Outdoor Program

“The concept of environment-based education – known by a number of names – is at least a century old. In The School and Society, John Dewey advocated immersing students in the local environment: ‘Experience [outside the school] has its geographical aspect, its artistic and its literary, its scientific and its historical sides. All studies arise from aspects of the one earth and the one life lived upon it.’” – Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods

: Hiking Historic Trails

Studies show that children who play and learn in the natural world enjoy a wealth of benefits, including better physical and mental health and improved focus and concentration. Learning in nature has been proven to increase interest and retention in a given subject area. For those of us who spend time in nature, we do not need studies to tell us that nature is good for us. We feel it every time we get outside!

Journey Montessori School aims to create a new model of learning for Santa Fe where solid academics meets nature-based learning in our incredible mountain setting. Journey’s approach incorporates outdoor education into the daily and weekly schedule, challenging children both physically and mentally on the path of learning and life. Journey children and families value the natural world and believe that a new model for education has been a long time coming.

At Journey, students will learn and play outdoors each day at our school site. This provides a deep connection to the land and fosters a sense of place. In addition, students go on outings – to the mountains, meadows, rivers, and sites of cultural and historic significance in New Mexico. These outings or “adventures” will connect with students’ classroom learning so as to deepen their understanding and further ignite their passion and curiosity.

At Journey, we aim to create a community of people who care about the earth and all of its inhabitants.

“What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology? How can each of us help create that life-enhancing world, not only in a hypothetical future, but right now, for our families and for ourselves?” – Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle

“…we have not merely escaped from something but also into something….we have joined the greatest of all communities which is not that of man alone but of everything which shares with us the great adventure of being alive.” – Joseph Wood Krutch