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20 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • August 2019 Hidden on a beautifully landscaped plot of land along Tidewater Trail is one of Fredericksburg's best kept secrets: Lighthouse Academy, the only Montessori, Christian High School in existence. Co-owners Scott and Stacie McClung took over the school in 1996, growing it from a small location downtown to the thriving nontraditional school it is today, with 112 students preschool through 12th grade. Fredericksburg Parent was happy to visit the campus early this summer and talk about the school's growth and unique set up. "Developing the adolescent program at Lighthouse was challenging, because Maria Montessori died before she completed her educational vision for teenagers," says Scott McClung. "But I knew that Maria Montessori believed in hands-on work and real-life projects for students. I knew I wanted to get the kids back into the dirt and into the real world to help ground them." McClung began developing his one-of-a-kind, project- based science curriculum seven years ago. Carefully developed to meet Virginia SOL and school standards, the curriculum allows the students to get hands-on experience with their subjects in a NIPSA-accredited secondary school, without being tied to textbooks. At Lighthouse, science is taught through four occupations programs. ANIMAL OCCUPATION Tucked behind the main building is a chicken coop and goat shed. Above our heads, wires are strung from building to build- ing in an elaborate pattern. "Those were developed by our students to prevent hawks from killing our chickens," says McClung. "You would be amazed at how many predators for chickens exist near our school. At one point we were down to four chickens. It has been an education in animal science to figure out what was killing our chickens and how to protect them." Led by Ms. Dani King, the students built the chicken coop them- selves and plan to build an additional enclosure this summer. In the yard, several goats scamper around. "Snickers, Oreo and Coffee really engage the students," said Scott. "Our billy goat became ill and died with an auto-immune disease. We had a vet come out and do an autopsy and explain to the children what happened. Our other goat was also infected and pregnant. If the baby goat nursed, the illness would be passed on. When the baby was born in the middle of the night, just about the whole school arrived to bottle-feed the baby inside the school for the next two weeks. It was a true opportunity to teach anatomy, because the students cared so much about the goats." WRITTEN BY MADELAINE FORMICA