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Campus Address:
6210 Crestwood Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34231

School Hours:
Nursery: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm
VPK: 8:30 am - 1:30 pm
Kindergarten: 8:45 am-1:45 pm
Grades: 8:30 am - 2:30 pm
1:30 pm on Thursdays

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Connection and Community / Featured

The Spirit of the Season

22 Dec, 2020
Featured / In our classrooms

The Autumn Equinox and Michaelmas

6 Oct, 2020
Press Releases / Featured

Financial Aid Options for 2020-21

19 Jun, 2020
Events / Connection and Community

Giving Challenge 2020

29 Apr, 2020
Connection and Community / Featured

The Mangrove Garden Collective

15 Apr, 2020

Press Releases

2019 Sustany Foundation Sustainable Business Award Winner!

24 May, 2019
Curriculum / In our classrooms

Whole Body Learning

2 Mar, 2020
Curriculum / Connection and Community

The World is Good

8 Apr, 2020
Connection and Community / In our classrooms

A Springtime Puppet Story

12 Apr, 2020
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4 Dec, 2019

mangroveschoolofsarasota

Nature never fails us.💗 Calm, peace, renewal.

Nature never fails us.💗

Calm, peace, renewal... during times of turbulence, turning to nature can bring ourselves back into balance.🌳

Children often tell the adults in their lives, either through words or actions, that they need this, too.

Then as they are maturing, and stresses become much more complex, having an outlet and safe haven supports their ability to cope with life's unavoidable difficulties in positive health giving ways.🙏
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🌳 First Forest Monday for our little Sandpipers

🌳 First Forest Monday for our little Sandpipers!🌴

Just add children and woods become enchanting...forest art and fairy gardens, digging for fossils, greeting the creek...what a way to spend a day!😍

🌴Find out all the benefits of forest days - link in bio!🌳
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Our new garden is bursting with life and nourishme

Our new garden is bursting with life and nourishment! Many thanks to the beings who grew these beautiful veggies. 🌱🙏

When people come visit us, our gardens, yes plural(!) are always inviting.

This year one of the goals for our oldest students was to give them the experience of starting a new garden.

They have tended our established garden for many years, even creating upcycled whimsical decor to enchant their younger peers.

Now they are testing and preparing soil and compost, companion planting planning their beds to encourage optimal growth, and how their practices affect the ecosystems they that surround them, as we as the larger picture of sustainable and regenerative practices

There is something about gardens and children of all ages...they take such pride and interest in their tasks.

They are also much more likely to try fresh green things if they've lovingly cared for them, from seed or seedling, each day checking on their plants, watering them, and weeding around them.

Giving them the opportunity to garden opens up so many avenues:

🌻Their interest in serving a higher purpose, as they provide food for many

🌻Their will to work consistently to project completion

🌻Delayed gratification...gosh it can take a long time to grow plants, but seeing them thriving in the garden is so rewarding!

🌻Learning how to plan and prepare for success. This is their food; their deep care and attention is needed to help bring these plants into their full being.

🌻Gratitude for the precise teachings that give them an outcome of success again and again.

🌻Supporting their capacity to grow their own food, which saves them both money and endless dependence on external resources.

🙌 Most of all, this supports the belief that they can make everything they need; they are capable! 💖
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This Forest Friday we experienced the diversity of

This Forest Friday we experienced the diversity of natural settings Florida has to offer!🌳🌊🌴

Each location we visit gives us the opportunity to share different planned teachings with students, as well as develop core routines that support our naturalist practice of engaging all of our senses, prompting a steady flow of spontaneous interactions and observations of nature that can be investigated further.

Therefore, the experience of each student/ group to the next can vary tremendously!

This is evident, when at the end of the day, each group reflects upon many varied nature stories in a sharing circle, as a core routine. This practice fosters each students':

🌱connection to nature

🌱value of the nature world and the wild

🌱capacity for storytelling

🌱listening skills

🌱quality of observations

🌱ability to notice the interconnectedness of their experiences

🌱contribution to a spirit of community within their group

🌱 motivation for discovery

In this way, each experience can be a gift received AND shared, bringing a deeper understanding of themselves and the natural world.🌠
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Joyful learners beget joyful learners. 💖 Every

Joyful learners beget joyful learners. 💖

Every week at our faculty meeting we have a chance to learn from one of our colleagues together. In addition to offering valued teachings, fun always ensues. 💯

Today we were led by Ms Krista, experiential educator extraordinaire, in various team building activities that were easy to learn and then share with our students.

Team building fosters capacities in many areas, such as:

🌟 Problem solving
🌟 Communication
🌟 Trust
🌟 Cooperation
🌟 Listening
🌟 Self-esteem
🌟 Sharing ideas
🌟 Collaboration
🌟 Leadership
🌟 Creativity
🌟 Flexibility
🌟 Social harmony

Offering them to both our staff and our students (and our parents, at parent meetings!) is supportive to creating community *and* reminds us all of the transformative power of play, AT ANY AGE!😊🙌
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📷 Mr Jon

Why give a child a 30 hour per week "desk job"?

Why give a child a 30 hour per week "desk job"?

Planting a seed of “hurry up or fall behind” is counterintuitive to child development but unfortunately has become pervasive in our society.

🌟We believe childhood should be unrushed, with children free to develop according to their own natural rhythms.

🌳Additionally, by nurturing children in a sensory rich, open ended natural environment, their capacity for learning is expanded as all types of intelligence are kindled, providing them with a well rounded foundation to build upon throughout their lives.

Childhood, unrushed, builds:

🌠 trust
🌠self awareness
🌠intuition
🌠self love
🌠positive relationships
🌠conflict resolution
🌠communication
🌠empowerment
🌠creativity
🌠responsibility
🌠connection to nature
🌠confidence, and so much more!!

Rather than hurry up and undo/unlearn later, why not savor childhood?💗

Enjoy these sweet snaps by Ms Shivani of our little seahorses.
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💖 Sticking with love, dedicated to service. 💖 Today we honor the great Martin Luther King Jr. 🙏🕊
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#mlk

Forest Kindergarten quote of the week!😍 “I lo

Forest Kindergarten quote of the week!😍
“I love my sit spot and I want to show and share with my friends.”
Replies:
Child 1:” V has the best sit spot ever.”
Child 2:” V's sit spot is amazing.”
Child 3:” We just found a frog in V's sit spot.”
Child 4:” V’s sit spot is so cool.”

What we loved so much, was, how all your children were so happy for the child and how they all shared beautiful things about her tree and place.
The deep care they show for each other is such a touching benefit to the Forest Kindergarten program.

🌳 Children can acquire social and emotional abilities in many settings, but few provide as much ever changing diversity as nature does.

🌳 Time in nature, especially quiet, calm times spent patiently observing, daydreaming, and reflecting, can stimulate a child's sense of beauty, appreciation, wonder and awe, therefore leading to outstanding holistic growth...

Seen as:
🌱 cultural knowledge about self, community, and land
🌱 friendships
🌱 teamwork and collaboration
🌱 perspective taking, empathy, gratitude, kindness, compassion
🌱navigating conflicts with others
🌱 regulating emotions
🌱 stress reduction

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😍🙏

Back at Crowley @cmnc_in_old_miakka today for such

Back at Crowley @cmnc_in_old_miakka today for such a sweet Forest Friday!💖🌳

🔥One strike fire challenge with flint and steel
🐸 Finding critters🕸
🐐 Feeding the farm animals
🍊 Spotting and trying wild oranges
🐮 Connecting with the new (gorgeous) Ankole Watusi cow, Gypsy and her little fam
🛖 Exploring the Native Florida Village chickees

And so much more! Such a restorative day for all - fresh air, sunshine, connection, the quiet stillness of the forest. There is no question we all benefit from this time, stress reduction, increased immunity, mental health boost, increased happiness and relaxation. We head into the weekend feeling renewed and blissed out, as it should be!🙏🌞
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When asked what business they should start that wo

Physics is the first formal laboratory science bl

Physics is the first formal laboratory science block our students experience in middle school and through our hands on/integrated/engaging all of the senses approach, often becomes one of the "all time favorites".🙌

🔥While introducing laboratory work, and the basic properties of heat, sound, light, magnetism, and electricity, students hone the capacity of careful observation.

🔥They experience these natural phenomena through demonstrations and activities first, then reflect upon what they observed, relating them to every day occurrences that actually involve complex scientific reactions.

🔥From here they can tease out the basic underlying principle they are witnessing and develop strong conclusions, all of which foster their capacity to think. Beautifully written and illustrated main lesson books follow their experiential work.

🔥As the students develop and continue to expand their capacity for other sciences, such as chemistry and biology, their strong ability to observe and analyze provides them with a solid foundation of understanding and confidence to ponder complex scientific concepts.
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📷 Mr Jon

😍A recent Forest Kindy quote😍 “I found a

😍A recent Forest Kindy quote😍

“I found a new hobby during my sit spot. I made books out of leaves for bugs and fairies to read”.
(Holding several neatly folded up leaves in book shape in his hand.)
🌳🥰🌲

7 Guiding Principles of Forest Kindergarten:

🌱 Nature is the central organizing feature of learning.

🌱 Children have direct experiences with nature, natural material, outdoor environments in every season - "all weather learning"

🌱 Child-directed play and emergent learning play a key role, including exploration, inquiry, creative problem solving.

🌱 Learning processes are valued above end products.

🌱 Teachers, through knowledge of Developmentally Appropriate Practice, are "guides on the side."

🌱 Place based underpinnings honor land, indigenous culture, and diversity found within the community.

🌱 Values of caretaking, gratitude, empathy, and sustainability are included in all aspects of the program.

For more on the Forest Kindergarten movement, check out the link in bio.🌻

It felt so good to be back! Forest Fridays🌳 are

It felt so good to be back! Forest Fridays🌳 are how we end each week - a full day in nature, offering renewal for both students and teachers, while also practicing our naturalist skills!🌎

Today included a plant scavenger hunt (natives and invasives), created by our 8/9th grade for their younger peers, a forest clean up, handwork in the woods, and of course tree climbing.

🌟This time is so precious and valuable. An antidote for stress, just being in nature can lower stress levels, calm the nervous system, enhance the immune system, increase self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve mood.

🌟Not to mention the practice of connection is an antidote for depression - connecting with the land we live on, the species we share this space with, serving the land and being good stewards, and of course, connecting with each other. 🙏
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Learning can look many different ways.🙌 Here o

Learning can look many different ways.🙌

Here our 4/5th grade took what many consider to be a more "dry" subject like grammar, and created a fun active game: receiving a part of speech assignment, and then running across the field to find a word in the bin that can represent it, then quickly get back to their spot.

By connecting their learning to a joyful, motivating game, the teacher then had very willing participants connected to the learning process. Of course the students are then much more likely to remember as well! Incorporating movement throughout the day in various subjects is another wonderful practice for all ages.💗🙏
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📷 Ms Shawn

Some very lucky parents were gifted these handmade

Some very lucky parents were gifted these handmade calendars this holiday season. 🥰

The 2/3rd grade, as part of their "Measurement Block", created them with seasonal watercolor paintings, incorporating both linear and time measurement, art, and handwork.

Each student carefully measured out their calendar grids for each month, added in the details, put it together with binder rings, then finally added a blanket sitch in yarn to the front cover.

This project took some time to be done with such care, but what a sense of pride and accomplishment they had in their efforts!

At this age, children have awakened from the slumber of early childhood and are ready to learn all of the practicalities of earthly life - thus their curriculum is filled with activities that build their capacities in this area, such as growing their own food, shelter building around the world, making clothing items, and measurement, the math of practical life. All of these subjects resonate so deeply with the 8/9 year old.

The inscription: "This string is very special, as you will soon see. Untie and you'll find, that it's the same size as me." 🌟
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Swooning over the first grade set up this morning.

Swooning over the first grade set up this morning. 😍
At our school, first grade is the bridge from the dreamy early childhood days; a gentle transition from the play and naturalist based kindergarten into academic activities.

Why? At the age of 7, children are beginning the second phase of childhood. Forces previously dedicated to forming the physical body are now freed up and available to be used for memory. We see this happening when children begin to think in pictures; and we serve this by providing academics through storytelling, such as fairy tales or nature stories in the first grade. Even math is presented imaginatively, for example, each of the four processes is introduced in the form of a story such that the children create a joyful connection in their learning, as it deeply appeals to their developmental age.
They won't be this age forever, so we revel in it while they are, allowing them plenty of time to steep in the imagination, and nurture that energy that will later be transformed into innovation and creative thinking. 🌠
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Reflecting on 2020 with immense gratitude...not an

Reflecting on 2020 with immense gratitude...not an easy year by any means, but it is in the mire that we find the hidden treasures, and deep appreciation for all of these gifts: laughing children, sunsets, nature walks, singing, building fires, playing games, making art, beach walks, birding, lizard catching, learning together, building together...always recognized and honored, but now, even more so! 🙏💖

Looking forward to more love, connection, community, peace, and miracles in 2021. May all beings be well and happy.🌠
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"Deep Mid-Winter drawing near, Darkness in our Ga

"Deep Mid-Winter drawing near,
Darkness in our Garden here.
One small flame yet bravely burns
To show a path which ever turns.
Earth, please bear us as we go,
Seeking Light to send a-glow:
Branches green and moss and fern,
Mark our path to trace each turn.
Brother animals, teach us too
To serve with patience as you do.
We walk with candle toward the Light
While Earth awaits with hope so bright:
In the Light which finds new birth
Love may spread o'er all the Earth.
Deep Mid-Winter drawing near,
May Light arise in our Garden here." ~ Nancy Foster

❄ Happy Winter Solstice ❄ A few pictures after our winter spiral last Friday. One by one, each child walks the spiral, lights their candle from the center, and leaves their light along the path, lighting the way for those who will come after them. The evening is especially beautiful outside at Crowley, surrounded by Live Oak dressed in Spanish moss, music by the Sandhill Cranes soaring east for the night, as well as the Bard Owls just waking up! 🌒🦉
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Missing our community camping trip, but Winter Sol

Missing our community camping trip, but Winter Solstice Crowley days...especially when a bit chilly... Never disappoint! It is the perfect setting for blissfully floating into winter in our community 🌲❄

Nature immersion, wildlife tracking, wandering, sit spots, shelter building, candle dipping, crafting...and so much more 💗
@cmnc_in_old_miakka Thank you for your deep care of this sacred space. The benefits to time in nature are self evident. 🙏
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Deep in the woods today the magic of forest kinder

Deep in the woods today the magic of forest kindergarten 🌳 included "visiting a snow village",☃️ "having a snowball fight" and "trick or treating".🎃 All from the children. Such deep imaginative play comes when we invest plenty of time in open ended, child led activity.
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Mangrove School of Sarasota fosters a capacity for self-knowledge that is grounded in a lifelong love of learning. Our inspiring, comprehensive learning environments, trained teachers, and committed, active parents and volunteers, awaken the students' innate aptitude to be well-versed in practical, artistic, social, and academic skills. Recognizing each individual as a unique expression of body, mind and spirit, we seek to engage students through a developmentally appropriate curriculum designed to strengthen their intellectual, emotional, and physical abilities, so they may meet new opportunities in a creative and responsible manner.

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