Peninsula Forest and Beach School
Twin Pines Park, 1 Twin Pines Lane, Belmont, CA 95061
About
Peninsula Forest and Beach School offers 100% nature-based programs where children take part in activities such as morning circle time, story time, storytelling, and circle time. Children engage in creek exploring, climbing hills, hiking and nature hikes, nature wandering, nature exploring, and nature treasure hunts. The program also includes fairy garden construction, fort building, child-inspired games and child-inspired play, arts and crafts time, nature-based arts and crafts, and nature journaling.
• Ages: 3–7 years old
• Schedule: School-year and summer nature programs with 2-day options and 5-day weekly camps, including half-day and full-day sessions from June through August
Peninsula Forest and Beach School was founded in 2018. Offerings include a Preschool Nature Program, Afterschool Program, School Break Camps, Winter Camp, Spring Break Camp, Summer Camps, weekend classes, private pods, and nature birthday parties, with the option to create a private pod in any location. The program describes its approach as experiential-based learning with an emergent style curriculum, where teachers listen to the interests of the child and create curriculum based on what children are most interested in, and it follows a “Nature is our Teacher” philosophy. Its mission states that it is an outdoor nature program for kids that provides a safe and nurturing environment for unstructured, child-led play, with experienced Nature Mentors who guide children in an immersive experience of nature exploration.
The leadership team includes Owner/Director Bonnie McKinney and Lead Nature Mentors Caroline Skrobak, Catty Dennis, Kassandra Jimenez, and Jessica Patton. Bonnie McKinney is a certified Permaculture Educator for Children, studied Child Development and Early Child Education at West Valley College and San Jose State University, completed training for outdoor educators offered by the Institute of Permaculture Education for Children in Portland, took on a forest school mentorship with Forest Friends of Earthwise Education in San Rafael, completed The Nature Led Approach Certification, participated in four rounds of the Ecology of Leadership program, and completed a two-year training program with Thomas Hubl exploring individual, ancestral, and collective trauma. Caroline Skrobak holds a B.A. in environmental studies from the University of San Francisco with a specialization in cultural anthropology and geospatial information analysis. Catty Dennis graduated from Kalamazoo College in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a concentration in Film and Media Studies, holds a CDA (Child Development Associate) credential, and took two courses through Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. Peninsula Forest and Beach School notes community involvement through City of Belmont Parks and Recreation programs called Nature Explorers and Nature Adventures.
Last updated June 18, 2026.
• Ages: 3–7 years old
• Schedule: School-year and summer nature programs with 2-day options and 5-day weekly camps, including half-day and full-day sessions from June through August
Peninsula Forest and Beach School was founded in 2018. Offerings include a Preschool Nature Program, Afterschool Program, School Break Camps, Winter Camp, Spring Break Camp, Summer Camps, weekend classes, private pods, and nature birthday parties, with the option to create a private pod in any location. The program describes its approach as experiential-based learning with an emergent style curriculum, where teachers listen to the interests of the child and create curriculum based on what children are most interested in, and it follows a “Nature is our Teacher” philosophy. Its mission states that it is an outdoor nature program for kids that provides a safe and nurturing environment for unstructured, child-led play, with experienced Nature Mentors who guide children in an immersive experience of nature exploration.
The leadership team includes Owner/Director Bonnie McKinney and Lead Nature Mentors Caroline Skrobak, Catty Dennis, Kassandra Jimenez, and Jessica Patton. Bonnie McKinney is a certified Permaculture Educator for Children, studied Child Development and Early Child Education at West Valley College and San Jose State University, completed training for outdoor educators offered by the Institute of Permaculture Education for Children in Portland, took on a forest school mentorship with Forest Friends of Earthwise Education in San Rafael, completed The Nature Led Approach Certification, participated in four rounds of the Ecology of Leadership program, and completed a two-year training program with Thomas Hubl exploring individual, ancestral, and collective trauma. Caroline Skrobak holds a B.A. in environmental studies from the University of San Francisco with a specialization in cultural anthropology and geospatial information analysis. Catty Dennis graduated from Kalamazoo College in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a concentration in Film and Media Studies, holds a CDA (Child Development Associate) credential, and took two courses through Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. Peninsula Forest and Beach School notes community involvement through City of Belmont Parks and Recreation programs called Nature Explorers and Nature Adventures.
Last updated June 18, 2026.
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