The following agreements will inform and cultivate how all staff and volunteer educators, learners and their families, and partners engage with each other and the natural learning environments in which programming takes place.

It is the aim of Conchitas to provide accessible and inclusive outdoor programming to all children and families. We believe everyone has the right to feel at home in nature, and we have a responsibility to provide opportunities for discovery and exploration and learning to any learner interested in our programs.

ALL are welcome here

We make every effort to create a welcoming, inclusive, equitable space of belonging for all learners and their families. This includes maintaining a friendly and welcoming demeanor at all times, choosing curiosity over bias or correction, and conducting ongoing work to identify and address barriers to belonging.

We do not care about immigration status, income, cultural background, educational background, physical ability or disability, cognitive or emotional development, social skills – we want to make everyone feel welcome here and will do the work required to achieve that end.

Keep it kind

We recognize the impact of words and actions of the developing self-esteem, self-image and world views of our learners. For this reason, we choose to use kind and thoughtful words when engaging with learners and addressing challenging situations. We choose intentional and responsive actions and commit to prioritize to invitations from learners to engage with them on all levels whenever possible. We choose to model kindness and teach kindness to learners, this is the expectation we set for everyone in the learning environment.

Safety first

Safety of our learners and families, as well as the natural environment in which we offer programming, is of the utmost importance. We prioritize safety by being prepared to respond to the threat or occurrence of harm, and to keep a keen awareness of the learning environment for physical or other hazards to safety or well-being.

Watch out for each other

We strive to cultivate a culture of compassion, companionship, and co-creation of learning and development. We achieve this by encouraging learners to maintain an awareness of and concern for the well-being and health of their fellow learners and educators.

Words matter

We don’t tolerate words or comments that cause harm or communicate a lack of care or tolerance for any person or group of people. We also commit to continue our growing awareness of words that cause harm to others. Offensive or discriminatory comments about personal traits or identities; yelling, swearing or threats; excluding based on personal traits or identities; name-calling; objectification or gendering in ways that limit the expression of our learners are not welcome in our spaces.

Be yourself, we’re so glad YOU are here

Individuals bring unique perspectives, experiences and lessons to our learning community. We invite educators, learners and their families to show up as their full selves to the degree they are able and regularly practice celebrating the unique and diverse humans in our program.

Explore and grow at your own pace - we’ve got your back

While our educators are well trained and certified to evaluate developmental milestones and identify developmental concerns, we do not base our programming or curriculum on one unified set of learning objectives or milestones. We acknowledge that all learners are moving through their development at a unique and appropriate pace, and tailor our instruction in ways that facilitate their own exploration and growth in partnership with their families and the learners themselves.

Need something, say something

Our team does its best to address known and common needs for our learners throughout a program and is highly skilled in observing needs and responding in real time. We encourage learners and families to communicate needs across all dimensions to our team so that we work to meet them whenever possible. Open communication and consistent response build trust and a thriving community – and that is what we’re working towards.

Live and let live - no killing stuff!

We practice a no-kill approach to nature-based programming, both to honor the other living things that we share space with and to utilize the ecological role of all things as a teaching tool. We do not pick live plants or flowers unless guided to do so and conducted in a way that does not harm the plant. We do not capture or kill insects or other wildlife. We observe, learn and celebrate the thriving ecosystem we are a part of.

Look before you step & explore gently

We practice mindful presence in nature by acknowledging the impact of our movement through a space and the thriving ecosystem that exists beneath our feet. We watch where we step to ensure we are taking responsibility to protect natural spaces, as well as to minimize risk to our own well-being from hazards beneath our feet (tree roots, burrowing insect nests, ant hills). We explore our natural classrooms gently and with care and seek to do no harm to plant or animal neighbors that reside there.

Clean it before you eat it

We do not forage or harvest edibles for immediate consumption. If a program entails sustainable harvest, provisions will be made to thoroughly clean all edible components prior to allowing learners to consume them to ensure safety from any pathogens or pollutants that exist on the plants.