Outdoor Preschool
Nature is the classroom. Adventure is part of the lesson plan.
Our Outdoor Preschool is rooted in forest, fresh air, and the conviction that young children learn best when they're free to move, explore, and get their hands dirty. Set on a corner of The Island School's forested property, our program offers something rare: a small, intentional community where every child is known — and where the natural world is the classroom.
"Watching my son's confidence flourish and seeing how easily he connects with nature is so rewarding. Carla and Frannie have inspired so many weekend wanders and explorations, and he loves sharing all that he is learning with us. His growing ability to identify birds and other animals is a wonderful bonus!"–Preschool Parent
Our Space
Our site is a fenced meadow nestled at the edge of a forest — intentionally bounded, and intentionally small. For 3–5 year olds, that’s not a limitation; it’s a feature.
Young children don’t need acres to feel wonder. They need a place they can come to know deeply — where the same log yields something new every week, where they notice when the mushrooms appear after rain, where they feel genuinely at home. Our first year confirmed this: children who began the year hovering near the gate ended it confidently navigating every corner of the forest.
The fence means freedom. Children move, explore, and take risks within a space where teachers can focus on learning rather than logistics.
Part of something bigger
One of the things that makes our Outdoor Preschool genuinely different is where it lives. Our preschoolers share a campus with K–5 students — they see older children at work and play, feel the rhythm of a real school community, and build familiarity with The Island School long before kindergarten.
For families who go on to enroll in K–5, the transition feels less like starting over and more like coming home.
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What children take with them
A year in our forest doesn’t just build knowledge — it builds children. Our graduates enter kindergarten with strong self-regulation skills, a capacity for independent play, comfort with discomfort, and a deep, embodied sense of curiosity. They know how to slow down, observe, and wonder.