Alpine Village School is an alternative school program that does not intend to replicate traditional schooling in any way. Our focus is on the physical, emotional, and social development of children through play, conflict resolution, creative expression, hands in the soil connecting with Mother Earth, and parental education.
Alpine Village School is a nature based play based school for children ages 5–7. We invite children to discover their world through open exploration, get their hands dirty in the mud, build relationships with peers, and grow organic food and herbs in our greenhouse classroom. It’s time to get back to our roots in how we forage our medicine, tend the soil, and build community.
Unfortunately, the current education system that is widely accepted and used is doing it all wrong. The demands put on children in a traditional educational setting go against the natural physical, emotional, and social development of a child’s brain, body, and nervous system.
From the tender ages of 0-7, children are developing the blueprint for how their nervous system responds to the world around them. When we reverse these priorities and focus on sitting still, reading, writing, and being inside for the majority of the day, we are missing a crucial window for what the brain and body are actually designed to learn-how to feel safe in their bodies, articulate when and where they need support, and build healthy relationships with peers and trusted adults. When such skills are nurtured, children excel in formal academic areas, often at a faster rate than when pushed too early.
We have a unique setting filled with living plants, beautiful garden beds full of organic vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers, and all the natural light one can ask for. Ensuring students have access to natural light throughout the day whether we are “inside” or outside, is a top priority in supporting the nervous system.
We have an internal clock inside our bodies called the circadian rhythm, which tells our brain when it’s time to wake up and move our body-this happens when we see morning light, and when it’s time to unwind and go to sleep, a crucial period for our brain to eliminate toxins and for our vital organs to restore.
When children are exposed to artificial LED lighting or stay indoors for much of the day, our internal clock becomes disrupted. This can lead to fatigue, anxiety, difficulty sustaining attention, trouble falling or staying asleep, difficulty waking up, and an an imbalance in the production of hormones such as melatonin (the “sleepy” hormone) and cortisol (the stress hormone). These symptoms put a child’s body into a state of stress, activating their flight-or- fight response, also known as their sympathetic nervous system. Making sure our children are exposed to natural light as much as possible helps to keep their circadian rhythm in a healthy rhythm.
For the most part, students are outside playing rain, snow, or shine. However, we always have a heated greenhouse available when we need to hunker down and get cozy. We cook and eat outside when the weather permits; otherwise, lunch activities take place inside the greenhouse.
Play is how children communicate. It’s how they explore the world around them and strengthen important physical, emotional, and social developmental milestones.
We allow children to be children and let them play! Children have plenty of opportunities for expansion and movement throughout the day with our outdoor playground area and open exploration in the forest.
Open-ended play promotes autonomy, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, collaboration, communication, and connection to their peers. When we integrate movement, social and emotional connection, and sensory input from nature, we create an environment that supports the body’s nervous system. We want kids running, climbing, balancing, swinging, dancing, and engaging in healthy risk taking behavior with play—and we want as much of it outdoors as possible!
“Scientist have discovered that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain, unless it is done in play, in which case it only takes 10-20 repetitions.”
“Parents play such a vital role in their child’s education journey, and we want parents who want to be involved in their child’s education journey.”
Our school is built on responsive verses reactive parenting techniques. We focus on assisting parents in identifying and meeting the emotional and physical needs of their child to better understand their behavior, and in turn, become less reactive and more responsive when setting developmentally appropriate expectations and boundaries. We do this through our parent workshop classes and our required parent participation days.
Parents are required to attend two hours of parent education once a month at the school. We highly encourage both parents to attend; however, attendance in only required for one parent. This is a crucial part of our program, as it empowers parents with the information and research we use to guide our students.
In addition to our parent workshops, parents rotate serving as “Main” and “Support” parent twice a month. Main parent assists with lunch prep and cooking, while Support parent assists with the morning prep and project of the day. If siblings are enrolled, parents are required to participate three times a month. Unlike traditional schools, we want parents on campus as much as they want to be there, observing their child with others, hearing the language we use at school, and meeting other parents to build a stronger community.
“We release ourselves from the limiting belief that children need to learn certain material by a specific age, and if they don’t, they are “behind.” We understand the unfoldment is different for each child and we honor their process.”
Yes, direct instruction in reading, writing, math, etc., is important, but children seven and under are wired to learn through play and open exploration. When we take a step back and allow the natural learning process to occur, children become intrinsically motivated to explore their world and learn what needs to unfold for them in that moment. Each child embarks on a personal journey, and no two timelines are the same.
Since one of our primary focuses is on the physical development of each child, much of our curriculum is centered around strengthening children’s fine and gross motor skills. This is done through outdoor play and specific coordination movements during our morning meeting such as walking through uneven surfaces, running throughout the forest, fort building, obstacle courses, and so forth. Strengthening motor skills along with assessing the children’s primary reflexes, is a crucial prerequisite for developing reading and writing skills.
So much of our curriculum is guided by the seasons. Our food, herbs, medicine, and projects of the day are centered around Mother Earth and where we are in season with her. We forage as much medicine as we can from our property and surrounding neighbors. Children gain experience making tinctures, double extractions, salves, healing oils, and other fun products depending on the season.
Children begin planting in their garden beds right before the Fall Equinox. They will grow varieties of organic vegetables, edible flowers, dye plants, kitchen herbs, and medicinal herbs. Many of our math and science lessons unfold through our caretaking in the gardens.
Our goal is to support children in building the vocabulary they need to connect their feelings to words. Each month, children will learn about a different emotional developmental milestone that is revenant to their age. Through impromptu lessons, daily interactions, and observations, teachers assist children in recognizing and articulating their emotions and where they feel them in their bodies. It is through this awareness that children learn how to ask for support, express their needs, and create boundaries with peers. These spontaneous lessons serve as starting points, which educators continuously build upon throughout the year, fostering deeper emotional awareness and effective communication skills.
We know that a regulated nervous system is the foundation for optimal learning, emotional growth, healthy relationships, and overall well-being. That’s why we intentionally weave four key elements into our environment and daily rhythm: play, natural light, organic food, and chiropractic care. We believe by intentionally weaving these elements into the child’s daily experience, we create a learning environment that not only educates but deeply nurtures the whole child, body, spirit, and mind.
All of our food is organic and whenever possible, locally sourced. No food dyes. No additives. No processed sugar. We are what we eat and if we want healthy regulated children, we need to fuel their body with real food, no filler food and sugary carbs. A healthy, regulated body begins with what we put on our plates. Children are active participants in the entire process: from growing food in the garden to chopping and preparing ingredients for lunch. This hands on experience not only fosters independence and life skills but also builds a deeper connection to the food they eat and most importantly, how that food makes their body feel.
We are incredibly fortunate to work with Dr. Bonita Hazel, who provides tonal chiropractic adjustments on-site at our school. These gentle adjustments use light touches on the body to help shift the tone of the nervous system - guiding children from a state of sympathetic activation ("fight or flight") into a parasympathetic state ("rest and digest"). The goal is to help students develop a felt sense of safety in their bodies, reconnect with their breath, and begin to understand how to create more space within themselves for deeper, more regulated breathing.
Because co-regulation begins with the primary caregiver, Dr. Bonita meets with both the student and their family to get a clearer picture of how the family's nervous system is functioning as a whole. This holistic approach provides valuable insights that support both teachers and families in meeting the child’s individual needs.
9:30–10:00 am (soft start): open play, snack time, morning chores
10:30 am: gather for morning circle
11:00 am: open exploration
11:45 am: clean up; set up for lunch
12:00 pm: lunch time
12:30 pm: clean up/dishes
12:45 pm: project of the day
1:30 pm: open play/open exploration
2:15 pm: clean up/goodbye circle
2:30 pm: dismissal
Our school week runs every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in 12-week modules. We intentionally created a three-day school week because we believe kids should spend more time with their families than with their school teachers. We have found so much value in our four-day weekends that we wanted to ensure our school families had the same opportunity, as well as plenty of time for the child’s extracurricular activities, downtime, and family time.
Layers! Since we’ll be out in rain, snow, or shine, layers always give kiddos options. We will send a recommended attire list upon enrollment. From our experience, children enjoy the elements just fine when dressed appropriately in the right gear. We encourage children to be outside; however, the heated greenhouse classroom is always open for those who prefer to be indoors.
Full day: 9:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday).
$1,750 per module - monthly payments available.
Annual materials fee: $100.
All payments are nonrefundable.
We are located on a five-acre property in beautiful Hayden, Idaho.
The learning opportunities are endless when children of mixed-age groups engage with one another. It’s a relatively new concept for children to play only with peers their own age. Throughout most of human history, we lived in village-like groups where our youth observed the elders, and older children stepped into leadership roles as they guided and nurtured the younger ones.
