife habitat on Londonderry’s 14 acres. Older students maintain native flower, shrub and tree plantings, and operate a paper recycling program. They also care for a rain garden, built by the Boy Scouts, and helped to construct the bird blind and feeding station. In the preschool and kindergarten, students grow organic vegetable gardens, care for a native and drought-resistant flower garden, and a sunflower house. They also observe bird feeding stations and houses from their classrooms. One preschool class even constructed a bat house to “naturally” combat mosquitoes!

Londonderry’s campus has also been recognized as a National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitat.

Most recently, Londonderry School enhanced its learning environment with the establishment of Monet’s Artists Garden. Located behind the art and computer rooms, Monet’s Artists Garden was inspired by the paintings and gardens of Claude Monet and other artists who look to nature as a muse. Our young artists will use the garden for quiet work and inspiration.

Take an online tour of Londonderry's "green" journey!

Learning Beyond the Classroom

Even with a new, “green” building and bucolic setting, Londonderry students and teachers still seek educational experiences outside of the classroom. Throughout the year, preschool students can be found at local pumpkin patches, museums and other educational venues. One class visited a local Asian restaurant while learning about Chinese culture. Another visited a local nature refuge while studying birds. Students have visited the Mount Hope Estate during a unit on Edgar Allan Poe. Twice each year, older students take off on primitive camping trips as part of the school’s science and nature curriculum.

In the spirit of environmental stewardship and dedication to the local community, Londonderry staff, students and their families also maintain a portion of the Capital Area Greenbelt. The site, named “Phoenix Garden,” can be found south of the PennDOT building, overlooking the Susquehanna River. Over the years, the school has incorporated this volunteer effort into every classroom. Together, all of these “green thumbs” have planted trees, plants and flowers that are native to the region and grown to attract butterflies, birds and other wildlife. They’ve also designed sitting niches, sculptures and a mosaic mural, and painted a garden scene on abandoned concrete walls. Phoenix Garden is ongoing and has been made possible with funding from the school's Kid’s Committee , and grants from the Dauphin County Department of Community and Economic Development. It is accessible to hikers of all shapes and sizes, and is wheelchair accessible.

Looking Forward

The Londonderry School has accomplished a lot during 36 years. However, it is always necessary to look forward as we continue to shape our school as the world and families change. During the summer of 2007, The Londonderry School completed a year-long visioning process that engaged staff, parents, alumni and community members in charting the school’s path for the future. The exercise produced five categories of concentration:

1.    Share the school’s message and identity with the greater community.

2.    Maintain excellence in education.

3.    Consider leadership succession, and the mentoring and nurturing of teachers.

4.    Succeed in fundraising and development.

5.    Improve operations and management processes to support the goals of the school.

Take a Tour of Londonderry's GREEN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT Inside and Out!

Welcome to Londonderry School, where we care for children and care about the environment. Our school was completed in the spring of 2004 after 10 years of fundraising, planning and construction. We selected this site because it afforded us a beautiful nature observatory within minutes of downtown Harrisburg.

We knew, however, that we would need to be stewards of these 14 acres. And so we began planning a school building and grounds that would preserve natural habitat, protect the watershed, reduce waste, reduce energy usage, and teach others about caring for our environment. As part of our planning, we strove to meet national standards set by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) environmental building criteria in areas such as site development, air quality, energy efficiency, water conservation and innovative design strategies.

Further, we committed our project to show that environmentally conscious or "green" building construction does not need to cost more than traditional construction and should become a new building industry standard. Typical central Pennsylvania school construction cost is $130/sq. ft. Our building was constructed at about $100/sq. ft., demonstrating that green design can be cost effective and within reach for any construction project.

We also made design decisions to create a building that is a teaching tool about the environment for our students and for public visitors. As you walk around our building you can learn about the choices we made and why we made them, keeping both the environment and cost in mind.

Facts and figures:

    * Londonderry School is a private non-sectarian school serving preschool through 8th grade students.
    * Move in date: April 15, 2004
    * 25,000 sq. ft. school building with construction costs of $2.5 million (excluding land, site costs, architect fees) on 14 acres
    * Londonderry School previously lived in several different rental facilities over its 33-year history

Read what others have written about our school:
Londonderry School Gives Carlisle Extra Credit for its Energy Efficient Sure-Weld® TPO Roofing System, January 24, 2005

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Less is better!

Our building is designed so that spaces can have multiple uses. This reduces the need to build more square footage. This provides a cost and materials savings! For example, our lobby may be used as stage; the railing can be removed and the multipurpose room becomes seating area. Or, push away furnishings in multipurpose room to make available as a large gathering room. Students can also sit on the risers and view a show or program in the multipurpose room itself. The room has a small kitchenette for board meetings, evening or special programs, and so that it may be used for community programs.

We have consciously chosen not to cover floors and walls with extra materials that are typically used in construction. For example, the block in hallways is clear sealed, rather than hidden behind drywall or event paint. The concrete floor (which is important to our heating system) has merely received a clear sealer also. The maintenance is minimal; the function is complete without adding linoleum or vinyl flooring.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT Energy efficiency
	We have reduced energy usage through the coordination of the "systems" in building. First, the building "envelope" has extreme insulation – an R-60 roof and R-48 walls. Walls are made of double "walls" of Styrofoam that make a form that is filled with concrete. The highly insulated "envelope" of the building keeps heat and cooling inside the building. The floor slab of concrete is heated by radiant tubing; 130-degree water snakes through the floor in tubes spaced 12 inches apart. The concrete remains warm and the individual areas do not need to "call" for heat as often as with traditional baseboard or forced hot air heating. Upstairs uses baseboard heat, but relies on heat rising from floor below for primary heating. Windows allow for passive warming from sun.
	Utilizing sun’s warmth through windows and clerestories to help warm building through day. Roof overhangs are designed to keep summer sun out and let winter sun in. Awnings over some windows provide the same effect. Awnings are purchased from Conservation Concepts, an environmental business with ties to Londonderry’s founding families. All classrooms have individual heat thermostats so each can be regulated as needed, depending on amount of sun warmth.
	The building is designed to reduce the need for air conditioning by using natural air ventilation in classroom wings with "purge" fans. These fans pull cool air through the classrooms at night when windows are left open. Clerestories allow heat that rises to escape. Only the central part of the building is air conditioned, as this is the only part of the building getting year round use. Offices are air conditioned separately from the multipurpose room/lobby area, so that only the area in use can be air conditioned, as needed. Air conditioning adds considerable expense to a building during construction and for electric usage as an operating cost, so this design offers cost savings in two ways.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Energy efficiency and Aesthetics

Daylighting – using natural light as lighting - reduces need for lighting and provides a more pleasant natural light. Large windows are in all classrooms. White ceilings reflect and spread light throughout rooms. Clerestories add light to hallways. Light in halls is reflected off white ceilings and into classroom through holes in walls, adding daylight to center of building.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Reduced water usage

All toilets use rainwater collected from the roof in an underground cistern to flush – except our waterless urinal! This rainwater recycling system for graywater greatly reduces the use of potable water from the drinking water supply. The gang sinks (which were recycled from a building demolition) turn off automatically and have small faucet holes, so children cannot leave water running.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Air quality

Materials were selected that would eliminate as much as possible chemical pollutants in the inside air. The carpet is made from recycled fibers and backing, can be recycled, and is installed so that it has very little "off gassing" during installation or after. The carpet is installed in squares that can be removed if stained, rather than having to remove the entire carpet area. The sealers or finishes used on site have reduced harmful volatile organic chemicals (VOCs); those needing finishes with VOCs were completed off site and brought to the site after they had sealed.

The entire building can use natural ventilation with operable windows throughout to allow fresh air exchange. Each classroom has a carbon monoxide monitor so inhabitants can note if air ventilation should increase. Fans that cool the building at night can also operate on low speed to help increase natural ventilation if needed. Fans are located along clerestories at ends of hallways.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Renewable and recyclable materials

Materials were selected for the building that were made from rapidly renewable/fast growth materials or recycled/recyclable materials. Rapid growth examples : Wheatstraw board in multipurpose room and over doorways is made from wheat straw! The flooring in the multipurpose room is bamboo. Recycled/recyclable: Interface brand carpet is made from recycled carpet and is recyclable when no longer needed, including both fibers and backing. Because the carpet is installed in squares, rather than an entire roll, each square can be replaced singly as necessary when soiled permanently.

75% of the waste from construction was also recycled!

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Durability reduces waste and maintenance time and cost

Indoor and outdoor materials were selected to require little maintenance and refinishing. Split faced block is used on the exterior. Inside, regular concrete block is used in hallways requiring no repainting in later years. Concrete flooring is easy to maintain and requires little upkeep.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Reuse of materials

All-new furnishings would have cost approximately $150,000. Classroom and some office furnishings were reused from former school location. Lobby and administrative furnishings were donated by two law offices and two corporations that were disposing of furnishings. Savings to school = $136,000. Reduced trash and waste and reduced impact on resources to create new furnishings. Large sinks were donated from a demolition site and refurbished for school’s use. River stones from the roof of a demolition site were reused around the school for walkways.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Reduce fuel consumption through use of local products

When considering impact on the environment in material selection, the travel distance of the materials coming to the site must be a factor. Materials were selected for construction of the building that were made within a 500-mile radius of the site. New classroom furniture that was purchased was from a Lancaster company.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Minimize site disturbance

Only the area needed for construction itself was disturbed. Trees were saved that were healthy, rather than leveling the entire area and re-planting later, as is typical in commercial and school construction.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT Watershed protection
		All stormwater (water runoff) is kept on site. Stormwater is reduced by collecting rainwater from the roof and reusing it for flushing toilets. Also eliminating curbing and reducing paving and concrete reduce the stormwater runoff from roadways and parking areas. Extra parking area uses a permeable surface that is cost efficient - gravel.
Underground septic tanks are located near building as part of onlot sewage system	All wastewater is treated on site, rather than adding to sewage system. This reduces the impact on the watershed with sewage treatment plant discharge.
Students planted more than 50 native trees and shrubs in the spring of 2004, such as dogwood, river birch, redbud and mountain laurel.	Plantings are native plants, which do not need special or extra watering. Watering can be done in summer with rainwater collection system, since water usage in a school is reduced in summer. No chemical fertilizers are used that can run off and damage waterways; organic compost is used to fertilize plantings.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Habitat protection

500 white pine seedlings were planted by families and students in the spring of 2003. Acorns were planted throughout the woods in the fall of 2004.

The school is sited to reduce number of acres needing to be disturbed. New plantings are all native plants that provide habitat for native species. Extensive habitat restoration by replanting healthy plants to replace those destroyed by logging of previous owners is being conducted by the school students and families.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Natural habitat, watershed protection, energy reduction

Natural habitats rather than monoculture of grass that requires extensive watering and mowing have been retained and enhanced. The school playground has been designed with a variety of habitats. The grass area is limited on the playground to the essential needed space and elsewhere on the site is also limited. Landscaping includes native shrubs and trees, meadow grasses and wildflowers. Trees have been protected and preserved wherever possible.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Reuse and recyled materials

Several pieces of playground equipment were moved from our former site. New equipment that was purchased uses "timbers and planks" made from recycled milk jugs (over 3,400) and recycled plastic bags. Play equipment has also been constructed of logs from trees that were not healthy and had to be removed. Wood chips from trees that were taken down were used for playground surfacing; wood chips from trees that were from a garden expo at the nearby farm show building were also used on our playground!

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT

Reduce heat absorption on earth to reduce global warming

Dark materials absorb and hold heat from the sun; light materials reflect the sun’s light and heat back away from the earth. Asphalt paving is limited to minimum needed for school requirements. Trees have been preserved or planted to shade asphalt in the spring, summer, and fall months. The roof materials are silver (front) or white (back) to reflect sun.