The Nature School

JUNIOR LEVEL: Grades 3 to 6 (ages 8-11 by Dec 31, 2025)

Students are placed in a multi-age grade: an approach to education in which students are treated as individuals and their skills are built from the starting point of where they are at, rather than what grade they are in. Junior School is offered at: Claireville Conservation Area – Brampton, ON Claremont Nature Centre- Pickering, ON Kortright Centre for Conservation – Vaughan, ON Toronto Zoo – Toronto, ON

PRIMARY LEVEL: SK to Grade 3 (ages 5-8 by Dec 31, 2025)

Students are placed in a multi-age grade: an approach to education in which students are treated as individuals and their skills are built from the starting point of where they are at, rather than what grade they are in. Primary School is offered at: Claireville Conservation Area – Brampton, ON Claremont Nature Centre- Pickering, ON Kortright Centre for Conservation – Vaughan, ON Toronto Zoo – Toronto, ON

KPAL (Kindergarten Pals) – JK/SK (ages 4-5 by Dec 31, 2025)

Our KPAL program is for students in Junior and Senior Kindergarten. This full-day program focuses on play-based learning that is driven by student curiosity and outdoor fun. The KPAL program is offered at: Claireville Conservation Area – Brampton, ON Claremont Nature Centre- Pickering, ON Kortright Centre for Conservation – Vaughan, ON Toronto Zoo – Toronto, ON

Preschool Program (Ages 2.5-5)

The Nature School Preschool uses a child-led approach to learning that is exploratory, inquiry-based, fun and unhurried. Children interact with the natural environment through the use of loose parts, creative play, shelter building, whittling wood, cooking on an open fire, knots, making woodland crafts, and sharing stories. The Preschool program is offered to children 2.5 to 5 years of age who are potty trained. The KPAL program is offered at: Claireville Conservation Area – Brampton, ON Kortright Centre for Conservation – Vaughan, ON

Mission Statement

To provide a supportive outdoor student-led learning environment that empowers, motivates and develops the whole child.

Our Values

Take Risks

Provide opportunities to build a student’s innate motivation, confidence and skills to take supported risks within a nurturing environment where it is safe to fail.

Educate the Whole Person

Develop the physical, social, cognitive, linguistic, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects in our students and promoting their holistic development by linking school experiences to students’ life experiences.

Student-Led

Support student development through the use of learning approaches that motivate students to develop theories, questions and ideas that build critical skills in the learning process.

Environmental Stewardship

Utilize the diverse habitats that exists in the natural learning environment to foster a connection with and develop an appreciation for the natural environment.

Teachers use a student-led, inquiry-based approach when developing lessons.

Teachers facilitate student learning through providing a variety of tools, resources, and experiences that guide students to find answers to their own questions. This helps build confidence, self-reliance, and independent thinking skills.

The methods used by our teachers include:

• Inquiry-based: A dynamic and emergent process that builds on students’ natural curiosity about the world in which they live.
• Play-based: Recognizes the integral role of play in a child’s development. This approach engages the whole child by encouraging a depth of experience and treating a child’s emotional, physical, and social selves as interwoven.
• Experiential learning: Learning that is based on students being directly involved in a learning experience rather than being taught pre-determined lesson plans. Students learn through and reflect on their learning experiences.
• Place-based: The act of connecting children to a particular place through direct experiential contact.

At The Nature School, students learn language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, visual arts, music and drama through these learning approaches.

A non-refundable deposit is due upon registration.

If you wish to cancel your child’s registration prior to the scheduled end date of the school program, we require 30 days written notice by email to vservices@trca.ca. Fees will be pro-rated and charged for the notice period and the deposit will be forfeited. If you wish to re-enroll your child after cancelling, a new deposit will be due.

There are no refunds for school days missed or not participating in school activities.

If tuition fees are paid monthly, the non-refundable deposit due upon registration will be used to offset the last month of the scheduled school program.

Minimum registration numbers are required in order for The Nature School to operate. In the event The Nature School must cancel due to low registration numbers a full refund for the cancelled days will be issued.