Image courtesy of Keller Williams
607 S. Washington St.
The Linder Academy, a private K-8 school, submitted a special use permit application to open a location at 601, 607 and 609 S. Washington St. and 710 Gibbon St.
According to the application, the school will serve up to 105 students and 14-16 teachers and staff. There is a proposed outdoor play area in the courtyard between 601 and 607 S. Washington St.
The Linder Academy founder, Kristin Carpenter, first started Linder Education Coaching in 2008. In response to the pandemic, she launched the school in 2020. The school currently has a 3,800 square foot location at 1400 Chain Bridge Rd. in McLean. The new 13,000 square foot location in Old Town will allow the school to greatly expand services.
According to the school’s website, “the goal of The Linder Academy is to expand upon a child’s natural curiosity about the world. Children should be partners in their education, using their creativity to problem-solve and learning from successes and failures. Education should be an exchange of ideas, a complex interaction, not a presentation of materials to be memorized. The core skills in elementary are reasoning, writing, and reading, and The Linder Academy approaches education in the best ways we know how: methods backed by evidence. We believe in science over tradition and look forward to educating young learners to engage in a complex world.”
The school is designed for students who struggle within the traditional school setting, including those with learning disabilities as well as gifted or twice exceptional students. Tuition is $28,500 for the 2021-2022 school year. A bus service from Arlington will be offered for an additional cost and scholarship opportunities are available. The Linder Academy plans to begin classes at the Old Town location in September 2021.
