The Field Station is a nature-based cooperative preschool located within Indiana Dunes National Park in Porter, Indiana. The preschool has two buildings: a historic farmhouse and a big red barn. Offering weekly 2-day, 3-day, and 5-day programs, the Field Station currently serves 80 preschool students. The preschool also hosts summer camps. Monthly units of study are nature-related, which allows the preschool to utilize its outdoor classroom. Additionally, the preschool is situated near a wooded area, a river, wetlands, and a prairie–all of which are within hiking distance.
Field Station Cooperative Preschoolcenters nature study to develop its students’ love of learning, critical and independent thinking, creativity and imagination, social skills, and improved self confidence and self esteem. Natural Start spoke with the organization’s director, Laurie Metz, to learn more.
Indiana experiences very low temperatures during the winter months. How do you ensure children are prepared and stay warm?
We ask that students come prepared for the weather. Snow boots, snow pants, winter coats, hats, and gloves are all necessities. We also have a trove of cold weather gear at the school for when items are forgotten. Unless the weather is unsafe, we get the students outside every day–even if it’s just for a short hike on really cold days.
As a preschool cooperative, how are parents involved in the day-to-day operations and programming?
We are a not-for-profit organization run by a board of directors that is made up of parents. The main responsibility of our parent board members is employing our teachers.
It is a delicate balance, but our teachers are seen as the experts and our parents respect that. Parents also oversee and serve on our committees to keep our school running smoothly and keep our expenditures down. Our committees include maintenance, housekeeping, fundraising, and parent participation. Each family is required to spend a certain number of days in the classroom assisting our teachers, and a certain number of hours outside of the classroom through committee work.
Share more about your partnership with Indiana Dunes National Park. What advice do you have for other programs interested in this kind of partnership?
We entered our agreement with the National Park System almost 20 years ago! At that time, we were looking to relocate our school, and the superintendent of Indiana Dunes National Park loved our nature-based program. The timing was perfect as the park had this historic farmhouse and barn that they wanted to renovate, but they did not have the resources to do so. We entered an agreement with them that was facilitated by Indiana Landmarks. In exchange for rehabbing and maintaining the buildings to the park’s standards, we were granted an extended lease. The rehabilitation process was a very long and expensive undertaking, as it was primarily done through volunteers and donations.
We feel so lucky to have our partnership with Indiana Dunes National Park. We are able to offer our community’s youngest students and their families such an amazing exposure to the park’s resources, while hopefully creating future stewards of the Indiana Dunes!
My advice to someone interested in a partnership like this is to be able to demonstrate the benefits for both partners. In our case made to the National Park System, we identified that our partnership wouldn’t only restore the buildings and help maintain a piece of park property, it would also bring more visitors to the park through our programs. Additionally, we are educating not just students, but entire families about our natural resources and how to preserve them, which is entirely relevant to the park’s goals. It truly is a win-win!
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