Our Mission:
Connect.
To cultivate healthy communities by connecting people to arts, education, the environment, & each other.
Our Programs
We offer land-based programs and activities that focus on experiential learning and connecting the community with the natural world. Willowell is excited to present a diverse listing of Vermont summer day camps this year.
Wren's Nest Forest Preschool
land-based Forest Preschool
Wren’s Nest Forest Preschool is a licensed, nature-based school for children ages 3-5 in Bristol, Vermont. This play-based program brings young hearts and minds outdoors with caring and dedicated early childhood educators. Children engage in tracking, identifying wild plants, making forts, and viewing the natural world as their teacher.
Summer Camps
summer days on 230 acres
Our camps bring children outdoors to play, get dirty, and learn from Willowell’s 230 acres of meadows, wetlands and forest. We have something for everyone: ages 4-12
Walden Year
education in the mountains
A high school program for perennial learning, focusing on a creative, compassionate, interdisciplinary education in arts, ecology, writing, civic engagement, and wellness. Continuing the legacy of the Walden Project.
Pond Brook Project
approved independent middle school
Embedded in the natural and human communities of Vermont, the Pond Brook Project inspires adolescent learners to cultivate their relationship to self, society, and the natural world.
New Roots Project
outdoor enrichment program
A rich, outdoor learning experience with a dedicated group of educators and craftspeople. Open to all (public school enrolled and home study students). Students come any number of days a week for creative and hands-on classes, caring community, and student-centered learning.
Gordon Sculpture Park
immersive sculpture art
The Gordon Sculpture Park is an art immersion experience in nature on our 230 acre property in Monkton, VT. As you walk the land you pass by unique sculptures hidden among the trees and fields. We continue to commission artwork each year.
Our Impact
The Willowell Foundation is committed to changing the community we serve for the better. By teaching & mentoring youth, developing innovative community resource initiatives, & stewarding the land on which our organization operates, we are building a stronger community today and fostering a greater vision for tomorrow.
3k+
youth served
Land-based programming for youth is Willowell’s calling card. Our organization proudly connects youth from preschool through high school to Vermont’s natural beauty and to each other.
25+
Years Serving communities
Since 2001, Willowell has grown from an 18-student alternative high school program in an unused school building to a youth environmental education center and conductor of vital community resource initiatives, including community gardening, home heating fuel assistance, and a network of open access art and nature trails.
100+
aCres of land protected
Commitments to stewardship and partnerships with Vermont’s Nature Converservancy and Department of Fish & Wildlife from 2010 to the present have restored and conserved wetlands and forest that are vital to Champlain Valley wildlife. This is part of a larger 400 acre reserve in the Pond Brook/Lewis Creek Watershed.
Get Involved
We want your skills and strengths. Are you an artist, a teacher, a carpenter, or a parent? From getting dirty in the Willowell garden, to stacking wood for the Monkton wood bank, to teaching a class or workshop at Walden, there are ways for everyone to join the Willowell community.
SERVE WITH AMERICORPS
Join Willowell as part of a national community of AmeriCorps service members. Each year Willowell hosts Americorps members through state programs.
Volunteer opportunities
Come volunteer at Willowell! Work on innovative land-based projects, help with garden maintenance, build cabins, or create art installations. Willowell needs your support.
Make a Donation
Donations go to support outdoor educational experiences for youth, programs, projects, and community. We appreciate any support you can give.
