10/6/2009 8:00:00 AM

The HON Company Partners with New York City Department of Education to Provide Educational Furniture for Innovative School of One Learning Project

HON’s Progressive SmartLink™ Classroom Furniture Provides the Ideal, Holistic Solution for Novel Educational Program

Muscatine, IA –  This summer, while most children were splashing at the pool or playing in the local playground, 80 middle school math students in New York city were hitting the books.  But the summer school they attended was unlike any other: called the “School of One,” the innovative learning project involved a radically different approach to teaching and learning.  The HON Company was proud to provide its innovative SmartLink™ classroom furniture to support this unique and innovative project.

The mission of the School of One is to provide students with personalized, effective and dynamic classroom instruction customized to their academic needs and learning styles.  It reinvents the traditional classroom model:  rather than one teacher and 25 students; each student participates in a combination of teacher-led instruction, one-on-one tutoring, independent learning and work with virtual tutors. 

To organize this type of learning, each student receives a unique daily schedule based on his or her academic strengths and needs.  As a result, students within the same school – or even classroom – can receive profoundly different instruction; each student’s schedule is tailored to the skills they need and the ways they best learn.  Teachers acquire data about student achievement each day and then adapt their live instructional lessons accordingly.

“The School of One project is truly unlike any other educational program that exists today – and therefore, it demanded furniture as progressive as its mission,” said Bruce Reinhart, national education sales manager for The HON Company.

Local HON dealer Dan Wheeler with Office Equipment Company of New York (OECNY) agreed, explaining, “HON’s SmartLink furniture was the perfect fit – it’s a total package solution for the ever-changing and increasingly interactive classroom.”

Born out of findings from the responses of teachers, principals, administrators, students and designers through meticulous research, HON’s SmartLink classroom furniture is a comprehensive, visually coordinated, adaptable and durable technology-centric furniture solution designed to organize and manage the K-12 classroom with a single product line.

“The HON Company’s generous support of the School of One was an integral part of our success this summer. The donated furniture was high-quality, modern, durable, and stylish – just as furniture should be in the school of the future,” said Jonathan Skolnick, manager of School of One program operations and director of innovative strategy with the New York City Department of Education.

Skolnick continued, “We received extremely positive feedback on the SmartLink furniture from parents, children – and especially the teachers.  They appreciated the furniture’s mobility and adaptability, and the fact that the classroom looked modern and mature – more like a college than a typical middle school classroom. We thank The HON Company for their support of educational innovation in New York City and look forward to continuing our partnership as the School of One continues.”

The educational results of the first School of One learning project are still being reviewed, however all indications show that it was extremely successful.  Provided that the project can attract outside funding, New York City could deliver a full term of instruction in three middle schools beginning in January 2010.

“We were thrilled to be part of such an exciting initiative,” said Reinhart.  “HON believes wholeheartedly in the School of One learning model and hopes to see it expand exponentially in the future.”

For more information on the School of One, visit http://schools.nyc.gov/schoolofone.

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About The HON Company
The HON Company is a leader in the design and manufacturing of workplace furniture including chairs, storage, panel systems, tables and desks. Headquartered in Muscatine, Iowa, The HON Company has numerous manufacturing facilities strategically located throughout the United States, and markets its products through a nationwide network of dealers and retailers. The HON Company is an operating company of HNI Corporation (formerly HON INDUSTRIES).

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