​Philosophy

• Basic School
• Meaningful Homework
• Director's Message

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​Pioneer Springs Philosophy

We believe fostering each child by bringing forth what is intrinsic; the desire to both learn (curiosity)
​and to teach (share what they are learning with others).

Pioneer Springs Community School Mission
Pioneer Springs Community School was created by families to give more families the opportunity to be part of a Basic School connecting students to their community and the natural world. At Pioneer Springs, we believe a school can: keep the desire to learn burning bright in every student through individualized, hands-on, creative exploration of an integrated curriculum; foster the growth of the whole student: academically, physically, socially, and emotionally; function as a community of learning in which students, parents, teachers, and staff collaborate to achieve common goals; capture students’ inherent curiosity about their environment to foster deeper connections to nature.

​At Pioneer Springs, everything we do is designed to empower students: to grow, to give, to lead, and above all, to live their learning every day. We blend the holistic Basic School approach to core curriculum with a healthy focus on our natural world to engage students’ senses on every level. Because we respect each student as an individual, we foster the development of the whole child: academically, socially, emotionally, physically, and creatively. And by providing authentic, meaningful, hands-on learning experiences every day both in and out of classroom, we tap into students’ intrinsic motivation to learn, while preparing them for a future of lifelong learning, success, and service in an intricately connected world.

The school’s mission was inspired by Dr. Ernest L. Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, as outlined in his book, The Basic School: A Community for Learning. The Basic School provides a new vision of the role formal education can play in the lives of students; one in which the various languages of learning are used to gain insight into the human experience, and which addresses all aspects of students’ development to prepare them for lifelong learning and success. 

The school’s commitment to nature and the environment was inspired by the findings of Richard Louv  in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods. The Nature Deficit Disorder addresses most children in today’s world where social networks, cell phones, game consoles and computers, have increasingly disconnected and isolated them from the natural world. By integrating nature, student engagement and achievement increases, while also reducing symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression and ADHD. 

​Environmental education also encourages physical activity and promotes emotional and physical well-being. Most importantly, capturing student interest in the natural world fosters a lifelong love of learning. This focus in nature encompasses the entire school with cross-curriculum explorations of nature and meets the North Carolina Essential Standards for Science. With an encompassing theme for each trimester, each grade explores a unique path of the theme. At the end of each trimester, the students celebrate their journey with their school community.
The school is also a Green School and includes elements of Expeditionary Learning from the German educator Kurt-Hahn, the founder of Outward Bound. Pioneer Springs exemplifies this philosophy through providing project-based learning expeditions through packs, where students engage in interdisciplinary, in-depth studies of relevant topics within multi-grade groups.

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