About Ardena

Welcome to Ardena School! 

Ardena School opened in 1938. At the time, it was called the Consolidated School because it absorbed 9 one- and two-room schools throughout Howell Township. The "big" school joined all Howell schools into one.  

Today, Ardena School is one of ten elementary schools and two middle schools that make up Howell Township Public Schools.  Ardena School is an upper elementary school, with students in 3rd grade through 5th grade. Our sister school is Adelphia School, where our students attend  Kindergarten through 2nd grade.  Our school colors are green and white and our school mascot is “Rocky the Ram.” 

The social and emotional wellbeing of our students is at the forefront of what we do each day at Ardena School.  To that end, every homeroom begins each day using The Morning Meeting from Responsive Classroom.  This allows everyone in the classroom community to establish and deepen relationships, including peer relationships and teacher-student relationships.  Engaging in a Morning Meeting at the beginning of each day gives students a fresh start to the school day, the opportunity to be seen and heard, and the chance to interact with others.  Morning Meeting is made up of four components: Greeting, Sharing, Activity, and Morning Message.   

Greetings are done in a variety of creative ways as a warmup for students to begin interacting.  Sharing helps students listen carefully, think about what they hear, formulate questions, and learn about each other.  During sharing, children have a chance to feel that their ideas are valued and that the other children care.  The activity time helps the class feel united as a group, reinforces academic skills, and helps the children learn how to cooperate and solve problems.  Reading the morning message helps students think about the day ahead.  Every day, Morning Meeting lets children know that school is a safe place where all children’s feelings and ideas are important.  It is a great way to build community, set a positive tone, increase excitement about learning, and improve academic and social skills.