Photo by Nikki Miller
The Howard County Conservancy's Nature Preschool is a licensed childcare program in Elkridge, Maryland, serving children ages 3 to 5. The preschool enrolls twenty-eight full-time students across two classes and is led by a dedicated team of five full-time, nature-based early childhood educators. Within the next year, the school plans to expand its programming by adding sixteen new learning spaces.
Located in a Howard County park and surrounded by Patapsco Valley State Park, the preschool has a wide variety of landscapes to explore. Whether they're playing in the nature playspace, wandering the monarch meadow, gathering in the outdoor classroom, or venturing into the nearby forest, students spend 50 to 80 percent of each school day outdoors, year-round.
Natural Start spoke with Howard County Conservancy's director of early environmental education, Jessica Caylor, to learn more.
What unique benefits and challenges come with operating a program in a public park setting?
We're so grateful for our partnership with Howard County Recreation and Parks, the county agency that rents us our school building. The biggest benefit is the incredible access to nature we get to explore every day. It’s also nice that park management and staff understand the value of nature-based early learning and have been wonderfully supportive of our programming. For example, after a recent overnight storm brought down several trees, our park's gardener made sure to cut and set aside logs for us to use. Another time when crews found a box turtle near our building, they shared the discovery with our students. And last year, after we shared the length of our waitlist, the department approved a plan to renovate and rent us the building next door, which will allow us to serve even more families in our community!
Tell us about the nature preschool’s scholarship program and how it supports engaging diverse communities.
The Conservancy established its scholarship program when the preschool opened in 2021, and families have used its funding every school year since. While the preschool has always kept its tuition comparable to other full-time programs in Howard County, some families are still unable to afford high-quality childcare. Scholarship recipients are selected based on several factors, including household income, number of dependents, and whether the family currently receives additional support services through county, national, or nonprofit programs. Through this scholarship support, the preschool aims to increase equitable access to nature-based learning for families from marginalized communities.
Why does participating in Maryland EXCELS—the state’s quality rating improvement system for licensed early education programs—matter to your program, and what would you tell other programs considering joining their state's system?
For the Howard County Conservancy's Nature Preschool, participating in Maryland EXCELS is a top priority. The state's voluntary quality rating program goes above and beyond basic licensing requirements, and participation allows the preschool to enroll families in Maryland's Child Care Scholarship Program, which covers partial or full tuition for qualifying families. Together with the Conservancy's private scholarship, this state support has been essential to the school's mission of increasing equitable access to nature-based early learning. For the past three years, the preschool has welcomed families through the Child Care Scholarship Program, and many families have shared that knowing the school chooses to meet these higher standards gives them even greater confidence in the program. For those considering participating in your state's quality assurance program, I advise you to schedule a time to talk with a coordinator who can provide details about requirements and benefits. You may be surprised by how much your program already aligns with their practices, and participating may be more accessible than you think!