Education facility eyes expansion, energy efficiency through solar panel use

Abercorn International School, sister school to The British International School of New York and Abercorn School, London, was founded in 2010 by Alexander Greystoke. Greystoke said he didn't think the global curriculum he was accustomed to was available in the Austin area and opened AIS in 2010 at 601 S. RR 620, Lakeway.

"We start very early in the education process with literature and math," Greystoke said of the school, which is a candidate for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program, a nonprofit educational foundation focused on the student.

Greystoke said he wanted to tailor the education provided at the school for Austin and provide children with a global education to keep them ahead of the curve.

"There are always best practices and new technology," Greystoke said. "Students have to be able to evolve."

In order to help students reach these goals, AIS is looking to expand its Lakeway-based campus in order to service more students, but has not announced a time frame, Greystoke said.

The school currently serves students from nursery school to fifth grade.

"We are still very early on in the process, and I can't give many details, but we are looking to do a phased expansion that will give us more space and more resources to help keep us a leading educator in Austin," Greystoke said.

The phased expansion plans include an addition to the main building and adding more buildings, Greystoke said.

In addition to expansion, the school added a number of solar panels this spring as part of a beta test site for curb software. Greystoke said the school is one of the first in the city to have solar panels installed and is the first school in the nation to have curb software installed.

Not only do the solar panels provide clean energy for the school, but the panels also offer a learning tool for the students, International Baccalaureate Coordinator Lisa Bradley said.

"The students can start to look at energy management and energy creation," Greystoke said of the curb software. "They can visibly see and understand the difference."

The software is displayed in each classroom and in two hallways where students can see the amount of energy being produced by the solar panels and how much energy each room and the school as a whole is consuming.

"It is pretty amazing to be able to see the pluses and minuses of energy usage," Deputy Headmistress Jennifer Smith said.

Greystoke said students can learn about clean energy and dirty energy and their curiosity will spill over into other areas of life, something the school strives to achieve.