University School opens for the summer

Jessica Johnson
The Post and Courier

Tyler Collins, 11, and University School of the Lowcountry students Anna Ewing, 12 (foreground) and Corey Schmidt, 12 (background), participate in the program June 12 in Mount Pleasant.

Jessica Johnson
The Post and Courier

University School of the Lowcountry student Anna Ewing, 12, and Bucky Buchanan shoot hoops inside Hibben United Methodist Church’s gymnasium.

Jason Kreutner sits back from the table in a Sunday school classroom at Hibben United Methodist Church.

The head of the school watches while University School of the Lowcountry students in the summer program play with geometric shapes on laptops.

Tyler Collins, 11, builds a small tower of rectangles, and a ball drops from the top of the screen, knocking most of it down.

Kreutner said the program uses the laws of physics, similar to what a carmaker might use to test vehicle safety. They can see what would happen by wrecking a car into the wall without actually breaking one, he tells students.

"Does that make sense?" Kreutner asked.

The exercise gives the University School summer students a taste of what a day in the school might be like. The sessions are held noon-2 p.m. Thursdays through August. They are for current students, those who want to get involved as a mentor and prospective students.

The sixth- through eighth-grade school ended the year with just nine students, but Tyler might be one of at least 10 to return this fall.

"I had to pick between two schools. I like them both," Tyler said. "This is the one I chose."

He said the small school might offer him more personal attention.

The University School, housed in Hibben United Methodist Church, will expand to include the fourth through eighth grades next fall. With such a small number of students, Kreutner is using resources that are available to him, such as the church's Sunday school classrooms that aren't used most of the week. The school's rent is based on enrollment. Mentors and speakers from the community also come in to teach lessons. Students learn for four days and use Wednesdays to go out into the community to gain hands-on experience or perform volunteer work.

Before starting the University School of the Lowcountry, Kreutner was at Charleston Collegiate School, Porter-Gaud School and a dean at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia. He wanted to start a school of his own because he said traditional schools weren't changing as fast as the world is today.

"I thought it was better to start from scratch than to try to change the existing school," Kreutner said.

When the school resumes in the fall, it will have added a few more students, two more grades and offer Latin and a full physical education program.

The sessions held two hours once a week help students build relationships and allow Kreutner to learn if the prospective students are right for the school.

Tyler said if he were not at the summer program, he would be at home playing video games or perhaps in swimming practice. When he went home last week, he and other children said they planned to download the physics computer program and play it at home, showing it to friends.

Kreutner said if they do that, "Then it's a good day."

For more information on the University School, contact Kreutner at 884-0902 or go to www.uslowcountry.org.

Reach Jessica Johnson at 937-5921 or jjohnson@postandcourier.com.