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Avery Coonley School
The Avery Coonley School (ACS), commonly called Avery Coonley, is an independent, coeducational day school serving academically gifted students in preschool through eighth grade (approximately ages 3 to 14), and is located in Downers Grove, DuPage County, Illinois. The school was founded in 1906 to promote the progressive educational theories developed by John Dewey and other turn-of-the-20th-century philosophers, and was a nationally recognized model for progressive education well into the 1940s. From 1943 to 1965, Avery Coonley was part of the National College of Education (now National Louis University), serving as a living laboratory for teacher training.
The school moved to Downers Grove in 1916 and became the Avery Coonley School in 1929, with a new 10.45-acre (4.23 ha) campus designed in the Prairie and Arts and Crafts styles, landscaped by Jens Jensen. Avery Coonley was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
In 1906, Queene Ferry Coonley, wife of wealthy Riverside industrialist and publisher Avery Coonley, decided to start a kindergarten program to allow children younger than five years old to attend. Queene Coonley was trained as a social worker and kindergarten teacher at the Detroit Normal School (now Wayne State University) and was impressed by the theories of Friedrich Fröbel, who believed children's early education should be an extension of their lives at home.
Coonley persuaded the director of the Riverside program, Lucia Burton Morse, and her assistant, Charlotte Krum, to help launch a new school. Their progressive views on education emphasized an individualized approach to education and children learning from experience and social interaction. Coonley described the new school as "a Children's Community. Its purpose was not so much to teach what others had thought or grown-ups had done, but for the children themselves to do something."
A small cottage on the Coonley estate served as the first school building, and the first name was The Cottage School. The designer was Charles Whittlesey. The estate's main building, the Avery Coonley House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is now a National Historic Landmark. A new building was completed in 1912 and became known as the Coonley Playhouse. It featured colored art glass windows, flags, balloons, and confetti in what Wright referred to as a "kinder-symphony". Some have claimed that they belong to Wright's most famous windows.
The Cottage School was free to all students, and was supported both by Coonley's own resources and funds raised by the Kindergarten Education Association. In 1915, John Dewey and his daughter Evelyn featured the Cottage School in their book, The Schools of To-Morrow, which examined how progressive schools around the country put new educational ideas into action. The Deweys considered the Cottage School to be an example of training in good citizenship and approved of its mock elections, self-government, and public service.
At the same time the Playhouse was built, Coonley agreed to build a kindergarten in the nearby town of Downers Grove, which did not have a public school. Coonley purchased land on Grove Street and commissioned the architectural firm of Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton to design the building. The school, led by Lucia Morse, was launched as the Kindergarten Extension Association School in 1912. In 1916, the Cottage School was closed and a first grade program was launched at the Downers Grove kindergarten, which was renamed the Junior Elementary School. To accommodate older students, a second grade class was added in 1920 for students around seven years old, a third grade in 1926 for eight-year-olds, and a fourth grade for nine-year-old students shortly thereafter.
The Coonleys moved to Washington, D.C., in 1916. Morse looked after the day-to-day direction of the school. Teachers at the Junior Elementary School were encouraged to find a new way of relating to students, allowing them more freedom. Coonley recalled that "boys and girls cooked, boys and girls did carpenter work, boys and girls took an equal part in all matters of government." Students re-enacted history and literature, composed music, and spent time outdoors. In 1924, Coonley and Morse helped found a journal entitled Progressive Education, in which they published their own practical experiences at the school and articles by educational theorists including John Dewey. It became the leading professional journal of the progressive education movement and was published until 1957.
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Avery Coonley School
The Avery Coonley School (ACS), commonly called Avery Coonley, is an independent, coeducational day school serving academically gifted students in preschool through eighth grade (approximately ages 3 to 14), and is located in Downers Grove, DuPage County, Illinois. The school was founded in 1906 to promote the progressive educational theories developed by John Dewey and other turn-of-the-20th-century philosophers, and was a nationally recognized model for progressive education well into the 1940s. From 1943 to 1965, Avery Coonley was part of the National College of Education (now National Louis University), serving as a living laboratory for teacher training.
The school moved to Downers Grove in 1916 and became the Avery Coonley School in 1929, with a new 10.45-acre (4.23 ha) campus designed in the Prairie and Arts and Crafts styles, landscaped by Jens Jensen. Avery Coonley was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
In 1906, Queene Ferry Coonley, wife of wealthy Riverside industrialist and publisher Avery Coonley, decided to start a kindergarten program to allow children younger than five years old to attend. Queene Coonley was trained as a social worker and kindergarten teacher at the Detroit Normal School (now Wayne State University) and was impressed by the theories of Friedrich Fröbel, who believed children's early education should be an extension of their lives at home.
Coonley persuaded the director of the Riverside program, Lucia Burton Morse, and her assistant, Charlotte Krum, to help launch a new school. Their progressive views on education emphasized an individualized approach to education and children learning from experience and social interaction. Coonley described the new school as "a Children's Community. Its purpose was not so much to teach what others had thought or grown-ups had done, but for the children themselves to do something."
A small cottage on the Coonley estate served as the first school building, and the first name was The Cottage School. The designer was Charles Whittlesey. The estate's main building, the Avery Coonley House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is now a National Historic Landmark. A new building was completed in 1912 and became known as the Coonley Playhouse. It featured colored art glass windows, flags, balloons, and confetti in what Wright referred to as a "kinder-symphony". Some have claimed that they belong to Wright's most famous windows.
The Cottage School was free to all students, and was supported both by Coonley's own resources and funds raised by the Kindergarten Education Association. In 1915, John Dewey and his daughter Evelyn featured the Cottage School in their book, The Schools of To-Morrow, which examined how progressive schools around the country put new educational ideas into action. The Deweys considered the Cottage School to be an example of training in good citizenship and approved of its mock elections, self-government, and public service.
At the same time the Playhouse was built, Coonley agreed to build a kindergarten in the nearby town of Downers Grove, which did not have a public school. Coonley purchased land on Grove Street and commissioned the architectural firm of Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton to design the building. The school, led by Lucia Morse, was launched as the Kindergarten Extension Association School in 1912. In 1916, the Cottage School was closed and a first grade program was launched at the Downers Grove kindergarten, which was renamed the Junior Elementary School. To accommodate older students, a second grade class was added in 1920 for students around seven years old, a third grade in 1926 for eight-year-olds, and a fourth grade for nine-year-old students shortly thereafter.
The Coonleys moved to Washington, D.C., in 1916. Morse looked after the day-to-day direction of the school. Teachers at the Junior Elementary School were encouraged to find a new way of relating to students, allowing them more freedom. Coonley recalled that "boys and girls cooked, boys and girls did carpenter work, boys and girls took an equal part in all matters of government." Students re-enacted history and literature, composed music, and spent time outdoors. In 1924, Coonley and Morse helped found a journal entitled Progressive Education, in which they published their own practical experiences at the school and articles by educational theorists including John Dewey. It became the leading professional journal of the progressive education movement and was published until 1957.
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