School History

Birches School was founded in 2012, opening its doors that September to five students . Two full-time teachers, who were committed to integrating nature-based learning with an emphasis on student wellness, were hired, along with a part-time Spanish teacher, a part-time science specialist, and a part-time yoga and mindfulness specialist. In the fall of 2013, Birches welcomed fifteen students to school. In 2013- 2018, we continued to add one grade per year to keep pace with our oldest students. Now, ten years after opening, Birches is a robust, AISNE accredited, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school.

An important milestone for the School occurred in January 2016, when the Birches Board of Directors and the Lincoln Land Trust Directors voted to approve a mission-driven collaboration between the School and the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and the Rural Land Foundation (abbreviated as “Lincoln Land Trust”). An outgrowth of this collaboration was the establishment of Birches School in a building on 4 acres of a 16-acre property, with the Land Trust and the Town of Lincoln sharing the remaining 12 acres. The building has since been fully renovated and expanded and the grounds fully prepared for outdoor student learning.

Birches offers rigorous, interdisciplinary academics, emphasizing nature-based, project-driven thematic units.  Students learn cooperatively in mixed-age classrooms: kindergarten and first grade; second and third grade; fourth and fifth grade; and middle school (sixth, seventh, and eighth grade). Pre-kindergarten is a stand-alone classroom. During the 2022-2023 school year, thirteen full-time teachers are assisted by five part-time teachers. Outside the regular classrooms, students study Spanish, music, yoga and mindfulness, and the visual arts.  

Fourteen distinguished individuals serve on the volunteer Birches Board of Directors. The Board ensures that academic standards remain high and that the financial health of the School remains strong.