Today we’d like to introduce you to Catherine Sagar.
Hi Catherine, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Catherine Sagar. I am the director and founder of Discovery School of Innovation in The Woodlands, TX. We are offering Kindergarten through grade 8 for the 2023-2024 school year. I began my journey as an educator about 25 years ago. From the start, I understood the importance of nurturing each child’s natural curiosity and respecting them as an individual learner. Early on in my career, I learned that children can lose this innate curiosity if they are only taught to follow procedures and not challenged to think in creative ways. Giving students the freedom to explore their interests and still meet the learning standards through a carefully crafted, unique inquiry-based curriculum leads to outstanding results.
After teaching internationally at some of the world’s top schools, I learned how to create such a high-quality, child-centered educational experience. Through the years, I have been trained by some of the world’s most respected leaders in education. Discovery School of Innovation is my way of giving back to our local children and preparing them to be the leaders of tomorrow.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Starting a school is certainly no small task. It was on my mind for many years. As I gained experience and witnessed firsthand the benefits of research-based best teaching practices for children, I knew I had to pay it forward. My goal was to create an educational institution that values conceptual over procedural knowledge. The world is changing so quickly. Students equipped with a strong educational foundation along with the ability and confidence to take risks and learn from their mistakes will have what it takes to be successful in whatever they choose to do in life. However, I wasn’t sure how I would make it happen. Then, one of my mentors helped me to find my first school location and get started. In order to create a sustainable school model, we hired a strong team of highly qualified and passionate educators and developed a world-class advisory board to create our curriculum. Now, we have just moved to our third location to accommodate the growth of our program and are in the process of building a 12,000-square-foot state-of-the-art campus that is scheduled to open in August of 2025. A few months after Discovery School of Innovation opened, Covid-19 struck. This brought on a whole new set of challenges. We had some families online and some in-person for a while. However, we made it work. Our dedicated teachers, small class sizes, and strong parent-teacher relationships are what helped us get through and made our program stronger.
As you know, we’re big fans of Discovery School of Innovation. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
As per our mission statement, “Discovery School of Innovation is devoted to providing an exceptional academic experience while building well-balanced, life-long learners that are the future thinkers and problem solvers of the world.” Discovery School of Innovation is best known for its focus on educating the whole child, our academically challenging curriculum, and our environmental education program.
What does educating the whole child mean to Discovery School of Innovation? First of all, research has proven that the number one predictor of each child’s success in the classroom is dependent upon the quality of their relationship with the teacher. If you think back to your own experience in school, you were likely the most successful in the classrooms where you had the strongest bond with your teacher. For this reason, we spend ample time getting to know each child, as well as their family. We want our children to feel comfortable sharing their feelings as well as their ideas. It is a place where failure is embraced as a learning experience that makes us stronger. Our teachers regularly model and encourage students to practice how to communicate and solve problems with others in effective ways. Students are taught 5 basic strategies that they will keep in their social-emotional toolbox to promote self-advocacy and healthy relationships for life. Over time, our students learn to independently use these skills, and parents even notice improved parent-child and sibling relationships at home. We understand that optimal learning takes place when you have happy children that feel secure in their learning environment. At Discovery School of Innovation, there is nothing more important than teaching children the skills needed to maintain their happiness for life.
At Discovery School of Innovation, we believe that each child is on an individual learning journey. As a result, we perform pre-assessments at the beginning of our units to determine what each student already knows and tailor their learning. For example, if a student scores highly on a pre-assessment, they will be given more advanced work since they have already mastered the content. As a result, many of our students are 1-2 years or more ahead of their grade level in various subject areas.
At Discovery School of Innovation, we focus on kindness. This means not only being kind to ourselves and each other but being kind to our planet Earth. As a result, many of our units are integrated across the curriculum and culminate with an environmental advocacy activity. We often collaborate with The Woodlands Township Environmental Education Department and experts at local universities to learn about environmental issues and how we can help to make improvements both as individuals and as a community. Our students will then make a plan to reach out and educate the public in various ways or perform community service to have a positive impact.
What sets Discovery School of Innovation apart is our ability to develop compassionate, confident, self-motivated leaders that have the skills to excel in life.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
“Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs
Having a strong team of mentors, advisors, and collaborators is essential for any successful business. The most rewarding part of this whole adventure is the amazing people that our team has met along the way.
First of all, I was invited to join a group of local women entrepreneurs. This group of successful businesswomen has been truly inspirational. Their support and guidance have helped to strengthen our organization and continue to be a valuable resource.
In addition, it is imperative to reach out to students, parents, teachers, and our community members to gather ideas and remain on a path of continuous improvement. We have a strong parent organization that collaborates with our administration to guide the direction of our program. We also work with other private school leaders to share ideas and learn from each other. Members from various aspects of our community regularly reach out with ideas and opportunities to enrich our school program.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.discoverysi.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/discoveryschoolofinnovation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DSITheWoodlands
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/catherine-sagar-067779208
