The Nest Community School
Reggio-inspired Early Learning Community:
Play-Based, Child-Lead & Nature-Inspired
Program Offerings
Full Day Preschool
We offer full day preschool for children 2 1/2 to 6 years of age at our Conservation District Campus. Children learn and grow together with teachers in their curated classrooms and the 50+ acres of forest trails to explore. This licensed program is rich in hands-on, authentic, play based experiences for children, tailored to meet the unique needs of each child. Our full day program provides snacks, rest periods, lots of outdoor time and a multitude of exciting learning experiences each day.
Half Day Preschool
Half day offers all of the learning, growth and community as a full day but condensed to 4 hours. Join us at our Grand "Sparrow" House, 9-1 am, for a morning filled with curiosity, discovery and friendships! This location embodies the idea of community school. Tucked into the Comstock neighborhood, children take walks and explore the world around them. The Sparrow House is a great fit for families that are looking to add richness to their young child's day, but may not need care for the full day.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten is a child's first step into the wide world of elementary school. Their first year should be filled with hands-on, child led, inquiry based learning; sparking a life long love of learning within each child. With hours dedicated to authentic play-based learning, we hope to reclaim Kindergarten as a year of joy, friendships and deep connected learning. With low class sizes, hands on science, music and art experiences and hours spent outdoors, we learn and grow every day.
Parenting and Educator Classes
Our innovative Reggio inspired classes are designed to provide parents and teachers with brain based strategies that are rooted in the latest educational research. Our classes will equip you with both immediate and long-term strategies to effectively address challenging behaviors now, while also laying a foundation for your child's future brain development. For teachers, classes provide STARS hours and a community environment to learn and incorporate new skills and ideas.
Our Philosophy
The city of Reggio Emilia recognizes early education as a right for all of its citizens and sees it’s early schools as an extension of democracy of the highest order. Schools are seen as a place for children to be immersed in the diversity of a community of thinkers. Children are encouraged to communicate their ideas through the many languages they have inside of them, words, expressions, art, gestures. Then through dialogue with peers and caregivers, children’s ideas are questioned, built upon and collaborated with. Reggio Emilia philosophy seeks to be on the cutting edge of the science of brain development, cognitive psychology, sociology, neurobiology and putting this research into creating developmentally appropriate practice. Elements of the foundational philosophy we draw from these schools are their elevated view of the child, their views of the roles of teachers, the intentional planning of the classroom environment as a third teacher, their emergent curriculum model and their emphasis towards symbolic representation in the hundreds of languages that children have for expression.
