The Nature Explore Classroom at
New Horizon Academy-Meridian North
Welcome to the outdoor classroom at our New Horizon Academy Meridian-North school! We are located in the heart of Meridian, Idaho and are proud to be the first New Horizon Academy that was created in Idaho.
What makes our outdoor classroom so special is that it feels as though you have stepped right into the woods of Idaho and are maybe going camping or exploring.
The classroom is under several beautiful pine trees that not only provide shade, but also natural elements for the children to explore such as pine needles and pinecones. The children can weave through these trees as they play and explore!
We started our outdoor classroom journey several years ago and wanted to perfect it and make it a fully useful and functional area for our school before requesting to get it certified. Now, we are proud to say that this space is used each and every day by our preschool, pre-k, and school-age children rear-round, weather permitting.
We love to have visitors come to our classroom and have had several staff trainings inside it as well. It is fun to submerse ourselves in the outdoors while doing trainings because we know the benefits of fresh air and the stress relieving being outdoors can bring to our team.
The children love their outdoor classroom day! They know that they will have a full day of fun outside. They eat their meals, do their activities, and nap outside. They often compare it to camping. The families are also excited about this area. They know to send their children in messy clothing as they will be messy by the end of the day! When a prospective parent or guardian is touring through our school, they are always very curious about our outdoor classroom. Our director and teachers are always more than happy to explain all the benefits of having children in an outdoor classroom on a regular basis.
We had a local tree removal company donate wood cookies and tree stumps and a local tire company donate tires for the children to climb on and roll through the classroom. We also had a wonderful person donate his time to build the mud kitchen, music and movement wall, and garden boxes. We feel very blessed to have the support of our community.
Because Idaho has very few outdoor immersion schools, we are proud to offer this area for our children. We have learned so much about the benefits of learning outdoors and feel like we really understand how to use it. It has been so fantastic to learn even more about the stress-relieving benefits it has!
