It’s Le Jardin’s New Gym, But The Whole Community Wins

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A side view of the nearly completed Le Jardin gymnasium. Photo by Nathalie Walker, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

When Le Jardin Academy unveiled its new gymnasium last week, the entire community benefited, to hear Adrian Allan tell it.

“It gives us a chance to share something with the community,“said Allan, the academy’s dynamic headmaster since 1999. “People just don’t see enough of what we do up here.”

Few would argue his point. Le Jardin is in the midst of a growth spurt, having added several facilities of late to its already stately campus. The school opened in 1961 as a one-room preschool at St. John’s Lutheran Church on Kailua Road, and by 1968 it had grown to include six grades. In 1999, Le Jardin settled at the site of the old Kailua Drive Inn and now has a curriculum for students in grades K through 12.

If anything, the new gymnasium is a symbol of the school’s growth. For while Le Jardin’s academic reputation has never wavered, its athletic department still is relatively new. It joined the ILH in 2004, but the Bulldogs have never known a true home game and have always had to practice at another gym in the area or on an outdoor court.

“(The gym) will bring some excitement to the Windward side without us having to go to town,” Allan said. “It’s quite a big battle through traffic, and it’s hard to build school spirit when you don’t have your own gym. Having a home for practice attracts more kids,and it helps to retain students.”

Allan knows first-hand the positive effect athletics can have on an institution, not to mention on the individual student. He played rugby, hockey, cricket and soccer in the United Kingdom, where he was raised, and is still active in tennis and soccer.

“In the end, it is one more thing that makes Le Jardin a genuine option,“he said.“It’s difficult to pursue a really good basketball player if you don’t have a gym.”

The $10 million facility boasts two full-length basketball courts, a dance floor and a state-of-the-art weight room, among other gems. In addition to its athletic teams, the gym also will host many other events as part of the school’s plan to help serve the community. Indoor soccer is being considered, and basketball and volleyball clinics are likely to be held as early as this summer.

“We really want to make the gym work 24-7,” Allan declared.

Athletics at Le Jardin is “fairly inclusive,“he noted, and the smaller enrollment creates the potential for more playing time.“One of the benefits of my experience (in athletics) is that I got to play. There are programs where you can play, and there are programs where you can be a spectator (by way of the bench).I’d rather be at a school where you play.”

Nothing draws participants to athletics quite like success, of course, and Le Jardin has enjoyed a good school year in that regard.The Bulldogs’boys varsity volleyball team led the way, earning a berth to the recently completed Division II State Tournament under coach Jason Popejoy, who also manages the gym. The girls doubles team of Haley Sherill and Lauren Caspers recently entered the State Tennis Championships as the ninth-seeded team, while the girls water polo team finished third overall in the ILH in Division II.

Popejoy, who heads both boys and girls volleyball programs at Le Jardin, hopes the Bulldogs can enjoy a true home-court advantage now.

“It’s exciting to not have to travel to another place to practice,” he admitted.“Now that we have our own home court, we have to defend it.”