Lynnhaven School is a progressive independent high school founded in 2010 by education leader Johnathan Harris, who wanted to build a HAVEN "that accepts students for who and where they are, care for them as individuals, worked with their hopes, embraced their dreams and stayed with them along their journey.
When Mr. Harris was growing up in rural southwest Virginia, as the youngest of five children, he often felt like school was in the way. What he wanted to be doing was playing outside on his farm, playing baseball, or working at the animal hospital where his late mother had worked. His sister Jennifer felt the same way. She equally loved animals and grew a passion for helping people, which led to a nursing career. She felt that learning was a lot of fun, but that school itself just wasnt built for her. Mr. Harris and Jennifer would talk about what the perfect school would look like. Small, fun, hands-on, free of bullying, with problem-solving at the core of learning, and teachers who could connect with and care for their students. It needed to be a safe place.
Mr. Harris always kept those conversations tucked away in his memory. While he was in college, preparing to be a teacher, Jennifer passed away after years of health complications. After teaching and working in administration for a little over a decade, the dream that started between him and his sister surfaced again. Mr. Harris knew that the only way to actualize what he and Jennifer envisioned was if he created it himself. In 2010, Lynnhaven was born. Lynn in memory of his sister, Jennifer Lynn Harris, and Haven" represent the safe place of refuge they always wished school could be.