Alameda Elementary School

Alameda Elementary School is striving to become a model for outdoor learning with an pronounced focus on educating students in key social emotional learning skills of mindfulness. There is tremendous passion among the school’s teachers, at all grade levels, for incorporating hands-on learning experiences as part of the school’s STEAM education focus, as well as constructing a space to help students and families confront the mental health challenges of the 2020s. This project serves as the first phase of the outdoor learning experience of students at Alameda Elementary School and seeks to connect to student’s sense of awe and wonder. It’s also been in the hopes and dreams of teachers to integrate deep biological habitat, sense of place, history, and STEAM educational components into our school’s model. SOL Forest School is a small program with a big vision, dedicated to connecting young children aged 2-10 to the awe and wonder of the natural world by offering weekly all-weather Forest School sessions in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and in Albuquerque’s Bosque along the river valley. ​ Our mission is to grow caring, resilient, soulful young humans and future stewards of the Earth by cultivating connections to the natural world through open-ended, child-led play, through emergent learning in tandem with the Forest as “Co-Teacher”, and through the development of a mindful community rooted in a commonly shared love of Earth and her natural cycles. SOL-Way Mentoring is a branch of the SOL tree. Through this LLC, Sally Stevens provides nature-based consulting, mentoring, & coaching to early childhood centers, K-12 schools, nature centers, upcoming Forest Schools, individuals, and more. She has consulted with the CABQ Parks & Recreation Division, among other local partners.