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Health & Fitness

Acorn School's Nature-Based Learning Inspires Students to Blossom

STRATHAM — A school that encourages its students to have fun as they learn, while also  teaching them how to practice sustainability, is transforming them into inquisitive, caring and responsible graduates who develop a deep affinity for their alma mater.  

The Acorn School isn’t your typical pre-K and kindergarten. Launched in 1972, Acorn has remained steadfast in its efforts to maintain a low student-to-teacher ratio, one-on-one interaction, communication, and personal growth. The school uses its beautiful surroundings in Stratham to help forge a curriculum and philosophy aimed at stirring within its students an appreciation for the natural world. 

Acorn touts an incredible, diverse curriculum, where finger painting and drawing meld seamlessly with Lego-building and sign language. From science to theater, world culture to creative arts, music to creative writing, no educational stone is left unturned. 

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Nature-based Learning

The 100 students, ages 3 to 6, who attend Acorn School, come from as far away as Northern Massachusetts and Southern Maine, but mostly from nearby towns such as Stratham, Exeter, Newmarket, North Hampton, Hampton Falls, Greenland and Newfields.  

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The students spend a lot of time learning outside: composting, tending to the garden, visiting with animals, and walking nature trails. The school’s beautiful tree house is an outdoor classroom and a state-of-the-art tree-bound playroom, with a sturdy exterior slide and deck, which doubles as a bird observation area. 

Acorn’s executive director since 1987, Sue Bendroth extols the school’s philosophy. It emphasizes that children need to be outside, exploring and connected to nature, and that children need the time to play. Together, these values create well-rounded children physically, intellectually and emotionally. 

But how do students develop necessary pen-and-paper skills, mastery of which they will need in their daily lives, when they’re spending most of their time outside? 

“It’s unbelievable how the school uses nature and the outdoor space that they have,” says Stratham resident Tonia Hutt, vice president of Acorn’s Board of Directors, and the parent of a 5-year-old Acorn student, Caterina. “The students will observe butterflies, for example, and then incorporate what they learned outside on the inside by singing, dancing, reading and learning about the life cycle of butterflies, or whatever it is they saw. They have a deep appreciation and respect for nature. The children think this is so much fun learning and watching caterpillars morph into beautiful butterflies, but it’s actually an educational curriculum.” 

“Acorn was a great place for my son,” says Hampton resident Christine Thomson, a former Acorn student herself who now teaches at the school. “We have terrific playgrounds — a front playground and a back playground. It was wonderful for him to be at a school where he could climb and run around. I liked that he was able to be outside so much even in the winter.” 

Thomson praises the curriculum for emphasizing the process not the product. “My son enjoyed learning about the world around him through projects, books and experiments,” she says. “He was not doing worksheets but actively learning and interacting with his peers. For him it was a perfect fit.” 

Hutt, whose daughter will be a kindergartner this year, says that, though the town of Stratham’s public schools are very good, she and her husband, George, made the decision to enroll Caterina in Acorn School for her kindergarten year. “We were fortunate to have seen the type of environment Acorn School provides over the last two years, the nurturing and loving teachers, the level of education and the philosophy of the school. It was a no-brainer to keep her here for the special ‘Mighty Oak’ year. We know the level of attention that she will get at Acorn School is exceptional (it has a 1-to-5 student-to-teacher ratio), and feel the education at Acorn, the philosophy and the whole environment is in sync with our values.” 

Hutt praises the educational foundation Acorn School establishes with its young students that sets the path for the rest of their learning careers, calling it “magical” for them and extremely endearing for a parent. “As a parent I think, I’m doing the best that I can (keeping her at Acorn),” she says, “and what more could you want other than doing the best you can for your child?” 

Acorn Executive Director Bendroth says Acorn’s staff is “passionate” about establishing the right path for their students’ education. “One of our major goals is to instill a love for learning across the board,” she says. “Yes, we want them to learn their numbers or letters, but that’s not as important as developing a passion for learning and an ability to communicate with one another. They have a long school career ahead of them.” 

Part of setting the right path for children is creating a welcoming environment. “Our home is filled with love and learning,” says Hutt, “and when I bring Caterina to school, I feel it’s an extension of our home. … She loves to go there. I see how they treat her in an environment that’s very loving and nurturing, but also very educational. I’m sure it’s an extension of everybody’s home.” 

“One of the most special things about Acorn is how they so easily become an extension of your family,” says Newmarket resident Pilar Redmond, who has two girls, ages 3 and 5, at Acorn. “My girls, especially my older one, are more on the quiet side. I was unsure about how she would do in the beginning, not having had any daycare experience, but the teachers at Acorn are so nurturing and loving toward the children and my daughter immediately took to them. I have seen her blossom and become more confident and independent over the past couple years.” 

Thomson said the socialization her son, an only child, experienced at Acorn proved essential to his growth. But so, too, was continuing at home the education he received in school, where he studied nature, performed science experiments, and learned about music, the Arctic and the world around him. 

“He would come home very excited,” Thomson says, “and we would go to the library to look at books that related to the things they were talking about in school.” 

A feeling of ‘connectedness’

Thomson started volunteering at Acorn while her son was at the school. “That’s one of the reasons that I wanted to work there. It was such a great, great place,” she says. “I enjoyed coming in and being with the children at the school, and I really liked the curriculum at Acorn, the positive impact that I was seeing on my child was priceless. The children come out of the car excited to be there. They give their teachers a hug and run off to see their friends; they are ready to start their day.” 

Hutt notices the “connectedness” former students feel toward school, Thomson being just one example. Some graduates spend their days off volunteering there, including alumni currently in middle school and high school.  

“I have also spoken to a lot of teenagers who are alumni, and every one of them lights up when they hear about Acorn or hear that Caterina goes there,” Hutt says. “They’ll say, ‘That was the best time of my life, and I wish all my schools and teachers were like Acorn. I loved that big yellow slide. I remember the very first time I did the monkey bars. I love this teacher and that teacher.’ I swear they all say the same thing. It’s very unique.” 

As kindergartners — called “Mighty Oaks” at Acorn — students choose a tree on the Acorn grounds and observe it through the seasons. “Children come back to their tree,” Hutt says. “It’s special to see, to know they can go back, look for it, and remember.”  

Giving Back

The school also teaches its students how to volunteer and help others. Students make meals for and visit the elderly, send care packages to servicemen, collect money to save acres of the rainforest, bring in food for “68 Hours of Hunger,” and help students and families in Third World countries.  

 “Caterina will come home and say, ‘We need to bring food to the school for the less fortunate,’ or she will ask, ‘Do we have any clothes?’  They’re talking about doing for others. These children definitely learn how to give back,” Hutt says. 

Students also make centerpieces for nursing homes and deliver them, and sing songs during the holidays. “The smiles that they brought to the seniors were heartening,” Hutt says. “These are very good lifelong lessons that they’re learning.” 

Acorn teaches the students benevolence. A special former teacher, Candy Ray, would tell the children about ringing doorbells and leaving flowers for a special someone on May Day and then running away so they don’t see the children. This tradition of making people happy is told by the teachers still today.  “It is now a tradition in our home,” Hutt says. She said that Acorn students’ generosity “is definitely unique for a preschool.” And she calls Bendroth and all the teachers, “the heartbeat of the school.”  

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be part of the staff and work at the school,” Bendroth says. “It’s a job I love. It’s not hard getting up to go to work every morning.” 

The Acorn School is a business partner of the Green Alliance, a union of local sustainable businesses promoting environmentally sound business practices and a green co-op offering discounted green products and services to its members. GA members receive $25 off their initial registration fee at the Acorn School. 

Learn more about the Acorn School at www.acornschoolnh.com/

Find out more about the Green Alliance at www.greenalliance.biz.
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