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The Problem

Children today are spending more time indoors, with up to 44 hours per week in front of screens and sometimes less than 10 minutes a day playing outside. This shift is affecting their mental and physical health, and traditional schools are not addressing this crucial need. Research shows that time in nature boosts social skills, self-esteem, health, and academic performance. Yet, opportunities for outdoor play are shrinking.

Our Solution

Longleaf Forest School, founded in 2020, aims to reverse this trend. Our mission is to cultivate experiences in the natural world that foster curiosity, well-being and stewardship.

Learn more about our mission here and see an exciting Elon University journalism project about us here.

Our emergent curriculum includes:

Literacy
Mathematics
Science
Social-Emotional Learning
Mindfulness
Art

Our Need

We are raising funds to:

Build infrastructure for our outdoor forest classroom.
Establish our 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

A Brief History

Just before the pandemic, we had a fully enrolled program and were set to operate from a small Durham farm. The pandemic caused us to lose that partnership, and we adapted by running our programs from Maddi’s backyard, and various parks, for the past four years. Recently, we secured an exciting partnership with RambleRill Farm, providing us a new home to grow and thrive. We are excited to announce that we are fully enrolled for our first year at this new location!

What’s Next

We are currently setting up our new programming spaces at RambleRill Farm. While educational supplies are covered through tuition, we need assistance with the start up costs of building basic infrastructure and forming a non-profit.

Join us in making a meaningful impact on children’s lives and supporting Longleaf Forest School’s future. Thank you for your generosity!

Roots and Wings: Longleaf Forest School Capital Campaign

By Longleaf Forest School

Roots and Wings: Longleaf Forest School Capital Campaign

From Finding a Home to Building It—Join Us in Our Next Chapter!