Public School Partnerships
In September 2022, BOPN launched “Forest Days” in collaboration with the Charles Sumner Elementary School in Roslindale, to provide a consistent means of outdoor play and nature connection for three K1 (4-yo) classes. This work is part of a growing movement to get public school children into nature. In March 2024, Forest Days expanded to include the K1 class at Joseph P. Manning Elementary School.
Each K1 class spends one morning per week exploring nature with guidance from BOPN's outdoor educators, their classroom teachers, and family volunteers.
Forest Days ensure that children in urban areas have these invaluable experiences in natural environments within their own neighborhoods.
The benefits of play in nature are undeniable: children’s immune systems improve, social-emotional skills are honed, self-confidence and self-esteem develop, and creative and critical thinking skills sharpen. There are academic benefits as well, including better hand-eye coordination and core strength, which are essential for children to later sit at desks and write.
BOPN Forest Days incorporate place-based literacy as children explore maps, signs, and field guides, and math skills are developed naturally as we count and sort pinecones, measure sticks, and find shapes in nature.
See this presentation for a window into BOPN Forest Days at Charles Sumner Elementary School.
Benefits of Forest Days
Commitment to Equity
Since BOPN launched in September 2019, we have awarded full and partial scholarships to hundreds of families for our school year and summer programs. In addition, we are actively pursuing opportunities to expand access to nature-based early education in underserved communities.
We are currently collaborating with two Boston public schools, and our first tuition-free preschool through Universal PreK opens in September 2024.
Our Outdoor Educators
Next Steps
Are you an educator, administrator, or parent, interested in bringing Forest Days to your school? Would you like to support BOPN’s initiative to open the first nature-based Universal PreK programs in Boston?