About
Berkeley Forest School offers outdoor-based programming that takes place under the redwoods and includes a preschool family campout at Point Reyes. The program focuses on children and their families spending time together in natural settings.
• Schedule: Preschool family campout sessions at Point Reyes
Berkeley Forest School’s program began in 2011, and its roots are described as reaching deeper than that start date, standing on the shoulders of Ohlone ancestors and various place-based practitioners, community earth-workers, healers, storytellers, and teachers in the Bay Area and beyond. The founder and director is Liana Chavarín, who has been teaching outdoors and learning alongside preschoolers in Oakland and Berkeley since 2005.
The mission of Berkeley Forest School is to instigate a culture of active citizens to live in relationship with the land and with awareness of the global community. The program states that it honors the innate connection people have with the earth, describing this connection as essential to well-being for individuals and for society. It facilitates a deeper understanding of local ecology and community-learning through place-based education, inviting children and their families to establish an ongoing relationship with the world they share and those they share it with.
Berkeley Forest School works with over 100 Bay Area families per year through its combined programs. The program reports that 65% of its families utilize a tuition equity fund, and it emphasizes negating obstacles such as tuition costs, transportation, knowledge of winter gear, cost of gear, and laundering time and money for families who would otherwise not be able to participate. It also states that 100% of families benefit from a stronger relationship with the land and with each other. The school describes itself as a living, breathing cohort of educators motivated by ongoing work toward freedom and connection, and it expresses interest in increasing access to forest school teacher training programs for teachers who currently do not have those opportunities.
The program states that it works to illuminate the sacredness and interconnectedness of the ecosystem and people’s place in it, and that it works with a respect for all life on this shared earth. It focuses on empowering children and families to deepen their connection with nature. A testimonial from founder and director Liana Chavarín says, “All families who seek compassion-based community education should have equal access to it.”
Last updated March 23, 2026.
• Schedule: Preschool family campout sessions at Point Reyes
Berkeley Forest School’s program began in 2011, and its roots are described as reaching deeper than that start date, standing on the shoulders of Ohlone ancestors and various place-based practitioners, community earth-workers, healers, storytellers, and teachers in the Bay Area and beyond. The founder and director is Liana Chavarín, who has been teaching outdoors and learning alongside preschoolers in Oakland and Berkeley since 2005.
The mission of Berkeley Forest School is to instigate a culture of active citizens to live in relationship with the land and with awareness of the global community. The program states that it honors the innate connection people have with the earth, describing this connection as essential to well-being for individuals and for society. It facilitates a deeper understanding of local ecology and community-learning through place-based education, inviting children and their families to establish an ongoing relationship with the world they share and those they share it with.
Berkeley Forest School works with over 100 Bay Area families per year through its combined programs. The program reports that 65% of its families utilize a tuition equity fund, and it emphasizes negating obstacles such as tuition costs, transportation, knowledge of winter gear, cost of gear, and laundering time and money for families who would otherwise not be able to participate. It also states that 100% of families benefit from a stronger relationship with the land and with each other. The school describes itself as a living, breathing cohort of educators motivated by ongoing work toward freedom and connection, and it expresses interest in increasing access to forest school teacher training programs for teachers who currently do not have those opportunities.
The program states that it works to illuminate the sacredness and interconnectedness of the ecosystem and people’s place in it, and that it works with a respect for all life on this shared earth. It focuses on empowering children and families to deepen their connection with nature. A testimonial from founder and director Liana Chavarín says, “All families who seek compassion-based community education should have equal access to it.”
Last updated March 23, 2026.
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