“I met Rebecca when my granddaughters had the great good fortune to be students at Discovery Woods.

As a grandparent, I might have been pleased just to see how happy my girls were, how engaged in learning, and how many skills and talents they were developing. But as a Professor of Teaching and Learning, researcher, and the chair of a large teacher education program, with four decades of experience in the field, I recognized true genius at work.

Rebecca is an educator who knows how to create magic. Like an alchemist, she combines all of the essential elements of a powerful education: a well-designed and aesthetic environment, carefully chosen materials, caring and involved adults, rich and important subject matter, and a hefty measure of genuine interest in children’s ideas and works, all blended together with a perfect sense of how to balance freedom and the structure necessary to evoke learning.

My deepest regret is that the girls outgrew the school and had to move to another country. I am quite sure they would have stayed on through college, if that had been possible.”

Chair, Department of Teaching and Learning
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Rebecca’s depth of knowledge in early childhood development is married to her innate ability to interact with children. She is warm, approachable and we easily trust her with our children. How she respects children and gives them space to grow has influenced our parenting strategy. She has creatively incorporated nature based learning and healthy eating into her curriculum. I recommend her highly

Rebecca’s deep understanding of education and early childhood development is evident in her work. Her intuition and ability to understand what motivates children, plus her creative approaches to problem solving and exploration, allow her to be extremely effective at mentoring and engaging children, creating deep excitement about learning”

Rebecca is a tireless and brilliant director of a school that we’ve had our daughter at now for over four years. She is the mastermind behind the schools constant creative, forward-thinking strategy towards learning, its concentration in outdoor and child-led learning, and its incredible use of the land and environment to propel our child’s curiosity, imagination, and understanding of the world in ways we had never imagined possible. She is incredibly generous and thoughtful in how she teaches but also in how she runs the school, and how she communicates with parents. I would recommend Rebecca in a heartbeat to anyone who is considering an outdoor-based program for their child!

Rebecca was my older son’s primary teacher his first year at Discovery Woods. Rebecca is one-of-a-kind. Her immense knowledge of child development and incredible tenderness and passion for meeting the children where they are is in the top 1% of all educators that I’ve known. My son flourished in her group and when he had challenges Rebecca asked for my ideas about what was going on and helped coach me in very gentle ways in how I could support him at home. I truly value Rebecca in my life not only as the incredible educator and school director that she is but as a mentor. Everyone should have a Rebecca in their lives!