Pricing and Payments: View current pricing here. Initial Deposits are non-refundable and are due at time of registration. Remaining balances will be broken down in equal payments and will be invoiced separately. 

Year-round enrollments: Initial Deposit, then 8 monthly payments (Sept.1 - April 1). 

Other enrollments: Initial Deposit, then second payment due Sept. 1

​Note: If you must cancel your enrollment before the end of the program year, you are responsible for the balance of your registration until another child can fill the spot. If you have questions about payment, contact Jasmine Atkins, our Administrative Assistant.

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What about Homeschool Portfolio Reviews?

The children’s nature journals, photos, and other learning artifacts will provide you with documentation to support your child’s learning adventures at Notchcliff. While much of the children's time is devoted to nature play, we also translate our adventures into activities that align with grade level expectations and standards. We use Storypark to document learning and communicate with families. This makes it easy to print out and share during your homeschool review. We will send an invite to join your child's Storypark class upon enrollment.

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What is the structure of this homeschool program? Homeschool in the Forest is a drop-off homeschool enrichment program. Notchcliff Nature Programs, including our Homeschool in the Forest program, is operated by the 501c3 nonprofit Association for Nature-Based Education (ANBE). The ANBE staff, which includes the Notchcliff team, hires, sets budgets and curriculum, reviews handbook policies, etc. to provide safe, meaningful nature-based learning opportunities. The Notchcliff Parent Group holds monthly meetings to encourage feedback and support for various activities, fundraising, and community events at Notchcliff. We hope you will get involved!

Who teaches Homeschool in the Forest?: Each day, there are two teachers who lead classes. If your child attends on a Tuesday, for example, there will always be the same two teachers leading class on Tuesdays (with the exception of illness when a sub is needed). When possible, we hire one of the two teachers to be a consistent teacher Monday through Thursday to maintain consistency for children who attend multiple days.

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We hire teachers with a love of children and nature! We seek teachers with backgrounds such as: outdoor, nature-based, and environmental education; early childhood/elementary education; forest and nature school programming; nature camps; wilderness survival or earth skills; outdoor recreation (e.g. camping/backpacking/rock climbing). training about local flora/fauna/fungi (e.g. Master Naturalist or Master Gardener), farming or gardening; climate change education, nature-based arts and handcrafts, or related experience that aligns with teaching in 100% immersive outdoor settings.

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The Association for Nature-Based Education (ANBE), our umbrella organization, provides year-round training to support each teacher's nature-based professional development, including an in-depth Nature-Based Teacher Certification. (See anbe.org/teacher-certification to learn more.) All teachers undergo a background check upon hire; additional training is provided for teachers to obtain Wilderness First Aid/CPR in partnership with the Institute for WildMed.

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Parent Volunteers: Parents are encouraged to volunteer with the Notchcliff Parent Group which provides support for a range of community events, fundraising initiatives, and activities that support nature-based learning and play all year long. Our Community Service Days are a wonderful way to help us maintain outdoor classrooms, gardens, and trails. Community Service Days are typically on Saturdays from 10-12 p.m., on select dates in the fall and spring. You can also join us for monthly Elderflowers Programs with our "Grand Friends" at Glen Meadows. (These will be listed on the calendar provided.)

At a glance, these are some of the ways you can volunteer:

• Community Service Days (outdoor classroom, trail and garden help on select Saturdays, 10-12 p.m.)

• Community special events (e.g. Harvest Day, Friendsgiving, Winter Solstice Gathering, Spring Night Hike, Earth Day Fairy Fest, Forest Farewell)

• Elderflowers Nature Series with grand friends at Glen Meadows (monthly)

• Fundraisers (Night for Nature on Fri., Oct. 17; Winter Greens)

• Special projects (e.g. RV projects, food drive collection)

• Other suggestions welcome!
   

In addition, parents are also invited to share a lesson with their child's class as part of our Homeschool in the Forest program. Based on the children's interests, season, and curricular focus, teachers will share a list of content/topics for parents to choose from at the start of the program in September. You may sign up for a topic(s) in advance on a date that works for you and join class to share your special lesson. Please note that this is an optional volunteer opportunity! There are additional volunteer opportunities throughout the year and we welcome suggestions from the community. ​

Have questions about our Homeschool programs? Contact director@anbe.org for more information.