A nature based school is coming to Marshall School in 2022

If you’re a parent and you’re looking for a new school to enroll your child in, there are new opportunities coming to the Marshall school in the fall 0f 2022. The forest school at Marshall will be a nature-base primary school serving students in pre-k all through 4th grade. The school states that nature can improve academic outcomes. Spending time in nature enhances educational outcomes by improving children’s academic performances.

Head of School at Marshall School, Jamie Steckart and Forest School principal Matt Whittaker described the history of Marshall School. They give a sneak look at what can be expected to come with the expansion of the Forest School. Mr. Whittaker talked with me today about the main focus for developing this new school. "So the forest school is really about maximizing that cross disciplinary approach.” He also mentioned that “using mixed age groups to accomplish more efficient and more effective way of covering those same standards that are happening in traditional schools."

“We’ll be spending about 40% of our time learning outdoors. It is important to get the kids active. A lot of our children in elementary school spend too much time sitting down and not playing or exercising”, Mr. Steckart mentions in a statement. Matt Whittaker talks about “in nature, there are tons of stimuli and that’s what spikes a student’s curiosity. The type of stimuli is actually getting at the deeper, older reptilian part of their brain. And that actually allows for a reduction in stress and anxiety” in a statement.

Registration for The Forest School at Marshall is already open. If you like to get more information about the school, there will be an open house on November 6th.