The Lindgren School & Summer Camp
Lindgren School, 211 Irving Ave, Closter, NJ 7624
About
The Lindgren School & Summer Camp offers Parent and Me classes, gardening, and outdoor play where children can run, climb, swing, and explore. Families can view a virtual tour and a school and summer camp video to see the program in action.
• Ages: 2–11 years old
• Schedule: Nursery school full-day and half-day options with before- and after-care, plus a four-day-a-week summer camp with full-day and half-day options and extended care
The Nursery School offers a full-day session from 9:00 AM to 3:15 PM and a half-day session from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM, with Before-Care from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM and After-Care from 3:15 PM to 5:15 PM. The Summer Camp runs Monday through Thursday with a full-day session from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and a half-day session from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM for 3- and 4-year-olds, with Before-Care from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM and After-Care from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM on those days. Office hours are 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
The Lindgren School & Summer Camp includes a preschool for ages 2½ to 5 years old and a summer day camp for ages 3 to 11 years old. The program follows a philosophy based on the value of free play for early childhood development and the necessity of outdoor play in a natural environment, with freedom of choice within a clear structure of routines and age-appropriate rules of behavior. Specific outdoor features include a natural sand playground, natural wood climbers, flowerbeds, vegetable gardens, barns and sheds for animals, a spacious fenced-in playground, and a paved tricycle trail. Playground structures include natural wood climbers and slides, a four-car train, a sand house, a spinning tire swing, swing sets, a boat and dock, a stage, and an outdoor bathroom and sink. The program has barns and pens for a donkey, horse, pony, pigs, goats, chickens, and quails, along with bird-feeding stations.
The Lindgren School & Summer Camp has been serving Bergen County since 1944 and remains family-owned and operated after more than 80 years. Since 1944, the Lindgren family and teachers have kept their main mission alive: to awaken and cultivate, in every child, imagination, curiosity, confidence, empathy, and joy. The stated drive is to cultivate the imagination and to inspire exploration, discovery, invention, and an appetite for knowledge, and the program describes itself as nurturing intellect and independence through play. The school notes that it offers an open and inclusive environment for children of all backgrounds and describes its setting as a woodland oasis and its camp as a kind of haven, unlike any summer camp in the region.
Educators at The Lindgren School & Summer Camp have advanced education degrees. The leadership team includes Head of School Adri Lindgren Turrell; Directors Olivia Turrell and Brandi Simpkins; and Administrators Amy Battle and Ellen Taylor. The program describes itself as family-owned and operated after more than 80 years, with references to 70 years of updates and additions.
The grounds are described as a 3½-acre natural sanctuary with shady trees, flowering bushes, big rocks, gardens, and sand that was formerly ocean bottom millions of years ago. The site includes a historic cottage schoolhouse and farm buildings, resident farm animals, and direct access to the woods, trails, and ponds of the adjacent 135-acre Closter Nature Center.
Parent and teacher testimonials describe the school as highly coveted, with dedicated and caring teachers, and praise its philosophy of nurturing intellect and independence through play. One parent notes that both of their sons attended preschool there and calls it a truly magical place, and another parent with three children at the preschool mentions great staff, philosophy, programs, and playground, saying that children are not rushed and curiosity is encouraged. A teacher at Hillside Elementary in Closter reports being excited to receive students from Lindgren Nursery School and states that these students come with a love of learning, the ability to get along well with others, a creative mind, and authentic problem-solving skills, and cites research linking play with intellectual development and emotional well-being.
Last updated July 9, 2026.
• Ages: 2–11 years old
• Schedule: Nursery school full-day and half-day options with before- and after-care, plus a four-day-a-week summer camp with full-day and half-day options and extended care
The Nursery School offers a full-day session from 9:00 AM to 3:15 PM and a half-day session from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM, with Before-Care from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM and After-Care from 3:15 PM to 5:15 PM. The Summer Camp runs Monday through Thursday with a full-day session from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and a half-day session from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM for 3- and 4-year-olds, with Before-Care from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM and After-Care from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM on those days. Office hours are 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
The Lindgren School & Summer Camp includes a preschool for ages 2½ to 5 years old and a summer day camp for ages 3 to 11 years old. The program follows a philosophy based on the value of free play for early childhood development and the necessity of outdoor play in a natural environment, with freedom of choice within a clear structure of routines and age-appropriate rules of behavior. Specific outdoor features include a natural sand playground, natural wood climbers, flowerbeds, vegetable gardens, barns and sheds for animals, a spacious fenced-in playground, and a paved tricycle trail. Playground structures include natural wood climbers and slides, a four-car train, a sand house, a spinning tire swing, swing sets, a boat and dock, a stage, and an outdoor bathroom and sink. The program has barns and pens for a donkey, horse, pony, pigs, goats, chickens, and quails, along with bird-feeding stations.
The Lindgren School & Summer Camp has been serving Bergen County since 1944 and remains family-owned and operated after more than 80 years. Since 1944, the Lindgren family and teachers have kept their main mission alive: to awaken and cultivate, in every child, imagination, curiosity, confidence, empathy, and joy. The stated drive is to cultivate the imagination and to inspire exploration, discovery, invention, and an appetite for knowledge, and the program describes itself as nurturing intellect and independence through play. The school notes that it offers an open and inclusive environment for children of all backgrounds and describes its setting as a woodland oasis and its camp as a kind of haven, unlike any summer camp in the region.
Educators at The Lindgren School & Summer Camp have advanced education degrees. The leadership team includes Head of School Adri Lindgren Turrell; Directors Olivia Turrell and Brandi Simpkins; and Administrators Amy Battle and Ellen Taylor. The program describes itself as family-owned and operated after more than 80 years, with references to 70 years of updates and additions.
The grounds are described as a 3½-acre natural sanctuary with shady trees, flowering bushes, big rocks, gardens, and sand that was formerly ocean bottom millions of years ago. The site includes a historic cottage schoolhouse and farm buildings, resident farm animals, and direct access to the woods, trails, and ponds of the adjacent 135-acre Closter Nature Center.
Parent and teacher testimonials describe the school as highly coveted, with dedicated and caring teachers, and praise its philosophy of nurturing intellect and independence through play. One parent notes that both of their sons attended preschool there and calls it a truly magical place, and another parent with three children at the preschool mentions great staff, philosophy, programs, and playground, saying that children are not rushed and curiosity is encouraged. A teacher at Hillside Elementary in Closter reports being excited to receive students from Lindgren Nursery School and states that these students come with a love of learning, the ability to get along well with others, a creative mind, and authentic problem-solving skills, and cites research linking play with intellectual development and emotional well-being.
Last updated July 9, 2026.
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