The campus is located on an 11 acre site in the heart of Spring Branch, in Northwest Houston. The Monarch School has a unique environmental design aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health. The currently occupied Chrysalis building and the soon to open Butterfly and Monarch Center buildings incorporate indirect lighting, soothing colors, clean air, and space design specifically shaped for individuals with neurological differences. The outdoor campus supports acres of project work in environmental education. The Monarch Chrysalis building currently holds Gold level LEED certification for its buildings, which combined with three consecutive years of sustaining Energy Star accreditation, earns Monarch the honor of being one of the Greenest schools in the nation.

John C. Clements, AIA, and Shelly Pottorf, AIA, LEED AP of Jackson & Ryan Architects, have translated our mission and therapeutic practices into a physical space that supports the optimal development of students and clients. The metaphor of the Monarch butterfly exemplifies our dedication to shaping lives from the inside out™. 

The Chrysalis Building

Our campus features an environment that works seamlessly with and empowers the process of transformation. The Chrysalis Building, designed for Day School students at the Novice and Apprentice levels, has 12 classrooms organized in four wings. Students enter their wing of the school through a central courtyard, creating a sense of protection, safety and well being. From there, they continue into a common living space around which three classrooms, a therapy room, a sensory area, a computer room, a “quiet” room and observation rooms are arranged. Classrooms are spacious and self-contained to properly modulate sensory input. A direct link allows movement from inside space to outside decks, small gardens, outdoor classrooms and planned pavilions for art, woodworking, dance, drama and animal care in the village area.

As Apprentice students’ skill sets increase, they will access learning in a more complex environment. In keeping with the Novice and Apprentice levels of development, the Chrysalis Building looks inward, reflecting the work of individual “I” centered growth.

Aware that new buildings can be highly toxic, we wanted to build a school that was healthy for our students, clients and faculty. So we pursued and achieved LEED^® certification at the Gold Level—an award unsurpassed by any other school in Texas or any other special needs school in the United States. We are proud to say that we are indeed the healthiest, most sustainable school in Texas.

How did Monarch qualify for LEED gold certification? The Monarch Chrysalis building was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Visit the Monarch Institute site here to listen to an episode of our radio show, Monarch Minutes, which focuses on Monarch receiving LEED gold certification.  

The Butterfly Building

One of the two buildings yet to be completed in our capital campaign plan, the Butterfly Building is designed to house our Challenger and Voyager levels and look outward—focusing on community-centered, “we” skills. Students and visitors will enter a shared, central gathering space and pass through the educational opportunities offered in one of the two outstretched wings, before going back out into the world through the wing tips. There are areas designed to support elementary, middle and high school-aged Challengers and Voyagers. Classrooms are open and free flowing, affording students multiple opportunities to practice the skills they need to function successfully in the world. Outdoor amenities will include patios, gardens and a basketball court.

The Monarch Center

Nestled between the Chrysalis and Butterfly Buildings to welcome visitors and serve as our headquarters, the Monarch Center will house administrative offices and the Diagnostic Clinic. Outstretched wings of this building will house the Life Academy and the Training Center—both within easy access to all levels of the program, as well as therapy services.

Outdoor Enviroment

Three buildings form the edge of a large, protected, environmentally rich outdoor classroom. Within the green space, a walking trail surrounds the space where a large garden with a pond, a firepit and a small shop for garden equipment are awaiting to be built The outdoor environment includes a granite walking trail, multiple fitness stations that line up along the trail and a courtyard garden with native plants and picnic tables. The outdoor fitness area provides our students with daily opportunities to practice our Four Core Goals: self-regulation and self-awareness, executive functions, relationship development and academic and professional competence.

Outdoor Studio Classrooms Our campus will also include five free-standing studios that will provide a unique resource that will offer different environments for practicing development in the Four Core Goals, and amplify our capacity to engage students and clients therapeutically. The Studio Classroom community will include: The Living Building Challenge Net Zero Energy Studio Classroom, Art Studio/Life Academy Storefront Studio, Woodworking and Construction Studio, Garden/Environmental Science Studio and a Dance, Music and Drama Studio.

The Living Building Challenge Net Zero Energy Studio Classroom is the first of five free-standing studios on our campus.
•    Green building and an environmental education program are key
       components to the success of The Monarch School. The school is part of  
       the Living Building Challenge (LBC) and is in the process of building the
       first of its kind, Net Zero Energy Studio Classroom in Texas.
       To date, there are only four certified Living Buildings in the entire world    
       and this is the first project registered in Texas. The 1,120 square foot free-
       standing multi-purpose studio classroom is under construction and is being 
       built to the rigorously challenging LBC standards. Currently the foundation, 
       walls, and roof are in place. When complete the studio will serve as an
       outdoor living classroom in which the student’s day-to-day interactive
       decision making will help the building achieve net zero energy
       performance.

click here for more info

The Art Studio/Life Academy Storefront is the second free-standing studio that will also serve as an all purpose performance and meeting studio.
•    Arts studio  Over the years, we have learned time and again that experience
      in the visual arts accesses strengths and talents among students with
      neurological differences. Providing them with therapeutically important
      experiences in sensory integration and tactile and physical organization, the
      process of creative invitation also promotes the development of emotional
      regulation, personal self-confidence and self-awareness, and celebration of 
      beauty and excellence. Some of our students are owners of their own art
      companies.
•    Life Academy storefront Our Life Academy provides a unique set of student-
      operated, revenue-generating entrepreneurial experiences for students, who 
      operate more than a dozen enterprises as a core part of their daily
      curriculum. By producing, managing and selling their products, students and
      teachers get important, real-life practice in finance and corporate
      construction, distribution and sales. When we fuse these experiences with
      real-life production of goods, our students gain a unique opportunity to
      build résumés and transcripts. We offer every student a meaningful résumé 
      of experience.

The Woodworking and construction studio is the third free-standing studio.
•     Ownership and empowerment means being able to say things like, “I made
       that” and “Our skills and labor made that possible.” Giving our students 
       the opportunity to design and construct their own projects with wood,
       fabric, string and metal enables them to practice the coordination of
       thought and action, develop physical competence, deepen knowledge of
       the physical world and improve their ability to focus. For example, our
       students recently created an “Art Car,” for entry in Houston’s annual Art
       Car parade.

The Garden/Environmental Science Studio is the fourth free-standing studio.
•     The environmental arts include gardening, small animal care, community
       gardens, propagation of orchards and food-growing enterprises. This studio
       houses our intentions and efforts to act in coordination with and in care of
       our resources. Our students grew the vegetables that they ate at
       lunchtime, and co-op an organic egg distribution system with our parents.

The Dance, Music and Drama Studio is the fifth free-standing studio.
•     Self-coordination through movement requires a simple, open space.
      Intentional motor planning practice, upon which much of dance and
      movement therapy is predicated, elicits a neurophysiologic response that
      enhances cognitive development and sensory and motor planning skills.
      Research suggests that students with autism and other neurological
      differences benefit significantly from symbolic pretend-play. Drama offers
      opportunities for spontaneous and novel interaction with others—
      enhancing relationship development, one of our Four Core Goals. We have
      hosted workshops with the Diavolo and Ad Deum dance companies—our
      students working alongside master dancers.

It’s easy to see how we’re able to drive transformational change in our students, especially when our very environment contributes at every point to our mission.