OUR HUMBLE ROOTS

Our forest and nature school journey began in 2016, as Forest School Practitioners we partnered with like-minded educators and began offering a Saturday forest immersion program in St. Catharines, out of Malcolmson Park. This led to offering a Summer Camp program, also in St. Catharines. At this time, we all had full-time jobs (school board & childcare related) and decided to take the leap, quit our jobs, and run full and part time programs at a beautiful property close to Beamer Falls in Grimsby. Our programs began small (our school was a tent!) but quickly grew while operating on this property, and this experience is where we developed our ethos (learn more about the directors – About Us) and solidified our vision and mission as environmental educators— inspiring the formation of Greenbelt Academy in 2019. Our school moved to our current location on Main Street in Grimsby, we became licensed, and we have continued to grow ever since.

At Greenbelt we offer a balanced approach to education. We are nature based—meaning we incorporate nature into all aspects of our program using the Forest & Nature School In Canada: A Head, Heart, Hands Approach to Outdoor Learning to guide us, are child development experts—working with doctors and other respected members in education to create our Greenbelt Academy’s Development Checklist, and are familiar with all aspects of the Ontario Curriculum (How Does Learning Happen? and the Kindergarten Curriculum) and how it can be authentically referenced in our programs; all of these aspects combined facilitate environments that reflect the needs of the whole child and the needs of our community.

We see nature as the catalyst for education in our programs; the connections created offer opportunities to foster real-life skills that support the needs of children in all domains—including mental well-being and physical fitness—which can be overlooked in the traditional education model. We see our school as a model for what childhood education can be and we will continue to advocate to promote and offer this approach as we grow.

The mission and vision of Greenbelt Academy condenses how we see ourselves, as facilitators of education in an authentic, meaningful way that promotes a life-long love of learning.

Please read our company’s vision & mission statements below:

Mission – Education rooted in nature to inspire in our students a deeper connection to the community around them.

Vision – Every child is given the opportunity to learn about their world through daily access to extended time in nature. Quality educators facilitate an emergent curriculum that reflects the needs of the whole child and meets the demands of the world in which we live.

HOW DOES LEARNING HAPPEN AT GREENBELT ACADEMY?

Our vision is that every child is given the opportunity to learn about their world through daily access to extended time in nature. Quality educators facilitate an emergent curriculum that reflects the needs of the whole child and meets the demands of the world in which we live.

At Greenbelt Academy we strive to meet our vision through hands-on experiential learning opportunities that follow the interests of the child, by allowing the curriculum to be fluid and built through observation and real life happenings. Teacher-led workshops and small group demonstrations are a mix of Ontario Curriculum, Forest School pedagogy, and Greenbelt Academy’s Development Checklist, all which offer new skills and address the needs of the whole child and realities of their community.

We incorporate opportunities for risky play while in the forest and onsite, and offer multiple unstructured play sessions throughout the day. Our pedagogy places importance on developing emotional intelligence and we incorporate these skills into our lesson plans and responsive interactions with students.

Through nature immersion, children develop environmental literacy which encourages them to grow to be humans who are authentically connected to the world around them and are more likely to care for and advocate for the future of our planet and their communities. Through our program, your child will be prepared with a solid foundation to support them down whatever path their education takes them.

Please take a look at our Principles of Operations that help to guide us in planning for our programs:

GREENBELT ACADEMY’S PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION

  • We spend a minimum of 3 hours outside daily unless inclement weather prevents us.
  • We go outside in all types of weather unless deemed too dangerous by a Director. We follow Environment Canada’s Weather Report and Wind Chill Chart and the Beaufort Windscale Table to guide us with these decisions.
  • The decision to close the centre due to inclement weather is guided by the DSBN school board’s decision to close. We do not close if transportation (buses) are cancelled, but we do close if the school board is closed. We will announce all closures by 7am.
  • We offer small class ratios—1:5 for Toddler, 1:8 for Preschool, and 1:8 for Kindergarten when on site, and 1:6 ratio for Preschool and Kindergarten when offsite.
  • We offer opportunities for Risky Play. Educators are trained to facilitate this type of play and to regulate the environment to ensure it is as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible.
  • We offer World Discovery Day and Community Day each month as a way of offering Geography and Social Studies in our programs.
  • We celebrate children and staff birthdays by taking a “Walk Around the Sun,” helping children understand Earth’s movement and our place within it.
  • Each morning we sing the “Good Morning Song” (modified Waldorf).
  • We strive to be an inclusive environment and work with families and professional resource consultants whenever possible.
  • We offer a hands-on, interest, play, and place-based physical curriculum.
  • Each program offers three teacher-directed activities each week.
  • We offer the Heggerty Program to support literacy development.
  • We use a blend of learning approaches and consider our pedagogy to be fluid.
  • We teach through story, song, and movement.
  • Technology is used purposefully to enhance learning, not to entertain.
  • Large group gatherings are limited to age-appropriate timelines.
  • Teacher-directed learning sessions happen in small groups.
  • We maintain Community Standards updated annually.
  • We use the FLIP IT and WITS programs to support social and emotional development.
  • We see our environments as third teachers.
  • We encourage family participation whenever possible.
  • We do not promote commercial holidays.
  • We strive to be environmentally conscious.
  • We do not offer sugary treats in our programs.
  • Families may bring treats for celebrations, with encouragement toward healthy options.