Outdoor Learning

We take learning outdoors at Lake View! We believe that students learn in multi-modal ways and we can cultivate learners and leaders through the outdoors. It all started with an idea from parents, they wanted to support the school by creating a place and experiential lessons that promote academic achievement, cooperation, curiosity, and stewardship. Thus, a school garden was created which led to the erection of the pavilion which led to the establishment of a school forest. 

In December of 2014, the Wisconsin State Forest Educator officially identified our school forest as a State of Wisconsin School Forest! Over the next four years, community members joined staff and students to expand the paths through the school forest to create the friendship circle and groundhog hill. In the winter of 2018, Lake View partnered with Groundswell Conservancy to add two additional acres of woods to our school forest. In this new area, we added five nature stations for students, families, and the community to explore and enjoy the outdoors: The balancing logs, the construction zones, the whale watch, the spider web, and the ninja course.

In addition, our instructional coach has taken the literacy curriculum and scopes and made connections to the outdoor learning environment where teachers can expand the learning beyond the four walls of their classroom. The outdoor learning space also provides enrichment opportunities for our students in the MSCR Afterschool program as well as additional enrichment opportunities that we provide in service of our Community School priority areas called out in our coordination plan.