Green Space Nature Preschool

In today’s world, where screen time is prevalent, it’s not uncommon for children to spend most of their time indoors, disconnected from nature. This makes providing environmental education and nature play opportunities more crucial than ever. While some preschool programs may offer occasional field trips to the zoo or structured garden time, the benefits of spending most of the time learning from the great outdoors are undeniable. 

At Green Space, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to flourish and grow into their best version. And we’re not alone in this belief. According to Jeanette Prins, an expert from the Department of Education at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, nature is essential to a young child’s development.

“Nature-based environments function as a play partner that helps children transform the perceptual world into a conceptual one because they diversify sensory-rich play and playback. When playing in nature-based environments, children can connect with it interactively. When teachers know how to mediate children’s interactions with the nature-based environment, these interactions will have developmental value. Therefore, we encourage early childhood teachers to change their outdoor play practice into ‘nature play’ as a daily activity that supports cognitive, social-emotional, and motor development.” (Current Trends in Environmental Psychology, Volume II; Prins, van der Wilt, van der Ween, Hovinga)

Here at Green Space, we believe in the sanctity of childhood. The Reggio Emilia Approach, which serves as the foundation for our early childhood education programming, argues that:

“Children, as human beings, possess a hundred languages: a hundred ways of thinking, expressing, understanding, of encountering otherness through a way of thinking that weaves together and does not separate the various dimensions of experience…” and that “It is the responsibility of the infant-toddler center and the preschool to valorize all verbal and non-verbal languages with equal dignity.” (The Reggio Emilia Approach)

We know that every child that comes through our doors is unique, and our curriculum stems from the interests and skills of the individual child. We create experiences based on talking with children and families and what we know to be attractive to young children. We empower your child to actively participate in their development and skill-building by allowing for free exploration and play. Our open-ended and hands-on activities act as a jumping-off point for the child that they can then use to construct their knowledge. 

We provide feedback, send photos, and inform you about daily activities. We also invite parents to attend two parent-teacher conferences each year to discuss developmental progress and set goals.

At Green Space, Conflict Resolution is an essential part of daily life. We understand that managing emotions and social skills can be challenging even for adults, let alone children who are still developing these skills. 

The Reggio Emilia Approach acknowledges that children at this developmental stage will likely exhibit “non-adult-like” behavior, such as acting out and having big displays of emotion. Instead of punishing them for not following the rules of what’s socially acceptable in an adult’s world, we practice “induction.” This means that we invite the child to participate in finding solutions to revert their behavior and figure out a good solution. 

At Green Space, we aim to provide children a space to be themselves instead of forcing them to adapt perfectly to an adult’s world.

Green Space Nature Preschool was established in 2015 by Audrey Rowland, an award-winning specialist in early child development. We have catered to over 200 families in the Fort Worth area. We are a fully registered Early Childcare Center with a permit from Child Care Licensing from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services Commission.

All our early childhood educators are certified in first aid and CPR. Moreover, all our teachers have obtained or are acquiring their Texas Early Childhood Professional Development System License. Green Space is a leader in professional development, and all teachers on staff receive ongoing coaching from mentors and senior staff. Additionally, all teachers undergo 24 hours of professional training and have or are pursuing their Child Development Associates.

We are proud to have earned the Texas Rising Star certification at the 4 Star level, the highest form of accreditation at the state level.

We are open from 7:30 am – 6 pm, Monday – Friday. 

With only 15 days off a year, you can rely on Green Space to support your child year-round. 

Green Space is closed on the following dates: 

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• President’s Day (Staff In-service)
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday (Staff In-service)
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day (Staff In-service)
• Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday)
• Winter Break (Christmas Eve – New Year’s Eve)

At Green Space, individual care and attention to each child is critical to early childhood development. That’s why we keep our classroom sizes small so that each child gets the specialized care they deserve. Our classroom ratios vary by program: 

• Infant – 1:4 (2 teachers for eight children)
• Toddler – 1:6 (2 teachers for 12 children) 
• Preschool – 1:12 (2 teachers for 24 children) 

Cost varies depending on the program. A $200 non-refundable registration fee is due at enrollment, and an annual supply fee of $75 is due each September. It is a monthly tuition. 

Payment is due on the 15th of the following month. Please ask us about our 10% Sibling Discount. 

We also accept CCMS with applications available in English, with Spanish-speaking staff available to assist over the phone.

Our partnership with Fort Davis ISD will open up opportunities for families to remain in our program and receive public schooling through second grade! Students who are kindergarten-aged and attend full-time are eligible for an adjusted tuition rate. This partnership additionally has the potential to adjust tuition rates for our Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4-aged students who meet the state qualifiers for Pre-K. If you have questions about whether your student may qualify, please send us an email and we will provide that information.

We have rolling admissions throughout the year. Families are placed in a wait pool when enrollment in a program is complete. Admissions from the wait pool are based on the needs of the center. Families must provide a 30-day withdrawal notice.

Here at Green Space, your child’s wellbeing and safety is of the utmost importance to us. Our Nature Playground supports children’s physical and sensory development, social and communication skills, and creative thinking while eliminating hazards and creating a safe environment to connect with the natural world. Read below to find out more about our Safety, Cleaning, Health, Feeding, and Visitation Standards:

At Green Space, we take child safety very seriously. To ensure children’s safety, we maintain a supervision ratio of 1:12 while in the outdoor area. We constantly monitor the doors to all our facilities to ensure maximum security. In case of an emergency, community police officers are available and on-call. 

We follow the Reggio Emilia Approach, which means we have designed all our environments with safety in mind. All equipment is inspected to ensure children can play without any potential hazards. 

While playing outside, children might get occasional bumps, bruises, or scratches. If that happens, we are always there to help. We will also inform you when such incidents occur. Research tells us that this kind of play helps build resilience in young children.

We follow a thorough, scheduled cleaning regimen each morning and afternoon, using hospital-grade, non-toxic sanitation. We avoid using bleach due to its chemical toxicity. Please inform us of any allergies to cleaning materials or products.

Our immunization follows state guidelines (see Parent Handbook for an in-depth look at required immunizations). If your child is not vaccinated, we require a notarized exemption affidavit. 

If your child becomes sick, we require 24 hours of being symptom-free before being allowed to return to campus. Symptoms that would require an early pickup or staying home include:

• Fever of 100 or above Continuous cough
• Head or stomach aches 
• Difficulty breathing
• Mouth sores with drooling
• Evidence of lice infestation Unexplained rashes 
• Lethargy
• Wheezing
• Vomiting 

We kindly request that you provide your child with a healthy lunch. However, please be informed that we serve nutritionally balanced morning and afternoon snacks daily. These snacks include whole, unprocessed foods, such as fruits, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, and whole-grain crackers.

If a child in the class has a severe allergy, we kindly ask that you refrain from including that specific ingredient in your child’s school lunch, and we will also make sure not to serve it during snack time. We will communicate any information regarding allergies to all parents and display it throughout the school campus to keep you informed.

We provide a refrigerator for storing breast milk, and breastfeeding mothers are welcome to visit us anytime during the school day to nurse their babies.

You are welcome to visit Green Space anytime during the day without prior notice. However, please be mindful that interrupting class activities or staying for too long can cause inconvenience to your child and their peers. Therefore, we kindly request that you limit visitation to necessary situations only.

Please note that only individuals on the approved Pickup List can pick up a child or visit the classroom. You will also be required to provide proof of identification at the door.