Frequently Asked Questions

At forest school we like to say there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes. Rainy days can be our most fun! Rain brings worms, mushrooms, and marvelous opportunities to build forts and make warm tea. Modeling optimistic attitudes about weather is important. You can help your child reframe negative associations they may have encountered in the past, by embracing a curious mindset and letting your child know it’s ok to feel nervous about changes in weather.

Absolutely! With proper gear and layers, children can be comfortable in just about all weather.

When it comes to gear, we’ve got you covered. We let families know what’s needed for each season, and children are welcome to borrow items from our school’s inventory. This guidance and support ensures every student is prepared to learn comfortably in all weather.

We also use thoughtful strategies throughout the day to help children adapt and have fun. We seek specific areas of the preserve we know will suit the weather. When it’s cold, we check gear and little hands often, play engaging games, eat plenty of snacks, and stay in motion.

We help children develop self-awareness, confidence, and communication skills so they can make adjustments to their gear or ask for help.

Winter is a demanding season in outdoor school, but it is definitely doable and offers plenty of opportunities to build resilience. Just ask our forest school friends in Minnesota!

School closures, delays, and schedule alterations due to extreme weather, like snow systems or potentially harmful air quality, will be thoughtfully evaluated and determined with safety and comfort in mind.

We regularly monitor weather conditions, warnings, and forecasts using the National Weather Service alongside the Childcare Weather Watch Chart. We aim to inform families as early as possible for unexpected closures.

Barring unique circumstances, our program will align with the weather-related delays and closures determined by the local school district, in order to ensure safe and reliable commuting options for our learning community. Weather conditions that will prompt the school to close include:

Dangerously high sustained winds over 30 mph with gale warning;

Cold temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit;

Heat above 100 degrees Fahrenheit;

Air quality index of 151 or higher;

A 50% chance or greater of lightning storms during school hours;

Tornado or Hurricane warning;

Does your child like to mix concoctions? Do they get down on the ground to watch bugs crawl around? Do they have a terrible time resisting the urge to stomp in a puddle? Then your child is ready for outdoor learning.

Children are already ready because their brains are wired for hands-on, experiential learning and the outdoors provides a wonderful environment for exactly that.

If your child is on the younger end of our range, we like to make sure they’re about ready to use the toilet independently, can follow directions from adults, and are able to stay within the visual boundaries we create in our outdoor classroom and throughout the preserve.

There is always an adjustment period when children spend long periods of time outdoors, and we help families navigate that process with the information and guidance needed to become forest school pros.

First day jitters are to be expected and separating from a trusted caregiver can be hard for the child and the adult. We encourage families to model excitement and offer lots of practice preparing for forest school. Spending time outdoors as a family in all weather prior to the start of school will improve your child’s willingness and stamina in our program. Helping your child pick out a special backpack or involving them in the packing of their favorite snack can build their confidence and eagerness to participate.

Also, you’re not alone. We believe that schools are nurturing communities and we’re ready to learn alongside you. It’s helpful to remember as parents and caregivers that we have shared experiences in the work of raising happy and capable children. We can lean on one another, share advice, and collaborate as a community.

We encourage enrolled families to get together outside of class. It gives children extra time to bond with peers, and families a chance to swap tips. As a forest school community, we share a unique experience that bonds us from the very start.

Our curriculum offers a blend of child-led and adult-guided activities. We promote all aspects of child development with meaningful, hands-on learning. Knowing that joy and engagement are the essential ingredients for learning, we ensure that academically rich experiences are designed with children’s interests first. We enrich our play with developmentally appropriate math, literacy, science, as well as social-emotional and multicultural learning in alignment with Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines. Skills unique to forest school, such as environmental literacy, sensory integration, collaboration, problem solving, resilience, grit, and physical fitness are added benefits. 

We are committed to allowing children the freedom to take risks and experiment with messy materials, because research tells us this is a healthy and necessary part of development. Children practice coordination and risk management skills when adults can offer respectful supervision and verbal support. For example, it is more dangerous for a teacher to help a child into a tree than it is for a child to climb as far as they are capable of reaching.

Having said that, we follow rules to keep children safe and seen. Children may only venture within sight of teachers, are not allowed to consume wild plants without prior approval, and may only climb trees with one on one supervision to a height where a teacher can reach a child’s midriff.

We regularly conduct risk assessments, remove any hazards prior to children’s arrival, and use planned supervision strategies to ensure a safe environment.

Our detailed risk management and emergency preparedness policies are available to enrolled families, upon request, and include the procedures for our emergency drills and evacuation plans.

In the event of an emergency, our program can seek shelter in the Four Springs event barn on site.

The health and safety of our learning community is of the utmost importance to us. As a licensed child care center, we follow all guidance and recommendations issued by the Washington State Department of Health, which includes adhering to health screening, exposure, immunization, mask wearing, cleaning, and hygiene protocols.

We provide a private, outdoor toilet in addition to the chemical toilet provided by Island County Parks. While our outdoor classroom is in a low traffic area, the chemical toilet is available to the public, therefore our staff is trained in cleaning and disinfecting procedures to ensure children have a safe, healthy, and sanitary experience responding to their biological needs.

Absolutely. When a child with a food allergy enrolls in our program, every effort will be made to ensure the snacks we serve and the items children come into contact with are free from known allergens.

Caregivers are always welcome to pick their child up prior to the end of our school day, however we are not able to offer reduced tuition for partial attendance.

Due to the crisis in our region, Springwood Forest School is committed to increasing capacity for accessible, equitable, full day child care. An advocate for early childhood education, co-founder Heather White is a member of the Island County Child Care Partnership Task Force, a coalition created to assess and address the child care shortage in Island County.

Minor adjustments to the schedule may be accommodated with advance notice and additional, pre-paid tuition.

As a year-round program, we are accepting students on a rolling basis for 2023. While we don’t align with the academic calendar, we will offer enrolled families a priority placement in Fall 2023 programs.