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Students working in an open-air classroom

Free Union Outdoor Classroom

Whether students partake of a class in science, math, or reading, or simply play and create their own games during recess, learning outdoors has been shown to convey certain advantages:

  • Invigorated Physical Health
  • Enhanced Mental Health
  • Improved Learning Outcomes and Understanding
  • Stimulated Creativity and Imagination

Consult the full blog post for more information and complete references.

How Does Free Union Stand Out from Other Schools?

Who Are the Teachers at Free Union?

Mercer, the parent of two alumni, smiling under the trees

We asked Mercer, the parent of two alumni, to tell us why her family chose Free Union. In four interview clips, she explains what brought her here, why she stayed, how it was worth the cost, and how her boys are doing six years after Free Union.

Kids building a wooden bridge outdoors

Kids building a bridge outdoorsWhat sets Free Union apart? Who better to ask than our students—experts on all that happens inside and outside the classroom. Twenty students weighed in on all that they liked and disliked about their school. Here is what we gleaned, with some grown-up extrapolation:

  1. Our 6-acre outdoor campus,
  2. A passion for active, hands-on, brains-engaged learning, and
  3. A collaborative community where kids learn from and with each other.

When students are asked what they like most about Free Union, invariably they say, "the teachers and having lots of time outside." When parents are asked, they say, "the teachers, who really know my child." Ask staff and they say, "the kids and my colleagues." A common thread: the teachers, 100% of whom are vaccinated and whose biographies may be found here.

Tents in the morning sunThe sun shines through. Dew is on the grass. And our outdoor classrooms await the arrival of eager students. Outdoor classrooms are just one of the many ways that Free Union Country School has kept safe, in-person learning going both last year and into the fall opening of school this year.

Not masks, not social distancing, not even a deluge could dim the light beams shooting from the eyes of students and teachers alike, this first week at Free Union Country School. "You guys are awesome!" (Blair, Laura, and Ronée)

Tent Learning

A week before students arrive, teachers are back at school preparing for your children by taking part in Jonathan Shay's Tangents class. As they pursue their own interests with hand-crafted projects, just like the children will, they come face to face with the spark of an idea to make fractions understandable in math, or to provide an incentive for expository writing as students divulge how they made a night light for reading under the covers at bedtime.