🌱 Help Us Grow Into Our New Home Base 🌱

When we look back on more than a decade of nurturing parent-led educational programs, it’s not the biggest checks that stand out. It’s the people who’ve been with us from the very beginning. Those who show up when everything is on the line. People like you.

This summer, we’re raising funds to support the new home of the Jacksonville Educational Community (JEC) and our Spring River programs at Sonrise Community Church on Levy Road in West Atlantic Beach. This space will serve as our administrative hub — the heart that keeps so many of our programs thriving.

When we unexpectedly lost our longtime home at Atlantic Theatres, the ripple effects were immediate. Overnight, we needed to secure:

a new high school campus
a beautiful site for our two-day program serving part-time homeschooling families
an inclement weather space for our four-day program
and an administrative center to anchor all our educational operations

All of this came with urgent, unplanned expenses, including:

Moving costs — $400
City-required site survey & safety plan for licensing and insurance — $5,000
Outdoor pavilions for learning & gatherings — $7,500
Remodeling classrooms — $500
9–12 picnic tables — $130 each
A safety fence around the 2-acre lot — $1,200
Air conditioning updates — $250
2 bike racks — $60 each
Painting & deep cleaning to make the space welcoming — $300

Even though our four-day K–8 program will use another space for inclement weather days, Levy Road is our true home base — where we host parent evenings, enrichment classes, festivals, workshops, after-school programs, and summer camps. It’s also where our teachers come together to plan, learn, and support each other all year long.

✨ Your gift directly fuels these essential investments, helping us build a stable, vibrant community space where children, families, and neighbors can grow and thrive together.

Our average donation is $50. Some give more, many give less. Whatever you can contribute — whether it’s $10, volunteering your time, or connecting us with someone who can help us secure lumber for outdoor classrooms — we are truly grateful.

👉 Please choose an amount and click the donate button. Every bit helps us grow.

Spring River School is an initiative of Jacksonville Educational Community (JEC), a pioneering non-profit organization founded by parents and local educators who are driven by a common desire to create a transformative educational experience focused on the whole-child approach.

This impulse led to the establishment of Florida's first Waldorf-inspired K-8 all-outdoor education program.

Students at Spring River are welcomed to a place of respect and encouragement, where they learn to be self-sufficient and are provided the space to flourish. The curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching methods are designed to nurture and realize each child's unique potential.

In the fall of 2020, we took our homeschool classes on outdoor field trips for the school year and found that outdoor education was the perfect fit for our curriculum and families. Our classes, which for several years were indoors in churches and community centers, have now been moved to local parks steps from the ocean in the Beaches Area. With the support of our community, we are working toward building a campus that will be home to outdoor pavilions and a biodynamic garden. Outside of Spring River, parents may homeschool their children in any manner of their choosing. Our parents and teachers are available to provide inspiration and ideas that blend well with our supplemental program.

A little bit, about JEC:

WHO WE ARE

We are a pioneering community of business owners, caregivers, teachers, and students seeking ways to connect with the wonders of the natural world and each other.

WHAT WE DO

Our purpose is to engage the Northeast Florida community in initiatives, programming, and community outreach that embodies the full range of Holistic and Anthroposophical-inspired ideals such as:

Outdoor Education

Homeschool Enrichment

Waldorf Education

Community Green Space

Biodynamic Gardening

Anthroposophical Studies

The Healing Arts

Teacher Training and Support

WHY WE BELIEVE THIS IS IMPORTANT

Everyone needs and deserves access to nature and human connection.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

I. We exist to support the developing human being on their journey to discover purpose and meaning.

II. We accomplish this support through education, spiritual practice, and service.

III. We seek to awaken capacities of judgment, creativity, perception, empathy, joy, and wonder.

IV. We embody reverence for the uniqueness of each individual and respect for their right to freedom.

V. We believe nature offers the essential needs of reflection, health, and connection.

Help Us Grow into Our New Home Base

Rooted in Community, Rising Together