At Juniper Hill School for Place-Based Education in Alna, children spend 60-90% of each day outdoors. If you had visited the school in early March, you would have seen upper elementary students attaching labels to corresponding parts of the school barn - purlin, trunnel, mortise; lower elementary students tapping a maple tree; and pre-K students honing their construction skills before retiring to their sleeping bag-lined hammocks for a nap under the pine trees.

Inside the three yurts where students spend part of their day, you would have seen student-authored books on display, collections of feathers, seeds, nests and guide books. What would have been conspicuously absent from these classrooms, however, is any hint of computer technology – no smart phones, tablets, laptops, or desktop computers. This is purposeful, of course. At Juniper Hill School, the emphasis is on connecting the children to nature and place rather than to technology.

COVID-19 changed all that. With little to no notice, the school shifted to distance learning mid-March to do its part in flattening the curve and helping to keep the community safe.

Now, six weeks into distance learning, the teachers and students have all learned to skillfully navigate Google Slides, YouTube videos, and virtual Zoom gatherings, but the spirit of the Juniper Hill School approach still lives on. While weekly lesson plans are delivered electronically, the offerings do not require the students to be plugged into their computers all day. Instead, they include videos of the teachers monitoring vernal pools and encouraging their students to do the same; school traditions such as the Spring Unlocking Festival (aka “Pancake and Pajama Day”) celebrated in unison as a community despite the distance; and students monitoring jars of branches whose buds they are forcing.

Technology, used responsibly, does not preclude connection to nature, community, and place. Teachers and students still look forward to the time when they can again gather and celebrate a great homecoming, but, in the meantime, they are thankful for the technology that is allowing the spirit of the school to live on.