ABOUT LIVING EARTH SCHOOL

Our Story, Mission & Values

Who We Are

Living Earth School is a nature connection and mentoring non-profit organization based in Central Virginia. For more than two decades, we’ve guided children, teens, and adults into deeper relationship with the natural world and the wisdom, confidence, and belonging that come from it.

We believe that nature is our oldest teacher and that connection – to land, to community, and to self – is the foundation for a meaningful life.

🌿 Our Mission

The Living Earth School is dedicated to nurturing and deepening our relationships with nature, ourselves, and our communities — simply stated as: Earth Care, People Care.

We aim to inspire learning, curiosity, and belonging through experiences that connect people to the living earth and to one another.

🌱 Our Vision

We envision a world where people, nature, and communities are deeply connected and thriving.

Through our programs, mentoring, and the establishment of our future home, the Living Earth Sanctuary, we hope to grow generations of humans who are curious, resilient, compassionate, and engaged with the well-being of the Earth and their communities.

Our Values

Our values are not just words—they are the roots that anchor our work.

  • Heart-Centered & Growth-Oriented: We listen deeply, honor our gifts, and embrace transformation as part of nature’s cycle.

  • Belonging: Every person, plant, and creature has a place in this web of life. We create spaces where all are valued and welcomed.

  • Nature Connection: We are part of a living world and choose to be a force for its healing and thriving.

  • Gratitude: With gratitude as our compass, we walk through life with wonder, abundance, and resilience.

  • Commitment to Peace: We move with honesty and respect, using conflict as fertile ground for understanding, unity, and growth.

Our Story

Living Earth School began with a simple belief: that learning happens best through curiosity, play, and in authentic relationship with the land.

What started as small gatherings in the forests and creeks of the Blue Ridge has grown into one of Virginia’s leading nature connection organizations. Thousands of people – from preschoolers to grandparents – have found belonging, resilience, and joy through our programs.

Over the years, the Earth itself has remained our greatest partner. Every rock outcrop, creek, and forest has shaped how we teach, mentor, and build community.

Our Logo

Our logo carries the heart of our story.

The turtle represents the Earth – ancient, steady, and life-giving.
Embedded in its shell is an acorn, symbolizing the seed of potential inside every human being.

When a seed receives a nurturing home, supportive community, and room to grow, it can become a magnificent oak. We believe the same is true for people. When individuals are rooted in nature and surrounded by mentors who care, their innate gifts naturally take shape and look for ways to be shared with the wider community.

Our logo is a reminder of what becomes possible when we live in connection.

In this time of ecological crisis, the work that Living Earth School has been engaged with for over twenty years is more crucial than ever. In these decades LES has fostered, for children, teens, adults and families, an ever-deepening relationship with nature. There is a mountain of research that indicates physical, emotional and mental health for children and adults alike, is supported by enjoying time in nature, unplugged and attuned to its natural, healthy rhythms.

  Sharifa Oppenheimer, Founding Teacher, Charlottesville Waldorf School; Author, Heaven on Earth: A handbook for Parents of Young Children