Friends Academy is a private co-ed college preparatory school located in Locust Valley, NY – combined with Quaker Values which reflect on truth, morality, and conscience – with exceptional results.
Starting this current school year, Friends Academy has introduced an innovative new addition to their learning curriculum: the Forest Program, which – according to Lower School principal Dot Woo – was founded upon Forest Schools, whose history is rooted in Europe and success noted through research.
“Traditionally, in a Forest School…there is no indoor classroom, the children are literally in an outdoor setting from the start of the day to the end of the day,” shares Woo. “We draw inspiration from this model, and instead have this component where we can bring our curriculum and our learning outside to the forest. And we're adding different components to it, including a pollinator garden and some other structures out there to support longer times for curricular facilitation.”
Friends Academy’s Forest Program only just launched this year, but already it's providing a fascinatingly unique experience for schoolchildren, which promises to only deepen as the program itself evolves and grows over time.
“The program is being piloted this year with our Early Childhood students…it was created over the summer and there will be additional phases and opportunities to grow and expand the benefits to our older students as well,” Woo said.
The Forest Program in its current form consists of a 2-acre space that has been intentionally structured for students to explore. Friends Academy has taken this area and manipulated and repurposed the land and its surrounding environment in order to create a natural space to give children the opportunity to observe, explore, and investigate the natural environment, analyze problems, design creative solutions, collaborate – all while developing their fine and gross motor skills.
“We're very much forward thinking. We're a school that is rooted in Quaker values and we are academically rigorous,” Dot said. “So a Forest Program for us fits into our approach with students building a life of stewardship, communing with nature, growing their spiritual selves and working together as part of a community. Research has proven that academic skills are fostered, nurtured, and strengthened through being outside.”
The experience begins before the students even reach the area designated for the Forest Program, as it's located via a 25-minute walk from their classroom; along the way, children get exercise and fresh air to fuel their bodies while honing their navigational and exploration skills. And once they finally arrive at their destination, the kids are primed and ready to truly experience a joyful and fascinating learning experiences, Dot said.
“In the Forest Program there are hills, rocks, trees, a variety of plants and areas where children can climb and balance, do some heavy lifting, and it's situated around natural materials that are safe but not neatly manicured,” she said. “This environment really lends itself to children learning to problem solve. For example, our Playgroup children came across a fallen tree after a storm. They worked together to move the tree to a different spot and realized throughout the process how many friends they needed to achieve their goal, where each friend needed to stand and how they each needed to grasp the tree based on its shape and size. What happened in this process is real world mathematics and physics – balance and measurement. Not to mention problem-solving, language skills, collaboration, and negotiation.”
Woo noted that reactions from both the students and their parents to the Forest Program have been overwhelmingly positive.
“So far the program has been very successful, and because so many people are not familiar with these programs, the more that we're able to make it clear to families that it's not a play space – that it does lay a solid academic and health foundation – parents really seem to appreciate that,” she said. “The excitement from families grows as we're able to share more with them about the benefits of the program."
Dot Woo – who has been the principal of the Lower School for the past three years – said that she is excited about the innovative aspects of the Forest Program and is looking forward to growing and evolving it over time to better serve the needs of the students under her care.
“It's so incredibly impressive because no other school on Long Island has a Forest Program. This is a true, beautiful space for learning,” she said. “I also have the benefit of being a parent and both of my young children attend Friends Academy. When my son in PreK comes home, and he talks about the Forest Program and what he enjoys about it, it's wonderful to hear. He’s getting more than he realizes at this age.”
To find out more about Friends Academy and their Forest Program, please call 516-676-0393 or visit https://www.friendsacademy.org.