About Us

Our goal is to create a safe and supportive environment where children can have fun and be inspired, while learning through our structured High Scope® Approach. Our experienced and caring educators cater to each child’s age and ability to help grow their cognitive, linguistic and social skills, as well as their emotional wellbeing and physical health. We employ fun and engaging activities to develop critical thinking and creative problem solving skills. We strive to prepare them for future academic endeavors and foster a lifelong love of learning.
What is a Nature School?
We love the natural world around us and that is at the core of everything we do. We center traditional STEAM academics, experiential learning and activities around the natural environment and purpose-built outdoor facilities on our campus. From learning about wildlife and the environment from a certified naturalist to hands-on gardening or team-building in our mud kitchen, kids are exposed to nature-focused education that's fun and engaging. We balance outdoor time with imaginative and stimulating classroom learning. Read more about our educational approach »
Our Campus
Our Dripping Springs campus is located on five idyllic acres of native Texas Hill Country grasses and sprawling live oaks. Our thoughtfully designed outdoor spaces feature an expansive 17,000 square-foot outdoor play area and includes farm animals, learning gardens, a mud kitchen and more. We’ll soon be adding trails winding through the undeveloped portion of our campus, as well.

Special In-School Programs

As part of regular curriculum, we include nature-based experiential and cultural classes such as: 
  • Yoga
  • Music
  • Art
  • Spanish
  • Naturalist/gardening

Extracurricular Programs

Over Yonder also partners with community providers to offer fun and interactive programs, depending on provider availability in our area.

Food Program

A healthy brain starts with healthy nutrition. Our lunch and snack program offers a nutritious, and wholesome menu with fresh, quality ingredients to nourish children's minds, so they can grow to their fullest potential. We can accommodate any food allergies and offer family take-home meals for those busy school nights.

Our Approach

Our nature-inspired academic program is play-based, child-centered, and grounded in research as part of the High Scope® early education curriculum. In a High Scope® classroom, children are guided to explore, interact, and exercise their creativity and imagination through purposeful play. Our teachers support and enrich each child’s learning based on their developmental levels, so children enter school ready and eager to learn. 

“In a HighScope preschool program, teachers ignite children’s interest in learning by creating an environment that encourages them to explore learning materials and interact with adults and peers. We focus on supporting early learners as they make decisions, build academic skills, develop socially and emotionally, and become part of a classroom community. Active learning is at the center of the HighScope® Curriculum. It’s the foundation of young children gaining knowledge through their natural play and interactions with the environment, events, and other people.”

In our High Scope® program, teachers intentionally arrange the classroom and daily routines to develop children’s sense of competence, support social interactions, and build a secure community. Our six steps for conflict resolution allow teachers to build children’s language skills as they work through a conflict. 

Find out more at highscope.org »

Emotional and Social Skills

At Over Yonder Nature School, we use Conscious Discipline® in conjunction with the High Scope® curriculum. Conscious Discipline® is a social-emotional learning program. Designed by Dr. Becky Bailey, the program supports first teaching ourselves about self-control and self-regulation, and then teaching children. It helps us see how we respond to feeling upset, to help understand our emotions, and how to regulate ourselves when we are triggered. Conscious Discipline® teaches us how to be conscious as adults of what we are saying to children, and what behaviors we are modeling.

Find out more at consciousdiscipline.com »