Gather Forest School

Mission Statement: Gather Forest School and Community creates and facilitates child-centered nature-based educational experiences rooted in Black culture and identity for Black families. Why there is a need for Gather? Gather Forest School is solving for racial equity within education, environmental racism, and mental health by providing Black families a holistic educational experience through operating a five-day-a-week forest school with a curriculum that centers Black culture and nature education for ages 4-12 and having community programming for the broader community to get Black families outside. What makes Gather different? As a school community, we have collectively spent 19,400 hours outside for the 2022-2023 school year. Our children are getting 900 + hours outdoors a year compared to the average American child spending less than 10 minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play (Sanford Heath News, 2022). We are about Black futures. Our work is about creating a legacy for our students to ensure that Black people are a part of the environmental conservation movement. We are planting seeds for a movement.