My son comes home from a day in the woods talking about how great it was being outside, but also the new math equation they learned using nature materials. He doesn’t even think he’s learning, but he is slowly getting smarter. He says it’s by magic. I think the magic is the school.

My child has been a student at Portland Forest School since kindergarten and has thrived in the nature-based setting, intimate class sizes, and nurturing community. She loves going to school and during breaks, counts the days until her return.

We switched him to the Portland Forest School and then he thrived. He reconnected with his love of learning and with himself. I credit the Forest School for saving my son, and my heart. It hurt to see him shrinking in the public school setting. It hurt to have him come home after a day of sitting in a desk to want to only sit at a computer to play video games.

My son is a careful kid, he didn’t much care for getting dirty. I was excited for him to get messy and get out of his comfort zone but I wasn’t sure how the transition would go…

I wanted her to gain the self assurance, confidence, strength and resiliency that comes with being outside in all weather, connecting to our natural world and learning survival skills that reminds her she can preserver on her own.