Backed by science. Built for change.

Why Our School Model Is the Best Choice — For Kids, For Community, For Tomorrow

At GESE, we reject the “sit-and-listen all day” model. Instead, every day is built around 2 hours of focused instruction, surrounded by a living, breathing ecosystem of learning: outdoors, practical, relational, intergenerational, and communal. When we combine small bursts of concentrated teaching with real-world tasks (growing food, caring for land, maintaining infrastructure, preparing meals, doing chores), children learn more deeply—and carry those lessons into life.

This is why our model isn’t just appealing, but undeniably the best choice we can make for our children, our communities, and our shared future.

Power of Focus + Rest: Quality Over Quantity

  • The brain can only sustain very high levels of attention for a limited span. Many educational neuroscience studies show that shorter, high-intensity instructional sessions yield better retention and engagement than long lectures.

  • By limiting direct instruction to two hours, we free the rest of the day for embodied, applied learning—the kind that anchors knowledge in real experience rather than abstraction alone.

This structure mirrors how mastery actually develops: teach a core concept, then immediately practice, apply, reflect, repeat.

Outdoor & Experiential Learning: Evidence-Backed Power

Our children don’t just sit inside — we bring learning into nature, into gardens, woods, fields. Decades of research now confirm: this works, exceptionally well.

  • Outdoor learning supports emotional, intellectual, and behavioral development: students show gains in independence, initiative, creativity, problem-solving, empathy, self-discipline. (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point)

  • Students who learn outdoors often report better motivation, retention, and excitement about learning—and teachers report improved conduct and performance when lessons take place outside. (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

  • In one survey, nearly 9 out of 10 teachers observed that children were happier when engaging in outdoor lessons; 72% said outdoor instruction improved both students’ and mentors’ physical/mental health. (Soocial)

  • In a comprehensive review of outdoor/experiential school programs, many studies show positive long-term effects on academic performance, resilience, social skills, and learner identity. (grayff.org)

In short: stepping outside is not a luxury—it’s a core learning strategy.

Chores, Maintenance, Growing Food & Meal Prep: Learning by Doing

We embrace tasks often labeled as “life skills” or “chores”—but they are far more than that. These are deep learning opportunities:

  • Gardening and food production help students internalize ecological systems, biology, nutrition, cycles of life, climate, and responsibility. Garden-based learning programs show improvements in nutritional awareness, environmental literacy, and academic engagement. (gardening.cals.cornell.edu)

  • Intergenerational programs combining food/agriculture education show that involving elders and children together increases emotional attachment to place and deeper ownership of learning. (MDPI)

  • Caring for shared spaces (buildings, land, infrastructure) teaches stewardship, teamwork, pride, planning, problem-solving, accountability—and gives children real influence over their surroundings.

These tasks transform children from passive consumers of education into active stewards of their environment.

  • In community garden settings, older and younger participants exchange wisdom and technical skills, creating lasting bonds, mutual respect, and a shared sense of purpose. (Ag & Natural Resources College)

  • As one guide notes, contemporary intergenerational education helps repair the “growing separation” of young and old, and rebuilds mutual understanding across ages. (generationsworkingtogether.org)

  • In a broad review, intergenerational learning is described as a key strategy in modern lifelong learning, demographic shifts, and social capital renewal. (ERIC)

Community is not an add-on; it is the scaffold that supports every facet of our model.

 Intergenerational Learning & Community Involvement: Reweaving Social Fabric

Most conventional schools isolate generations. Our model invites elders, parents, community members as teachers, mentors, collaborators, and custodians.

  • Intergenerational programs have been shown to boost children’s social skills, attendance, cultural knowledge, emotional health—and also improve well-being and engagement for older adult participants. (Center on Reinventing Public Education)

More Caring Adults, Higher Relationship Density = Stronger Support

When students have more varied adult relationships (mentors, elders, skill-shares, community partners), they gain resilience, trust, support networks, and diverse role models.

  • Traditional classrooms often burden one teacher to handle all academic, social, and emotional roles. In contrast, our approach brings in multiple caring adults — each specializing, caring, mentoring, coaching—so no child is overlooked.

  • This multiplicity increases adult-to-child ratio in the broad sense—more hands, more eyes, more people invested in each student’s growth.

Where a conventional school might have 1 adult to 25 students, we effectively build a web of adults around each child. That means more attention, more feedback, more relational safety, and more opportunities for individual flourishing.

The Stakes Are High: Why This Matters for the Future

We don’t just seek to educate children—we seek to cultivate citizens who can heal ecosystems, rebuild community, restore resilience, and carry purpose into a changing world.

  • Our world is facing climate instability, social fragmentation, lost connection to place, and alienated youth. A purely “desk-based,” test-driven model cannot equip children for that landscape.

  • Conversely, children who intimately understand ecology, sustainability, community dynamics, and intergenerational relationships are far better prepared to lead with creativity, humility, and collaboration.

This model is not experimental—it synthesizes best practices from outdoor education, forest schools, garden-based learning, intergenerational pedagogy, and relational schooling.

The evidence is mounting; the outcomes are real; the transformation is possible.

Why This Is Undeniably the Best Choice

  • Cognitive science affirms that shorter, focused instruction plus application leads to deeper learning.

  • Outdoor, experiential learning enhances academic, emotional, social, and behavioral outcomes.

  • Chores, gardening, cooking, maintenance are not tasks to fill time—they are gateways to meaning, responsibility, and ecological literacy.

  • Intergenerational collaboration rebuilds trust, wisdom, cultural continuity—and makes every learner richer.

  • More caring adult relationships mean no child is invisible; every child is supported.

  • The challenges of the 21st century demand citizens who are grounded, relational, purposeful, and systems-aware—and this model cultivates exactly that.

This is more than an alternative—it is the best possible way forward for our children, our communities, and our world.