Photo by Arik Cardenas Photography
If you ask Blackland Prairie Conservatory and Atelier students what they love about school, they may tell you it’s the dirt or the crickets.
The private school — located near the intersection of McCree Road and Aldwick Drive — is the first state-licensed nature school in North Texas. Its unconventional curriculum prioritizes outdoor education, the arts and cultural awareness. Students spend at least three hours every day exploring the outdoors or restoring the Blackland Prairie that covers a quarter-acre of the property. Rain doesn’t stop the kids, in head-to-toe waterproof gear, from playing in the mud.
“As they grow, they’ll understand the significance of protecting land,” says executive director Tiffany Lipsett. “They’ll want to do the same thing, hopefully.”
Established in 2016, the school offers play groups, early childhood and elementary education. Each year, a grade level will be added so that it eventually expand through high school. Lipsett incorporated several academic approaches — think Montessori and Reggio — into the curriculum.
The staff follows the motto that “work is play and play is work,” especially when it comes to early childhood education. Teachers focus on improving toddlers and preschoolers’ social skills and fine and gross motor skills, all while teaching them fundamentals like letters and numbers. As students enter elementary school, academics become more rigorous.
“There is an academic component; it’s just not overt,” Lipsett says. “We’re teaching fundamentals in such a way that kids are naturally curious about it.”
Lake Highlands residents Samantha and Scott Goldstein enrolled their daughter, Sadie, after one of Scott’s colleagues considered it. After attending play groups and an onboarding session, the Goldsteins were hooked.
“It’s a really good fit for her because she loves to play outside and be outside,” Samantha says. “She definitely leads herself where she wants to go.”
Sadie is more likely to pick up an insect than her parents, and Scott and Samantha now have a portfolio of her artwork — a stack of drawings and scribbles the 2-year-old completed throughout the year. Exposure to a multitude of cultures and religions also is a core component of Blackland Prairie, so Sadie has made Native American mosaics and participated in a Holi festival.
Students don’t always understand the significance of multiculturalism, but Lipsett wants students to accept others’ beliefs and traditions, rather than simply tolerate them.
“Our hope is that it spirals and unfolds, so they see that outreach and what we can do as a community and respect each other,” Lipsett says.
