First Spanish-Language Forest School Opens in Prospect Park

NIDO Forest School is the latest in a growing group of outdoor schools that have been founded in response to parents who desire an education for their children that expands beyond the walls of a traditional classroom. In these classes, learning occurs naturally through meaningful relationships and spontaneous discovery. NIDO brings a unique cultural spin to the usual forest school model, by immersing children in Spanish language and Hispanic cultures.

Drawing from their combined experience and passion for progressive education, the founding teachers, Melina Gac Levin and Paulina Treviño Oliva, have developed a curriculum that, while appearing simple, is grounded in developmental theory and emotionally and culturally responsive practice.

Melina, who is both an alumna and an adjunct professor at Bank Street College of Education, hatched the idea for NIDO when she struggled to find classes for her own daughter that paired the thoughtful pedagogical underpinning she was seeking with immersion in Spanish. Knowing that in order for children to embrace a language they need to find value in it, she enlisted Paulina in developing a program focused on experiential learning through play in a rich, cultural context.