Tour The Wood Acres School

Welcome to The Woods…A school for all seasons and all the right reasons!

This bird’s eye view of the Wood Acres campus shows both our campus buildings as well as our lush hardwood forest that encircles the campus and provides our students with a living laboratory for learning.

Wood Acres is conveniently located in the heart of East Cobb at 1772 Johnson Ferry Road.

Turner Hall was dedicated in September 2007 in a magical Sunday afternoon ceremony attended by Congressmen, Commissioners, invited guests, and hundreds of Wood Acres families. The Upper School classrooms as well as specialty programs such as Spanish, Science, Computer Technology, etc. are housed in this uniquely designed “un-classroom like” building. Turner Hall’s plaza is a homage to the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca, Spain, and the compass rose embedded in the plaza found inspiration from the Library of Congress Jefferson Building in Washington, DC.

Please visit the Turner Hall Second Anniversary photo tour for a pictorial history of the building of Turner Hall.

Developing reading skills is often a solitary event. Falling in love with literature is something that just has to be shared. The Stacks at Wood Acres house thousands of volumes of carefully chosen fiction, nonfiction, and research materials. Partnered with the resources of the nearby Computer Lab students have at their fingertips the secrets of the Amazon to the specifics of Zoology and everything in between.

Upper School students serve as role models and campus leaders in the eyes of younger students. Upper School classes are paired with lower school classes and engage in wonderful joint activities throughout the school year.

Walk into the Beaker, Wood Acres’ science lab, and water instantly becomes H20, the Periodic Table appears imbedded on the lab floor, and true Science learning is in the pocket of each Wood Acres student’s lab coat.

How many schools still have swings that children can enjoy on a daily basis in the fast fading experience called “recess?” Wood Acres students are fit, healthy, and breathe fresh air each and every day of school.

Learning is enhanced when it can be shared with family and friends. Parents are invited onto campus for happenings such as Biography Bashes, Invention Conventions, science fairs, band concerts, class musicals, oral reports, field days, and the perennial classroom celebrations.

Built by volunteers from the General Electric ElFund retirees of metropolitan Atlanta, the Wood Acres Nature Trail and outdoor amphitheater has been the scene of outdoor dramas, egg hunts, nature walks, and many class celebrations.

Our lines may not be straight, our bodies may be moving, but never doubt that learning is happening. Wood Acres faculty truly enjoy their profession and it shows. To see the pride in the eyes of a Wood Acres teacher when her students experience an “aha” learning moment is truly priceless.

Wood Acres students experience a different musical instrument each year culminating in band participation in the Upper School. With ever fervent hopes of nurturing the next Andres Segovia or Chris Botti, a goal of the Wood Acres music program is also to teach students how to be an informed and appreciative audience.

Lights! Camera! Action! Wood Acres students enjoy many opportunities to participate in recitations, skits, and for older students, an after school drama club.

The best verbs are action ones- run, jump, bounce, play, and do. The physical education program at Wood Acres emphasizes physical fitness, game skills, and the highest level of sportsmanship. Sixth, seventh, and eighth graders enjoy a variety of classes including Zumba, yoga, fencing, tennis, and kickboxing.

No, this is not a portrait of the Wood Acres founders! Wood Acres students learn both the fundamentals of art as well as an appreciation of many great American and internationally known artists. Winter and Spring art shows in the Tuner Hall Art Gallery prove that art is highly valued in a Wood Acres education.

Upper School students participate in exciting and meaningful field trips that deepen their understanding of democracy, culture, and patriotism.

Carolina blue skies, mature trees everywhere, Mrs. Thigpen’s wild flower garden, puddles on a rainy day, a much anticipated southern snowflake, and of course oak leaves and acorns remind us of the natural beauty that surrounds the Wood Acres campus.

There are no cookie cutter kids at Wood Acres. As an affordable yet outstanding independent school with a global perspective, Wood Acres naturally attracts a wonderfully diverse, innately talented, and joyously unique group of avid learners.

These bronze sculptures, donated by generous Wood Acres families in celebration of the all too short lives of two of our students, reminds us daily that childhood should be enjoyed, protected, and savoured. The two children in the sculptures will welcome you to the Wood Acres School office where you will begin your actual campus tour when you visit.

At Wood Acres we begin with the end in mind. “If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no wind is favorable to him” (Seneca). A Wood Acres education has never been about just the facts, the pursuit of trivial knowledge, or meaningless learning. It’s about direction and purpose and the excitement of what is to come.

Our campus compass points us north and our school mascot, Navi-gator, encourages students of all ages to set their sails toward the stars.

“If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” (Sir Isaac Newton). Wood Acres parents demonstrate on a daily basis what true parental involvement in a child’s education means. They support not only the school and the teachers, but they ensure that learning occurs not just during the 180 days of the school year but throughout their child’s life.

North, South, East , or West… The Wood Acres School is simply the best!

Even our youngest students experience the wonders of the science lab and the experiential learning that makes learning come alive.

The language of music needs no translation, although Wood Acres students often sing in two languages! The plaza of Turner Hall, the campus quad, and our large multi-purpose classroom provide multiple venues for gathering, singing, performing, and coming together as a school family.