From its founding, St. Anne’s has recognized the educational opportunities found in the natural world. The school's mission, curriculum, and campus reflect the importance that St. Anne’s places on students' connection with the outdoors.  Our three pillars of Restoration, Education, and Research set the stage for integrated and robust learning in our outdoor environment.

Restoration and Stewardship

• To restore, develop, and reduce maintenance that would increase the long term sustainability and resiliency of our campus and to ensure access to natural/wild, green spaces for all children. 

• All stewardship and restoration activities have a focus on student involvement to build a sense of ownership, but also to help develop a sense of resilience and progression; as development of the campus is a long-term process that is built from the hard work of many stewards.

Education

• To lead the faculty and staff so that all students have consistent access and exposure to learning outdoors,  environmental stewardship, and environmental justice.

• The severely impaired water-quality of the rapidly developing watershed creates an opportunity for the campus to become a beacon to support a lifelong pursuit of environmental stewardship for the faculty and students.  

Research

• To engage students throughout their elementary and middle school years in real world authentic scientific research.  

• To give students a sense of ownership and empowerment in global endeavors, so that they may experience the scientific process first hand.

At St. Anne’s we define outdoor education as education 'in', 'about', and 'for' the out-of-doors. We have adopted 4 tenets of outdoor education as guiding principles for our nature based program.  (Ford,Phyllis 1986). These tenets align with the NAEE Brief Descriptions of the Competencies, Knowledge, and Dispositions nature education.

Some ways we are achieving these tenets are perceiving nature through the familiar (color, shapes, patterns, lines), using all five senses to become environmentally alert and aware, learning ecological principles (for example, that the sun is the source of all energy).  Studying plants, animals, soil, water, air, and their interdependence.  Solving environmental problems (for example, “How can we help to save our native bees?” “How can we increase access to habitats for birds, bees, monarchs, and other pollinators?”), developing self-reliance through outdoor risk taking, understanding climate and weather.  Understanding the impact of the interrelatedness of culture, human resources, and natural resources, and how a shift in any one of the three can impact on the other two.  We have called on local experts in geology, biology/ecology, and forestry to support our program and interact with our students when possible.  The entire school has been trained in the Project Learning Tree curriculum and we have participated in some citizen science projects including NestWatch and the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project.

Development of our campus is an integral part of our nature based learning program.  Areas available for student exploration and learning include forest areas, bird plot area, pollinator meadow, stream, lake, and native gardens.  In addition to the restoration and creation of habitat spaces we have also embraced infusing diversity and environmental justice into our environmental education.  From recognizing natural scientists of all cultural backgrounds to more authentically exploring the history of all people and their historical connection to our land.  We have also strived to authentically integrate subject areas such as math, literacy, and social studies into our environmental studies.

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