About
Harmony Montessori & Forest School includes nature education, exploration, and discovery as central parts of the children’s experience. Children take daily journeys along winding trails, walk through redwoods and coastal oaks, visit a sandy shore and a rocky area called “Barnacle Beach,” and spend time moving, playing, and imagining among the oaks, mud puddles, and open sky. The program includes three parts: The Young Child Community, Harmony Montessori, and Harmony Forest School.
Harmony Montessori & Forest School was started in 2004 out of owner/director Wilana Anderson’s home in Sausalito, moved to Shell Road in Mill Valley in 2005, and opened at the Richardson Bay Audubon Sanctuary in August 2018, with the 2018–2019 school year beginning in newly renovated classrooms. In 2023, Lensi Jimenez became a lead teacher, Harmony Forest School was created in 2024, and the Young Child Community was added in 2025. The program is housed in two renovated buildings called Rosie’s Cottage, which is home to the Montessori classroom, and The Willow Classroom, which is home to the Young Child Community, on a ten-acre waterfront property that overlooks the San Francisco skyline and is adjacent to a 900-acre protected bay, with a basecamp for the Forest School on the Audubon property.
The teaching team includes AMI Montessori and Waldorf Early Childhood training, advanced degrees at the Bachelor’s and Master’s level, and staff who are herbalists, outdoor educators, musicians, and artists. All staff meet required licensing criteria for Livescan background checks, CPR, and Mandated Reporter training. The leadership and staff team includes owner/director Wilana Anderson; Harmony Forest School Program Lead Mia Ciccarelli; Harmony Montessori Primary Program Lead Teacher Aarti Jesrani; Young Child Community Lead Teacher Alyssa Conklin Moore; teachers Kevin Anderson, Paige A. Anderson, Samantha Glocker, Olivia Sorrells, Sage Ryan, Chloe Corsini, and Vera Gekov; and office manager Joy Latimer.
Harmony Montessori & Forest School states that it believes in cultivating a deep appreciation of and connection to the natural world and its preservation, using nature as a tool throughout the curriculum, with the Earth’s seasons, plants, and creatures informing studies. The stated mission is to make a positive impact on society by nurturing children to be kind, respectful, responsible, and contributing members of their community, in an environment described as wholly nurturing and respectful to the child, where each child is valued individually and free to learn independently at their own pace. The school states that it invites children to develop a love of learning that lasts a lifetime, aims to cultivate in children a deep connection to the planet and a desire to protect it, and describes the sanctuary as both a classroom and a teacher, inviting children to learn in harmony with the land, the water, and all living things. The program’s philosophy statement says that childhood is seen as a sacred time to unfold gently, explore freely, and grow in connection with the world, honoring natural rhythms of development and the innate wisdom within every child, and viewing education as a journey of discovery guided by curiosity, independence, and joy, with all environments connected by an intention to nurture the whole child—body, mind, and spirit—and to help each one discover their own harmony within.
Harmony Montessori & Forest School shares a home and has an agreement and partnership with the Richardson Bay Audubon Sanctuary, including a shared eleven acres and a 25-year lease agreement. Through a partnership with Harmony Land Caretakers, portions of the property have been restored, including creating the Forest School basecamp by restoring areas that were overgrown with invasive wild plum and poison oak to protect California coastal live oaks. The school absorbed a local forest program created by Evelyn Nichols. The program holds CCLD Facility # 214005446.
Last updated May 17, 2026.
Harmony Montessori & Forest School was started in 2004 out of owner/director Wilana Anderson’s home in Sausalito, moved to Shell Road in Mill Valley in 2005, and opened at the Richardson Bay Audubon Sanctuary in August 2018, with the 2018–2019 school year beginning in newly renovated classrooms. In 2023, Lensi Jimenez became a lead teacher, Harmony Forest School was created in 2024, and the Young Child Community was added in 2025. The program is housed in two renovated buildings called Rosie’s Cottage, which is home to the Montessori classroom, and The Willow Classroom, which is home to the Young Child Community, on a ten-acre waterfront property that overlooks the San Francisco skyline and is adjacent to a 900-acre protected bay, with a basecamp for the Forest School on the Audubon property.
The teaching team includes AMI Montessori and Waldorf Early Childhood training, advanced degrees at the Bachelor’s and Master’s level, and staff who are herbalists, outdoor educators, musicians, and artists. All staff meet required licensing criteria for Livescan background checks, CPR, and Mandated Reporter training. The leadership and staff team includes owner/director Wilana Anderson; Harmony Forest School Program Lead Mia Ciccarelli; Harmony Montessori Primary Program Lead Teacher Aarti Jesrani; Young Child Community Lead Teacher Alyssa Conklin Moore; teachers Kevin Anderson, Paige A. Anderson, Samantha Glocker, Olivia Sorrells, Sage Ryan, Chloe Corsini, and Vera Gekov; and office manager Joy Latimer.
Harmony Montessori & Forest School states that it believes in cultivating a deep appreciation of and connection to the natural world and its preservation, using nature as a tool throughout the curriculum, with the Earth’s seasons, plants, and creatures informing studies. The stated mission is to make a positive impact on society by nurturing children to be kind, respectful, responsible, and contributing members of their community, in an environment described as wholly nurturing and respectful to the child, where each child is valued individually and free to learn independently at their own pace. The school states that it invites children to develop a love of learning that lasts a lifetime, aims to cultivate in children a deep connection to the planet and a desire to protect it, and describes the sanctuary as both a classroom and a teacher, inviting children to learn in harmony with the land, the water, and all living things. The program’s philosophy statement says that childhood is seen as a sacred time to unfold gently, explore freely, and grow in connection with the world, honoring natural rhythms of development and the innate wisdom within every child, and viewing education as a journey of discovery guided by curiosity, independence, and joy, with all environments connected by an intention to nurture the whole child—body, mind, and spirit—and to help each one discover their own harmony within.
Harmony Montessori & Forest School shares a home and has an agreement and partnership with the Richardson Bay Audubon Sanctuary, including a shared eleven acres and a 25-year lease agreement. Through a partnership with Harmony Land Caretakers, portions of the property have been restored, including creating the Forest School basecamp by restoring areas that were overgrown with invasive wild plum and poison oak to protect California coastal live oaks. The school absorbed a local forest program created by Evelyn Nichols. The program holds CCLD Facility # 214005446.
Last updated May 17, 2026.
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