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Red Pine Learning Community (RPLC) provides educational enrichment for children aged 5-9 years. Emotional intelligence and social development are major objectives of our program. Other objectives include ecological awareness, movement, and body awareness to supplement science, math, reading, and writing education.
RPLC’s lesson plans are selected and developed by our educators. We meet primarily in outdoor classrooms and embrace a variety of pedagogical approaches, such as forest school models, social emotional learning, the Montessori method, and play-based learning.
We embrace time outdoors in order to foster regular engagement with the natural world and provide frequent and lengthy screen-free experiences. Peer-reviewed evidence indicates that children often learn better and can regulate emotions more effectively when outdoors—and when they reduce time spent in front of a screen. This “outdoors-first” approach is a core value in our community for these reasons and also because it supports children and families who take additional health precautions in order to protect the well-being of vulnerable family members.
Red Pine Learning Community values:
- outdoors-first learning
- community care
- accessibility
- evidence-based practices
- environmental stewardship
Our values in action mean that we take layered public health protections to support our community. While we embrace an “outdoors-first” philosophy, we also recognize that interior spaces are necessary for student safety in various conditions, such as extreme heat, wildfire smoke, freezing temperatures, or strong winds. Our indoor classroom includes multiple open windows, portable HEPA filters, and indoor air quality monitors. Children and teachers work together and mask to help protect high-risk members of our community.
Co-founders Rachel and Chris Caldwell are parents of children who have attended Montessori schools and Forest School preschools. They have organized virtual meetings and in-person meet-ups for children and caregivers following Safer Gatherings guidelines.
Staff
Educators:
- Aimee Fraulo, PhD
- Milo Silverman, BS
Program Liaison: Chris Caldwell
Board of Directors
- President: Chris Caldwell, MFA and MSIS
- Vice President: Rachel Caldwell, MIS/MLS
- Secretary: Allison McKittrick, MSIS
- Treasurer: Ann Marie Faust, PhD
- Board Member: Melanie Zoltan, MA/MS
Red Pine Learning Community, founded in 2025, is a secular nonprofit organization. Peace Development Fund is our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor.
If you would like to donate to RPLC, please visit the PDF portal.
The RPLC logo was designed by Thorneater.
For more information, please complete our form.