Willow uses the outdoors as a dynamic learning laboratory. On any given day on Willow’s 34-acre campus you can find Willow students observing nature to better understand and appreciate how we are all connected, conducting soil experiments, planting and tending to their garden beds, making art outdoors, building forts in the woods during recess, or simply reading a book under a tree. These activities are only a couple of the many ways our students learn in and from nature as they discover their responsibility to care for our world.

Willow’s outdoor learning program is built into our mission, giving us over 20 years of experience teaching students in and about nature. Willow’s campus is purposefully designed to teach and support ethical relationships within the community and the natural world, empowering Willow students to make a difference.

Benefits of Outdoor Learning:

• Children develop a greater sense of happiness, benefit from more physical and mental energy, and experience a decrease in stress and anxiety.
• Students have more opportunities for hands-on learning and are able to observe and make connections between themselves and the natural world more organically.
• Students perform better on standardized measures of academic achievement in reading, writing, math, and social studies when outdoor lessons are included in their day.
• Children are more engaged and enthusiastic in class, both during outdoor time and during indoor activities following an outdoor learning experience, and there are fewer discipline/classroom management issues.