Birdwood STEAM Lab

The Covenant School continues to develop its intentional Christian Liberal Arts and Science (CLAS) curriculum following the vision, philosophy, and design that only quality interdisciplinary leadership can generate.
Our team began by asking a series of questions:
  • How do we best develop intellectual curiosity, creativity, and vision in our students?
  • How do we integrate the sciences, technology, the arts, and mathematics into a seamless foundation that encourages students to be independent learners? 
  • How do we ensure that our students acquire key cross-disciplinary mental habits, rather than just accumulate subject-specific facts? 
  • How do we help students think not just about science, math, art, and technology but about them together and how they impact the quality of the human life for good and ill?
  • How do our STEAM courses help us honor Christ and acknowledge Him as the center of all things?
These questions helped to guide our desire to create a unique functional space that supports our CLAS vision for STEAM. Next, a process began of gaining input from select faculty incorporating design features that would support the kind of interdisciplinary project-based instruction we seek to promote at Covenant. While the physical work occurred our school endured a few challenging years without the full use of our multipurpose room and art spaces. Earlier this year with the final physical transformation of the STEAM space on the Birdwood campus we celebrate the accomplishments of the service of many. Mr. Chad Austin once again delights in the work of sparking wonder and appreciation for the beauty in God’s world. Mr. Austin has a spacious area to promote Communication - Collaboration - Critical Thinking - Creativity - which are hallmarks of STEAM project work. Several features unique to the space include a blend of natural light with electrical lighting, and specialized workstations which are flexible in their grouping capabilities, and practical with storage. It was designed with solid work surfaces to allow for unobstructed design and build workspace as well as a variety of storage which includes large closets with shelves to assist in the care and protection of materials. Sinks, as cleaning stations, allow for a clean-up from a variety of mediums. As we work in this space we are discovering that more shelving is needed to showcase and store projects in process and additional materials.  We are blessed to have the support of the Covenant Community behind our creative work here on the Birdwood Campus.
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The Covenant School

Birdwood Campus | Lower School | Pre-K–Grade 5 |
1000 Birdwood Road Charlottesville, VA 22903 | 434.220.7309

Hickory Campus | Middle and Upper School | Grades 6–12 | 175 Hickory Street Charlottesville, VA 22902 | 434.220.7329
Located in Charlottesville, VA, The Covenant School is a non-denominational, private, Christian day school for Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, visual and performing arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.