Our Guiding Principles

• We believe in children's intrinsic ability and need to learn.
• We trust the children to choose what, how and when they learn within the learning environment.
• We strive for education of the whole child: body, mind, heart and spirit.
• We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment where children, parents, teachers and mentors can teach and learn together.
• We value democracy: children and adults participate equally in age-appropriate decisions.
• We strive to create an educational culture which is tolerant and supportive of individual expression.
• We support cooperative learning and cooperative play above competition.
• We value simplicity and support local, ecologically sound economies.
• We respect the integrity of the natural environment in which we live.
• We strive to connect children to nature and to a diversity of people in their community.
• We believe that a bioregional focus will give children the tools to work toward a more sustainable and fulfilling society.