New swings and musical instruments will complete our water and sand areas to produce the largest and most innovative play area in the city. Our nature trail leads students into diverse natural habitats for observation or reading time in the tree house. Our large wilderness area is home to deer, raccoons, birds, and other wildlife as well as a setting for building forts and exploring. All of these natural learning areas that are School of the Plains not only create a beautiful place for our children to spend their school day, they are a vehicle to connect them to the world. Traditional educational practice tends to treat nature as a removed artifact that is to be studied at a distance.
Textbooks provide pictures of living things.
At School of the Plains we realize the importance of students directly experiencing their world. This hands-on approach is not only beneficial, but also necessary to develop understandings that go beyond recall of dead facts. All of our excellent teachers are certified in Project WET and Project WILD which expands their abilities to utilize the outdoors to teach science. Students at School of the Plains have a unique opportunity to receive a complete education that includes deeper understanding of the living world they share. Playing outdoors, hiking on the nature trail, testing the pond water, raising animals, growing food, camping together, and participating with scientists in bird studies are examples of experiences unique to School of the Plains.