LEARNING THROUGH NATURE
WHO WE ARE
Arroyo Nature School is a play-based, purely outdoor program that offers a quality alternative to the traditional classroom. Research shows that nature offers everything a child needs to have an enriching learning experience. Our emergent curriculum empowers children to ask questions, problem solve and think creatively. Through this constant exploration, children are engaged in using their whole self and get the hands-on learning that they need to understand the world around them.
This approach builds self-confidence, resilience and meaningful connections between the environment, themselves, and each other. We will provide the tools to explore the significance of inclusivity, community-building, healthy risk-taking and the beauty of diversity. A big part of our program is the daily inclusion of art, music and literacy.
WHAT WE OFFER
OUR PROGRAM
In the course of this pandemic, we have all been aware of the importance of the precautions needed to keep our families and community safe during this time. The teachers have put much thought and planning into creating a safe, responsible, and enriching space for your children. Until further notice, we are planning to follow the official safety regulations required by the city and state. We will have access to hand washing stations which will happen often. We will closely follow the development of the pandemic and will reassess our protocol accordingly.
• School year : September 8th, 2026 - June 11th 2027
• Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
• Ages: 2-5 years old
• Student / Teacher ratio: 3:1
• Tuition: $ 1600 / month
• Access our calendar through the menu or by clicking here.
​​
We strongly believe that school should be available to everyone and we have worked hard to find opportunities to offer scholarships/discounted tuition to those in need. We have currently fulfilled our scholarship fund for the 2026/2027 school year. If you are interested in receiving a scholarship for the 2027/2028 school year, please email us and we will try our best to coordinate if available.
​
​​​
OUR STORY
For Fabienne Hadorn-Hitz, it has been a dream for many years to create her own program for young children. The idea was to offer a high-quality program to a small group of children, incorporating Art, Music, and Literacy on a daily basis. With Elisa Romero, she found an enthusiastic partner. Since working together at a preschool in Pasadena, they often talked about the possibility of realizing that dream. They both shared a strong belief in progressive education and the importance of child-initiated play in a diverse, anti-bias environment. Fabienne grew up in Switzerland where Forest schools are quite popular and people recognize the benefits of children spending time in Nature. What better place than Southern California to add this element to the idea!
Losing their jobs during the pandemic and the high demand for a safe place for children to learn during that time gave them the necessary boost to make that vision come true. With the help of parents and coworkers, Arroyo Nature School was founded in 2020. In 2023, Elisa decided to leave Arroyo Nature School to pursue her own endeavor in Portland, Oregon.
OUR COMMUNITY
With years of training and practice in the field of Early Childhood education, we are able to support your child's learning through daily discovery in nature, art, music and literacy.
Fabienne Hadorn
Co-Founder
Teacher
Fabienne grew up in Burgdorf, Switzerland. She had a very happy childhood, playing outside in the nearby forest with her siblings and all the neighborhood kids.
At the age of 19, she joined a traveling circus where she lived and worked with people from all around the world. Two years later, she attended a school for performing arts in Paris, France. Alongside her studies, she began working with children, teaching music, theatrical expression, and mime.
She received her teacher diploma from the Académie Française de La Danse. She used her time studying early childhood music education while waiting for a green card. In 1997 and 1999, her children were born. While they were little, she got certified by Music Together LLC and taught her own classes for parents and children in her neighborhood.
In 2002, her Journey at PO Children’s School and College began, teaching music, taking early childhood education classes at the college, and teaching in a classroom. In November of 2020, she completed the Nature-based Teacher Certification with ERAFANS (Eastern Region Association of Forest and Nature Schools). The Anti-bias philosophy that is based on diversity, equality, and social justice is very close to her heart. Together with her colleagues of many years, she is excited to begin a new journey with Arroyo Nature School.
J. Michiuye
Teacher
Jane was born and raised in Los Angeles. While an undergraduate student at UCLA, she enrolled as a practicum student in the Infant Development Program. Although she had no prior experience working with very young children and had no intention of becoming a teacher, she quickly discovered tremendous joy in working with infants and toddlers and altered her career plans.
She went on to earn a master’s degree from Pacific Oaks College and was offered a job at the Pacific Oaks Children’s School after completing her practicum. The bulk of Jane’s teaching career was at the Children’s School where she spent over twenty years in the same classroom.
Jane is thrilled to be reunited with her former PO colleagues in a beautiful and extraordinary setting. She looks forward to working with children again and getting a glimpse into how they interact with and interpret the world around them.
Carly Hadorn
Teacher
Carly is happy to say that she discovered a passion for working in the child development field after having opportunities to observe in both indoor and outdoor classroom settings. Along with her pursuing her interests in early childhood education, she has always been passionate about Photography and has studied it from middle school onto college.
She has also always had a deep connection with nature and is very passionate about gardening. Both of her parents being from Switzerland, she spent every summer with her family there. Days were spent picking fresh raspberries in the forest with her grandpa, swimming in the local river, and being outside all day long. Carly is currently attending Pasadena City College to achieve a degree in Early Childhood Education while working alongside Arroyo Nature School.
Amanda Galvez
Teacher
Amanda flows through her days by following her curiosities and interests- either walking in the canyons, reading with a coffee, watching the sunrise, playing tennis, watercolor painting, or practicing her clarinet. She has previously taught forest school in the foothills of Los Angeles, literature, writing, and language arts course in Sierra Madre, is a Certified California Substitute Teacher (with a variety of grades and subjects), and will be coaching youth soccer this fall (given her previous collegiate athlete experience). With her academic background rooted in Library Science, Amanda has a passion for serving as a liaison between information and learning. She received her Masters in Library & Information Science from San Jose State University- specializing in arts librarianship, rare/special collections, and public programming, her B.A in Humanities and a Minor in Sustainability from California State University Northridge, and her AA in Journalism from Moorpark College. Amanda has a certificate in Social and Emotional Arts from UCLA's Arts & Healing program, where she believes in the power of navigating/expressing emotions through artistic and creative skills. Having worked on a farm with animals and as a flower farmer with heirloom garden roses, Amanda enjoys the tangible aspect of nature and appreciates the symbiotic relationship we have to it. With her teaching outdoors, she enjoys helping children cultivate their own confident voice, seeing them build trust with nature and their own bodies by growing motor skills through healthy movement, and by leading as an observer to allow our natural environment to serve as the real teacher.
Yasmyn Herrera
Teacher
Hello, I'm Yasmyn! I'm a Spanish and English educator, part-time musician, and nature lover with 10 years of experience working with children. I've taught in preschool, public schools, private schools, music programs, and nature-based learning environments. I inspire curiosity, confidence, and kindness—because what better way to explore, learn, and grow than in the great outdoors?
The Dixon Family
Arroyo Nature School was truly transformative for our son and our family. He had previously attended a more traditional pre-k and it never felt like the right fit. Once he started at Arroyo - he blossomed and thrived, gaining not only impressive social-emotional skills, but a beautiful knowledge of the natural world (we often turn to him when we’re not sure what a particular plant is called, he always knows!). The teachers embrace your child’s uniqueness - the qualities that are often seen as “difficult” in other environments (in the case of our son - intense curiosity, expressiveness and a need to move his body) are celebrated and honed towards healthy expression. Every parent I’ve ever spoken to whose child has attended ANS is overflowing with enthusiastic praise, it’s such a lovely community of thoughtful parents. We are forever grateful for our experience with ANS, we know it’s created a foundation of self-trust, empathy and joy for our son that we are now actively seeking out and insisting upon for the rest of his education.
The Kinori Family
Arroyo Nature School built a beautiful foundation for our son of a love of school and a deep trust of teachers that we are so grateful for. It's such a special place, we count ourselves extremely lucky for being able to send our son there and gaining access to its community ourselves. As first time parents, the feeling of belonging we gained from the school has been deeply beneficial to our own growth. Often drop off and pick up are the high points of our days--time when we all get to slow down, experience the nature of our own backyards, and be present as a family. We love the Arroyo Nature School and cannot recommend it enough!
The Olson Family
All three of our children have attended Arroyo Nature School and I cannot overstate the lasting influence this school has had in nurturing them to be kind, curious, resilient, and brave kids. It is not hyperbolic to say these are the best preschool teachers our kids could have had to establish a strong foundation for learning and exploration for the rest of their lives. The team is so supportive both of each individual child and of their parents as they navigate their young lives, and that relationship has meant the world to us over the past four years. ANS has also created an environment that fosters community amongst the student families unlike any I have seen at other schools, where kids are on a first name basis with all the parents and the parents all know and support each other through challenging times and through all the general ups and downs of raising young children. This school is truly something special and I feel so lucky our whole family was able to be a part of it.
The Izquierdo/Trevino Family
Our daughter spent three incredible years at Arroyo Nature School, and we can confidently say it was the most special community we've ever had the privilege of being part of. Fabienne and the rest of the teachers are so in tune with the children, and they genuinely love spending time with them and showing them all the best The Arroyo has to offer. Every day our daughter came home happy and more curious about the world around her, asking big questions or sharing facts about plants, ecosystems, bugs, and how to be a better steward of our environment. Also... she just had fun! She loved all of her teachers and built close relationships with them, made best friends she adores, and always had hilarious and interesting stories to share at the end of each day. We have now “graduated” from nature school and our child still asks when she can go back. ANS forever!
The Barrett Family
Watching Blue's connection to nature grow over the past two years has honestly been one of the best parts of being his parent. The school doesn't just teach the kids what's around them (by that we mean almost every plant and animal there is), it teaches them to actually care about it, and that attitude just spread, to his classmates, his teachers, and to us too. His confidence has grown week by week, but one moment really stands out. One Sunday in year two, Blue took us to his school and led us on a hike, his hike. He pointed out the poison oak and told us how to steer clear of it, took us down paths we'd never even noticed, and we explored a meadow together as a family. Watching a four year old walk around with that much knowledge and that much quiet confidence, it was pretty amazing. Every drop off and pick up, it's felt like we're leaving him with family. The warmth and love at Arroyo Nature School has been incredible, and we're so grateful for the foundation it's given him."
The Epstein/Grannis Family
Discovering Arroyo Nature School was one of the greatest gifts our family has ever received. After spending her first three years at home, beginning school was a huge transition for our daughter. The teachers at Arroyo Nature School welcomed her with abundant kindness, care and patience. She developed a deep affinity for her classmates and teachers, and looked forward every day to playing in the mud kitchen, going on nature walks, climbing trees, singing songs, reading books and making art. We found a great like-minded community of fellow parents, and will always cherish the memories of sitting together under a tree at morning circle and singing to start the day. It was a truly unbeatable experience.
CONTACT US
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!
If you would like to help our school to get its roots settled in and contribute to educational materials, please feel free to donate! All extra donations will be put into our financial aid fund.
Thank you very much!
