About Us
The Lupine School started as a nature-based farm preschool in 2018 and after a great demand from the community, added a Kindergarten class in 2023. The demand to add more grades persisted, so a group of teachers, parents, and members of the community formed the nonprofit Lupine Community School to continue to expand the inclusive, student-centered education model to include grades K-5.
We provide an inclusive, Reggio Emilia-inspired nature-based experience where children interact with the plants and animals on the farm, and have the opportunity to build relationships with the natural world. Our work at the school is rooted in research-driven best practices for education.
We welcome diverse learners and students with diverse abilities and needs who fit our program's approach. Our program works particularly well for some learners with neurodiversity. A core goal of the Lupine Community School is to have a diverse and inclusive student body.
Teachers at The Lupine Community School observe, reflect, and design learning opportunities that are multidimensional and allow the child to explore. We notice the little things, and we provide deep, vibrant outdoor experiences to connect children to the land and their local ecological and agricultural communities.
Our philosophy is to honor the child.
Our Philosophy
We value the child as a person, and our teachers are inquisitive, focused, and engaged. We provide a nurturing, safe, and inviting environment both inside and out. We foster trusting relationships with children and their families. We give children the experience of a farm and the magical wonder of the outdoors, but we also incorporate science and other cognition building tasks into our time at the Lupine Community School. We utilize handcrafted and intentional materials inside the classroom in order to cultivate early literacy and numeracy skills.
Our focus is to foster each child’s growth as an individual, and to create a classroom culture that frames education as an exciting part of growing and becoming vital members of the community. We practice "compassion curriculum", modeling and teaching ways of being in the world that take the wellbeing of others (both human and non-human) into consideration.
Our goal is to send children into the world believing in themselves and their ability to make the world a better place.
Academics
We utilize an emergent curriculum and place-based pedagogy that focus on engaging children with the natural world around them. These interactions with nature create rich learning opportunities and help to cultivate compassion.
We function in a community model where the children in our care have a voice as to their preferences and ideas for further exploration.
Our students will also learn communication skills and compassion for others through direct guidance, and learn to intersect those skills with academics and environmental stewardship.
The Lupine Community School values project-based learning. Academic subjects will not be taught in isolation, but rather in the interconnected way that they exist in the real world.
We welcome diverse learners and students with diverse abilities and needs who fit our program’s approach. Our program works particularly well for some learners with neurodiversity. We plan to accept the North Carolina ESA+ program for neurodiverse students. A core goal of the Lupine Community School is to have a diverse and inclusive student body.