Episcopal Day School, located in Augusta, GA, introduced a Nature School – born from a deep belief that children learn best through meaningful, hands-on experiences that connect them to the world around them. The program grew out of the PK-grade 8 school’s long-standing commitment to experiential learning and its desire to balance strong academic foundations with authentic engagement. Inspired by research in early childhood education and the global movement toward nature-based learning, EDS created a space where curiosity, movement, and wonder are as essential as literacy and math. Head of Preschool & Lower School Amy Tomblinson shares how this dream became a reality and is a meaningful way to fulfill the school’s mission.
A Physical Campus that Reflects School Values
What began as a search for additional athletic fields and outdoor space soon grew into a visionary plan for hands-on, experiential learning aligned with Episcopal Day School’s mission to educate the whole child. At the end of 2012, EDS purchased nearly 30 acres off Flowing Wells Road under the leadership of former Head of School Dr. Ned Murray.
Over time, additional property acquisitions expanded the site to nearly 48 acres, now known as the Flowing Wells Campus, home to the Murray Nature School. The campus features a dynamic landscape of forest, field, and wetland habitats, including nearly 18 acres of preserved forest and wetland dedicated to outdoor exploration and environmental study. Here, the 380 students of the EDS community investigate ecosystems firsthand, conduct field observations, and engage in authentic inquiry that brings science, literacy, and stewardship to life.
The Nature School is more than a place; it is a reflection of Episcopal Day School’s deepest values. Tomblinson shares, “Rooted in faith and guided by curiosity, the program embodies our belief that learning and wonder are sacred acts. Each day in the forest, children practice attention, empathy, and stewardship. They learn that creation is not just something to study, but something to cherish and protect.”
The school’s guiding words – Humble to Serve, United in Love – live fully in this work. In the woods, children serve one another by sharing materials and ideas. They learn humility as they notice how small their hands are against the bark of an old pine. They experience love in its most genuine form: connection to the earth, to each other, and to something larger than themselves.
Today, every EDS student engages with this campus. All grade levels visit regularly for extended learning experiences where science and exploration come alive. Students tend to beehives, prepare for the arrival of chickens, and connect lessons in hydroponics and gardening that begin as early as kindergarten. Signature events have emerged over the years such as the third grade Fishing Derby, a beloved day of patience, ecology, and friendly competition; the Kindergarten and sixth grade Kite Day, celebrating partnership and joy under open skies; and the Nature Kindergarten Evening in the Forest, a January tradition where families gather around campfires to witness their children’s learning in a magical nighttime setting. These shared experiences link both campuses through curiosity, stewardship, and joy in discovery, continuing the legacy first envisioned by Dr. Murray more than a decade ago.
Research and Inquiry Define Daily Rhythms
Research on child development highlights that movement, play, and sensory experiences are critical for building the foundations of learning. Every design choice in the EDS Nature School reflects that understanding. Daily rhythms include large blocks of outdoor exploration balanced with calm reflection. Children sing, tell stories, and journal beneath the trees. Literacy and math are seamlessly integrated into these experiences through Amplify CKLA and Singapore Math.
Meaningful nature-based learning depends on a thoughtful balance between freedom and structure. Teachers balance freedom and structure by following children’s curiosity while guiding experiences toward clear academic outcomes. At the Nature School, exploration is not an extra but an intentional part of the curriculum, woven into every subject through purposeful design and developmentally appropriate practice. Freedom without structure can quickly become unfocused, while too much structure limits creativity. Teachers create safe, predictable routines and environments where children understand boundaries yet have the space to follow their own questions and curiosities.
Each day includes a rhythm of guided inquiry, reflection, and extended periods of open exploration, allowing curiosity to drive learning while keeping it connected to clear academic goals. Inquiry begins with student questions, but learning is anchored in EDS’s educational framework. When kindergarteners study plants, they plant seeds, track growth, and record data, connecting CKLA science units with math concepts from Singapore Math.
A typical day at the Nature School begins as students are dropped off at the Inquiry Studio, where teachers facilitate morning work during carline. Once carline ends, classes walk together with their teachers into the forest along a trail that winds over creeks and beneath the canopy of trees. Students stow their belongings in their yurts or designated structures, gather for a morning meeting, and move naturally into the day’s rhythm of exploration, play, and inquiry.
Each week includes time for extended exploration, which may take students to the open field, wetland, or deeper into the forest as they observe, question, and investigate. The main clearing features thoughtfully designed learning stations for nature art, music and movement, digging, climbing, gardening, and group gatherings, following the Nature Explore Classroom model. This model, developed by the Dimensions Educational Research Foundation and the Arbor Day Foundation, helps schools design outdoor spaces that function as valid extensions of the indoor classroom, promoting child-initiated discovery, creativity, and collaboration. Each area in a Nature Explore Classroom has a clear purpose, such as messy materials for building, gathering spaces for reflection, art and music areas for creative expression, and garden beds for tending and observation. The design intentionally encourages movement, problem-solving, and sensory engagement while supporting academic and social-emotional growth. At EDS, this model makes outdoor learning purposeful, developmentally appropriate, and deeply integrated into the school’s curriculum.
Nature School students spend one day each week on the main Walton Way campus for chapel and co-curricular classes such as music, library, and Spanish. They also come to the main campus for whole school events and assemblies, continuing to feel connected to the larger EDS community. The Godly Play and art teachers travel to the Nature School so that these creative and spiritual experiences continue in an outdoor setting.
While these rhythms guide the day, there is no truly typical day at the Nature School. Each one unfolds differently based on student curiosity, weather, and discovery. At every level, the schedule is intentionally flexible, allowing teachers to follow student interests and seasonal shifts while maintaining a predictable rhythm of movement, discovery, and learning. The result is not a rigid timetable but a living flow where the forest itself often sets the agenda.
Evaluating Learning and Growth in an Experiential Program
The academic curriculum at the Nature School mirrors the one used on the main EDS Walton Way campus. Students engage with the same high-quality instruction and learning goals, but in an environment that amplifies curiosity and connection through the natural world. The setting is different, yet the academic rigor, instructional design, and learning expectations remain the same.
Students measure rainfall, compare leaf sizes, sort natural objects, and record observations in nature journals. This rhythm honors how young children learn through movement, curiosity, and authentic engagement with their world.
By first grade, this inquiry naturally expands into deeper, more complex forms of learning. Each year, the Nature first-grade class creates its own civilization, complete with jobs, governing documents, and systems of trade and community life. This project, grounded in social studies and literacy standards, gives children authentic opportunities to apply writing, problem-solving, and collaboration skills in a real-world context that reflects both independence and shared responsibility.
Because the curriculum remains the same across both campuses, expectations for academic achievement, social-emotional development, and work habits stay the same. Teachers document student growth through daily observations, student work samples, and performance assessments aligned with grade-level standards. Progress reports reflect a child’s ability to apply those skills both indoors and outdoors, highlighting how learning transfers across settings.
At the same time, EDS recognizes that learning in nature can reveal new insights into a child’s development. Some students thrive in the open-ended, movement-rich environment of the Nature School, while others find the structure of the traditional classroom a better fit. Over the past two years, EDS has developed readiness criteria to help families and teachers determine whether the Nature School environment best supports a child’s success.
From Concept to Reality: Launching and Sustaining a Nature School Program
The EDS Nature School began as a vision to extend outdoor learning beyond occasional experiences into a daily practice. Its development required extensive planning, cross-campus collaboration, and community support. Most importantly, it depended on passionate, talented educators willing to venture into a bold new initiative.
The Nature School began on the primary school campus, taking advantage of a 1.5-acre parcel adjacent to the school, with nine students ages three and four and a teacher. Within a few months, the class moved to a temporary home on the Flowing Wells Campus and then to yurts. The following year, as the preschool class grew to 12 students, the Nature School added a kindergarten class.
To inform and guide the program’s development, faculty completed Forest School certification under Jean Lamino, an internationally recognized trainer who equips educators to lead safe, purposeful, and child-centered outdoor learning. Certification emphasizes risk-benefit assessment, environmental stewardship, and strategies for fostering independence and resilience in children. This training gave EDS teachers the confidence to guide open-ended learning outdoors while maintaining structure and safety. A great deal of flexibility was given to teachers as they developed the program’s routines and structures.
Over time, interest in the program swelled, with more students wanting to move from the Nature School program into the more traditional structure of the primary campus classrooms. Simultaneously, the school adopted new curricula in math and language arts that stretched into the Prekindergarten classes. While Episcopal Day School wanted to remain true to the principles of a forest school, there was a desire to balance those needs with the demands of academic learning at those grade levels. To this day, striking the right balance between these two approaches remains a tension to be managed, says Tomblinson.
As the founding faculty have moved on, EDS continues to use forest school training for teachers, including recently partnering with Rachel Larimore, founder of Samara Early Learning and a national leader in nature-based early childhood education. Through her mentorship, faculty have deepened their understanding of inquiry-based learning, reflective teaching, and alignment between outdoor experiences and academic standards. Ongoing professional development supports faculty planning, observation, and documentation across both Nature School and Walton Way campuses.
Connecting Programs to School Mission
“Our mission calls us to nurture each child’s intellectual, spiritual, and creative growth in a community of love and learning,” shares Tomblinson. “The Nature School embodies that mission, uniting head, heart, and hands. Children learn best when they are given space to wonder, explore, and connect.”
Outdoor learning encourages children to slow down, notice details, and develop empathy for one another and for the world around them. This approach supports the development of the whole child academically, socially, and spiritually.
Through the Nature School, Episcopal Day School honors its mission to educate the whole child: mind, body, and spirit. The forest has become both classroom and chapel, reinforcing that when learning is grounded in love and curiosity, children not only grow in knowledge, but also in wisdom.
Related Resources
Want to learn more? Hear Amy Tomblinson take a deeper dive into this topic during her session “STEAM, Stories & the Great Outdoors: Connecting Classrooms & Campuses Through Integrated, Nature-Based Learning” at the 2026 SAIS TransformEd: Teaching & Learning Conference, February 10-11.
