Campus

Situated on a beautiful 34-acre site in the New Jersey countryside, The Willow School is near the center of Gladstone town center, at the corner of Highway 206 and Pottersville Road. The campus is located about half way between Princeton and Morristown, within easy commuting distance of numerous surrounding communities: Peapack and Gladstone, Far Hills, Bedminster, Bernardsville, Mendham, Chester, Long Valley, Califon, Lebanon, Oldwick, and more.

Original Facilities

The original three-story Colonial home has been converted into an administration building with offices for the Head Of School, Development, Admissions, and Business Administration. The building is also home to our preschool.

Schoolhouse – Awarded Gold LEED Certification

Phase I of the school’s master site plan — involving the construction of a 13,500 square foot classroom building and site infrastructure including roadways, parking lots, and landscaping — was completed in September 2003.

With natural wood siding and barn-like roof, the building conforms to the rural character of the surrounding neighborhood. The grounds include gardens and woodlands for environmental study.

The interior consists of spacious classrooms to an average of 14 students per grade, our school library, a morning gathering space, and interior play space. Each classroom opens directly onto the surrounding grounds to facilitate both recreation and field studies as an integral part of the daily curriculum.

The overall building includes the latest in environmentally-sensitive and energy-efficient design. Clerestories provide passive-solar heating, supplemented by geothermal heating and cooling systems. Rain water runoff and grey water are recycled to maintain the surrounding plantings, and the remaining wastes are processed in the most environmental methods available. Our overall goal is to teach in a building that not only houses the students but serves as a model to study responsible living.

• The architects (Ford Farewell Mills & Gatsch)
• Environmental design standards (LEED certification)
• Landscape design (Back to Nature Landscape Associates)
• Water quality management (Natural Systems International.)

The Barn – Awarded Platinum LEED Certification

The barn, which is located behind the farmhouse provides space for art, music, handcrafts, middle school classrooms, kitchen, dining area, and a student lounge.

Environmental Planning

A truly unique and outstanding feature of The Willow School is its approach to nature and the surrounding environment.  The school will embraces its surroundings and the site is integral to all aspects of the curriculum. The buildings incorporate many environmentally sensitive design features, allowing the school to seek a high level of certification from the United States Green Building Council in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The grounds preserve the natural beauty of the area, with design features that include many outdoor learning spaces and constructed wetlands for the filtration of wastewater that provide for the return of an abundance of clean water to the groundwater system. Natural meadows, butterfly gardens, water harvesting and hedgerows are all incorporated into the site.

Throughout the curriculum and The Willow School learning experience, children are exposed to the wonder, the beauty, the pleasure and the richness of nature. Through frequent interactions with the natural surroundings, children learn about the ecology of life and the importance of connections among all living things. They learn about community, ethics, respect and responsibility as they learn to extend the lessons of natural ecology to the ecology of interpersonal relationships.

Willow School children will learn about sustaining healthy surroundings through the protection of air and water, and the preservation and conservation of natural resources. Walks in the forest, classes held outdoors and in classrooms with large windows and an abundance of natural light, outdoor music and poetry experiences, and connections between art and nature will allow children to connect with nature and to find peace and harmony in the beauty of the natural world.

Through connections with history, economics, and other studies in the social sciences, children will study the ways humans interact with nature. They learn of the many ways that we benefit from nature through jobs, use of natural resources, shelter and comfort, and the growing of food, and they learn how to beneficially sustain those relationships and interactions in a healthy society. They enjoy the many advantages and pleasures of outdoor activity, through sports that range from the traditional to the innovative.

Willow School children learn about nurturing and caring for plants and animals. They will explore the life cycles of water and oxygen. They learn of the many environmental factors that affect life, and the ways in which plants and animals are mutually dependent. By observing their natural surroundings closely and carefully, Willow School children learn to locate and identify many kinds of patterns, thus engaging in mental processes that improve their problem-solving skills in mathematics and other subject areas. Children, also explore many connections in the workings of nature, broadening their abilities to find linkages among various subject areas.

At The Willow School, each child has the opportunity to develop an identity that is firmly rooted in the land. In many ways the study and enjoyment of nature will reflect and enhance the health, depth and scope of the entire Willow School educational experience.

Consulting Resources:

• Landscape design (Back to Nature Landscape Associates)
• Water quality management (Natural Systems International.)