Hunters Woods Cooperative Preschool

Our Covid Response

12/19/2020

Living through a pandemic causes one to re-examine their values. As a preschool community, we place a high priority on the mental and physical health of children, and we all agreed that social interaction is essential for young children. We made a collective decision to make in-person attendance at school possible in 2020 by reducing class sizes, doing daily health screenings, following enhanced cleaning protocols, and holding ALL of our classes outside.

We were committed to nature-inspired learning prior to the pandemic, and we decided to embrace that and fully immerse ourselves in the great outdoors to make it so school could go on. And what a rewarding experience it has been!

The children couldn't be happier. They are active, engaged, and building strong brains and bodies. Older siblings are jealous of the time their littles get to spend playing outside while they are doing virtual school.

For so many reasons, 2020 will be a year to remember. Our year outside will be one of them!

Trash Talk

1/25/2020

Part of our evolution toward becoming a nature-based program has been a concerted effort to lessen our carbon footprint. One are of focus has been reducing and reusing to minimize trash.

Up until this year, we really thought our snack time set up was fairly minimalist: each child used a coffee filter as a plate, a small paper beverage napkin, and a Dixie cup each day for snack. We also had rolls of paper towels available for classroom clean-up. Between two classes of 20 or so kids daily, the trash we generated from activities, snacks, packaging, and service materials would mean hauling one, or more often two, full tall-kitchen sized trash bags to the dumpster every day. That was a lot of trash for a small school!

This year we made some simple changes:

A parent acquired a set of 144 cotton napkins from our local Buy Nothing group and donated them to the school. We gave up paper napkins.
We purchased a set of stainless steel plates to use in place of coffee filters. We wash and dry them each day.
Every child brings a water bottle to school every day, eliminating the need for paper cups (and making it easier to stay hydrated on the playground).
We keep plenty of cloth towels on hand for dish drying and general clean up. We keep a laundry basket in the room to collect towels and napkins and do a load of laundry once a week.
We acquired a recycling bin that someone was giving away.

These simple changes have had amazing results! The amount of trash we generate is a tiny fraction of that of our former selves. We only have one small waste-can in the classroom, and we often only have to empty it ONCE A WEEK! (Once we use up all of our larger plastic trash bags we'll move to using something bio-degradeable).

These changes have also had a ripple effect. Families are switching to cloth napkins at home. Children are responsible for their water bottles and take them everywhere. We no longer use single-use plastic water bottles at events, instead opting for reusable service items.

Next stop: COMPOSTING!

49 Years and Counting...

7/21/2019

As we start our 49th year of being part of the Reston community (and beyond), we're making a few changes to our programs to better meet the needs of the families we serve.

Nature Focus - As life becomes faster and is more technology driven, kids need a chance to get back to basics and spend time exploring and learning in the great outdoors, which is good for their brains and for their bodies. HWPS is perfectly located in the center of Reston's natural spaces and in walking distance to the Walker Nature Center. Our curriculum is changing to bring more nature into the classroom, and to spend more time with experiential learning outside.

More School Time - Parents love our program so much that they have long been asking that their children be able to spend more time with us. This year we're extending the hours of the afternoon class to make their dreams come true. The afternoon Rabbits class will now run from 12:15 - 3:15 Tuesday thru Friday.

Team Green Enrichment Program Added - Time to add some Monday afternoon excitement to your child's life: be a part of Team Green! Our enrichment program will encourage kids to become Earth Superheroes while playing and learning about nature and conservation. The first 8-week session starts in September. Enrollment is open to any student aged 3-5; the program is staff run and does not require cooperative involvement. Space is limited, so sign up soon!

Exciting things are happening at HWPS. We hope you'll be a part of it all!

Our Covid Response

Trash Talk

49 Years and Counting...

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