From the School
Perspectives on education, childhood, and learning from the educators at The Laurel School.
July 2026
The Laurel School will welcome its inaugural class on September 8, 2026, at 7800 Salem Church Road. Founded by Dr. Johnathan G. Harris and Dr. Courtney Hughes-Harris, the new independent K–5 school begins its first year with 30 students, a six-member faculty, and a campus with more than 10 acres of grounds for daily outdoor learning.
Read More →July 2026
Two words chosen carefully. Every school promises excellence. Fewer choose to be quiet about it. What Quietly Remarkable means at The Laurel School, and why it is an operating philosophy, not a marketing line.
Read More →July 2026
Speaking is natural. Reading is not. A look at the cognitive science behind reading instruction, why the three-cueing method fails so many children, and how The Laurel School teaches decoding, structured phonics, and handwriting from the earliest weeks of school.
Read More →July 2026
The morning walk out the door is only the beginning. Later in the day our children step outside again, this time with field journals in hand. The peer-reviewed science behind attention restoration, executive function, and why outdoor learning is not a break from academic work but a form of it.
Read More →July 2026
Most schools schedule recess as a reward for surviving the first three hours. We do it the other way. A look at the neuroscience of morning play, why stress dampens the prefrontal cortex, and how twenty minutes outside helps a young child’s brain become available for learning.
Read More →July 2026
The mountain laurel blooms where others cannot. On rocky ground and thin light, quietly, on its own timing. It is the plant we named the school for, and it is the promise we make to your child. A meditation on what quietly remarkable actually means, and why we chose that instead of louder.
Read More →July 2026
Small does not mean improvised. The Laurel School is a fully staffed, fully structured independent K–5 school with a founding board, a real curriculum, a physical campus, and a team of trained educators. Here is the difference between a microschool and a small independent school, and why the distinction matters for your child.
Read More →July 2026
For the moms who feel guilty when their kids say “I’m bored.” Our daughter Caydence has, no exaggeration, an entire playroom, and still she wanders out sighing that there is nothing to do. Here is what Courtney and I have learned, and what every mother needs to hear about the beginning of imagination.
Read More →July 2026
There is a version of modern education that mistakes access for learning. We do not believe that is what children need. Why we protect early childhood from screens and treat technology as a tool rather than a teacher.
Read More →June 2026
Learning is not a straight line. It is a cycle. The Laurel Framework is the educational philosophy at the heart of our school, and it shapes every decision we make about how children learn and why relationships are not a supplement to curriculum. They are the curriculum.
Read More →June 2026
The pandemic didn’t just disrupt school. It exposed what passive learning costs students. What kids need now is practice having real stakes in their education — and a school willing to ask more of them.
Read More →June 2026
Are they ready? It’s the kind of question that seems straightforward until you actually stop and think about it. Here is a calm, honest guide for parents navigating Kindergarten readiness, public school registration, and school choice in Richmond.
Read More →June 2026
We didn't set out to build the loudest school in Richmond. We set out to build the best school for the child in front of us. That is what it means to be Quietly Remarkable.
Read More →June 2026
Schools across Richmond have quietly dropped cursive from their curriculum in favor of keyboarding benchmarks and digital note-taking. At The Laurel School, we made a different choice, and the research backs us up. Here is why cursive handwriting remains one of the most important things we teach.
Read More →June 2026
When kindergartners and second graders share a classroom by design, something remarkable happens. Older students become better learners. Younger students rise to the occasion. And the community that forms looks a lot like the world.
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