The structure is one part of the school’s $30 million improvement initiative
As one of the largest and oldest private schools in the metro Atlanta area, Greater Atlanta Christian (GAC) is constantly evolving and improving its facilities and programs to deliver a well-rounded, faith-based education. Most recently, it launched a $30 million capital improvement initiative to fund a dozen renovations and new building projects.
One of the projects of the Light the Way Campaign that is already in use is the Wood Family Treehouse and Canopy Walk. Completed in January, it’s designed to inspire and elevate students’ outdoor learning experiences for years to come.
“This is our home. We have been around since 1968, and so continual investment in this area is important to us,” said Dr. Katherine White, GAC’s vice president of advancement. “We had been wanting to do some investment even before COVID.”
As everybody knows, the COVID pandemic forced many to modify their plans and put some projects on hold.
“We are [now] planning on investing $30 [million] — really closer to a $31 million investment — that we’re going to do over the next couple of years,” White said. “That is just a testament to wanting continuous improvement for the area and not just for our families.”
Consistent leadership in a changing world
GAC has a history of consistency — especially in leadership.
“We’ve only had three presidents,” White said. “I’m one of two vice presidents, and I’ve been here 22 years; the other vice president has been around about 15 years.”
She added that’s a benefit to keeping plans in the right perspective.
“We need to educate students of today because the world is always evolving and changing,” she said. “You can’t really teach for today. You’ve got to teach for tomorrow.”
Challenge becomes opportunity
That mission of teaching forward is why the Wood Family Treehouse and Canopy Walk is such an important part of the education process.
“You have to continue looking at ways you’re going to teach children,” said White. “Facilities have to change along with it. And so when we do invest in facilities, we’re really changing teaching and learning.”
The school has been quietly raising funds since 2022, right as the COVID pandemic was ending. One of the most amazing projects so far is the treehouse — the first at an independent school, White surmised.
“Our vision of that is we had some property that’s got some wetland area or a small floodplain,” she said. “We can’t put a building on it. So we were really just kind of thinking, ‘Well, what can we do with it?’”
What might have been a challenge to find a way to use the space, turned into an opportunity to build something unique and useful to everyone on campus.
“It’s in a great location for us,” said White. “It’s close to our elementary school. And I think COVID has a lot of schools looking for ways to add or improve spaces for outdoor learning.”
White added that many schools scrambled to build outdoor learning spaces.
“We were fortunate that we already had some spaces, but we’ve all learned to appreciate that learning outside is valuable for students,” she said. “We wanted a fun place, an inspiring place where kids could go and that was close enough to the elementary school that they could just walk over.”
Learning hub and natural oasis
The treehouse is truly a rustic oasis in that there is no electricity, plumbing or doors. It’s designed as a versatile hub to accommodate group learning, hands-on activities and after-school programs.
School literature describes it as an “exciting space for educational growth, exploration and team-building — a place where students can connect with nature, develop new skills and deepen their love for the outdoors.”
Wood Family Treehouse and Canopy Walk facts:
- The wood is mostly pressure-treated southern pine.
- The wall siding is pine, which is locally milled.
- The railing is called a mountain laurel branch, which was sourced from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Highlands, NC.
- The roof is metal.
- Netting provides safety railing for the bridges.
- The covered platform/treehouse is around 950–1,000 square feet.
- The treehouse is almost 17 inches off the ground.
- In total, the structures incorporate — and are supported by — seven trees.
- The lengths of the three suspended bridges are 62 feet, 62 feet and 34 feet, making the entire canopy walk 158 feet long (not including the ramp/boardwalk on the covered platform side).
