Forest Bloom Outdoor School

Forest Bloom Outdoor Preschool is a Reggio Emilia-inspired forest school that uses an open-air classroom where children take part in art, dance, yoga, sound and music medicine, and seasonal exploration. Children engage in specific activities such as tracking a beetle and building a fort, and the environment is viewed as an active teacher in their day-to-day experiences. The program follows a child-led approach without a rigid curriculum and treats the park setting as a “third teacher.”

• Ages: 2.5–8 years old
• Schedule: Seasonal camps, holiday and vacation camps, summer immersions beginning in June, and flexible drop-in days

Forest Bloom Outdoor Preschool is a Reggio Emilia-inspired outdoor program for children ages 2.5 to 6 for daily school and up to 8 years for camps, and it is described as a living school. The program blends elements of forest schools of Denmark and Sweden with the Reggio Emilia approach of Italy, and it describes children as having a “Hundred Languages.” It is organized as a multi-age “village,” with children ages 2.5 through 8 walking the trails together, with an emphasis on peer mentorship, leadership, inspiration, and freedom from age-specific milestones. The program focuses on deep inquiry with multi-layered experiences that are revisited over days or weeks, and it describes a democracy of voices where every child contributes to the daily plan. Forest Bloom maintains an intentionally small group size and offers seasonal camps and drop-in days, including summer immersions that are full-week adventures beginning in June, holiday and vacation camps with themed sessions throughout the year, and drop-in days described as flexible “mini-adventures.” The Academic Forest Program is described as a setting where children become residents of the park through long-term projects and deep collaboration, and Forest Bloom is described as a living school.

Forest Bloom uses the natural diversity of San Francisco and treats the entire city’s natural landscape as its laboratory, frequently visiting local landmarks such as The California Academy of Sciences, Japanese Tea Garden, The Botanical Gardens, Ocean Beach, Land’s End, Conservatory of Flowers, Tunnel Tops, Ferry Building, Green Apple Books, Pumpkin Patch, Stern Grove, Yerba Buena Gardens, The San Francisco Zoo, The Randall Museum, The Haight Street Art Center, Exploratorium, and SF MOMA. On exceptionally challenging weather days, the program uses special outings to local museums, the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, and indoor exhibitions. Specific weekly locations and planned activities are communicated to parents via email, and parents are notified via text or email every Friday for the next week’s location, with a detailed email at the end of each week outlining the upcoming week’s specific locations and planned activities.

The program’s mission states that preschool should be an adventure, with an open-air classroom where children are described as the captains of their own discovery, turning meadows, groves, and trails into a masterclass in curiosity. The mission also states that through art, dance, yoga, sound and music medicine, and seasonal exploration, Forest Bloom nurtures a community where every child’s heart and mind are free to fly. Forest Bloom describes itself as a Reggio Emilia-inspired community rooted in the wild beauty of Golden Gate Park and states that it views the environment as an active teacher. Children in the program navigate what it describes as the gentle risks of the forest, such as climbing a branch or negotiating a game.

In 2020, the founders describe having traded four walls for the redwood groves of San Francisco. The leadership team includes Founder and Co-founder Marnie and Director Susie White-Astier. Susie has a background in traditional Reggio environments and years of experience leading forest programs.

Last updated March 7, 2026.