A Parent's Reflection Written by Acorn Parent and Teacher, Rima Sawyer

I first stepped onto the grounds of this little school in the woods when my oldest daughter started at Acorn in 2021. I remember walking around to the different outdoor spaces with Sue for our tour, wearing a mask, unsure of the world and how to send my little girl off into it alone. This tour was unlike other preschool tours. I wasn’t looking at perfectly curated classroom walls covered with posters and Pinterest worthy artwork. The classroom walls I was looking at were the towering trees surrounding natural play and learning spaces. The tour concluded and I teared up when I got into my car. I had this overwhelming feeling that everything would be okay if this was the world I was sending her into. It felt safe and honestly, a little magical. 

Over the years of both my daughters attending Acorn School, the initial feelings I experienced never faded. Acorn is safe. It’s a safe place to grow, learn and be respected and valued as an individual. It’s a safe place to be challenged, take risks and build confidence. To make friends and be a friend. To trust yourself and others. To appreciate nature. It’s a safe place to make mistakes. To be a child. 

And the magic comes everyday. It’s in the imaginations and whispers in the woods of Timbernook. It’s in the mud soaked pants and mittens that never lose that “Acorn smell”…we all know it. It’s in the “I made a new friend today”. It’s in the first time your baby walks through the gates of school tear free. It’s in the stone soup being prepared with friends and teachers and enjoyed around a fire pit in the dead of winter. It’s in the air as you skip around the maypole. It’s in the rock leaping and vine swinging. It’s in every Acorn experience. 

So, What do you do when you realize your youngest will be graduating from Acorn School at the end of the year? 

After a 7 year teaching hiatus, you feel safe enough to start working there yourself! And then you begin experiencing that same magic as a staff member. I see all the love and passion that each teacher and board member pours into these kids to make Acorn feel the way it does. The teachers and greater Acorn community are supporting the students and one another on a daily basis, cheering each other on and up. Creating not only that same safety and magic during the school day, but reaching beyond it into personal lives, both in moments of joy and despair. 

Acorn is the type of safe and magical place that I wish every child had the opportunity to experience. It’s a place and a feeling I’m so grateful to know and be a part of.