River Gorge Forest School

🌲 More Time in the Forest, Less Time on Social Media 🌲

We’ve been a bit quiet online lately — and that’s because we’ve been in the forest.

Our days have been full of muddy boots, leaf discoveries, storytelling by the creek, and the kind of learning that happens when screens are put away and curiosity takes the lead.

While we love sharing glimpses of our forest life with you, our priority has been being present with our students as we settle into a new school year.

If you need to reach us or have any questions, the best way to connect is through our website:
🔗 www.rivergorgeforestschool.com

We’ll return to sharing more soon — until then, know we’re out in the woods doing what we love. 🌿

We hope you’re all staying safe! Due to the ongoing flooding in and around Chattanooga, we have decided to reschedule our Popsicle Party for the safety and well-being of our community.

Forest families, please check your email for details.

Our teaching team is growing and we would love to introduce you to Samantha (Sam) Martin. Ms. Sam will be supporting our 2nd & 3rd grade class this year and we're so excited to have her join our team!

Sam is a mother of three wild and wondrous beings. Her roots run deep in outdoor education, Ayurvedic birthwork, farming, herbalism, and seasonal cooking—but truly, she's just a lifelong lover of the Earth and her stories.

Whether she's communing with the fae folk, dancing barefoot through the garden, or guiding little ones to build fires and forage nettles, Sam's work is all about reweaving ancient traditions and planting seeds of reverence in the next generation.

You’ll usually find Sam with soil under her nails, a child on her hip, and a pot of bone broth simmering by the fire. Sam believes the forest is the original classroom, and the Earth—our oldest teacher.

We're so happy to have Sam join us at River Gorge Forest School!

🌳 We're Growing! We are looking for a 2nd–3rd Grade Teacher! 🌳
Do you love being outside, working with children, and supporting diverse learners? Join our community at River Gorge Forest School, where education meets adventure.

We're looking for a compassionate, creative educator to lead our mixed-age class in an outdoor, child-led environment.
Think: muddy boots, inquiry-based learning, and meaningful connection.

✨ 5 days/week
✨ Experience with elementary-aged kids + special education a big plus
✨ Must love rain, sunshine, and everything in between 🌧️☀️

📍 Located near the Tennessee River Gorge (in Suck Creek)
📝 Apply at: rivergorgeforestschool.com/teachers
🔗 More info: rivergorgeforestschool.com

Let’s grow wild minds—together 🌿

What a great way to wrap up the end of the school year! Delicious food, crafts, community, and a special visit from HappiNest Raptor Rescue - now THAT'S a Spring Fling. Thank you RGFS families for making this event and school year such a success. Have a great summer!!

We have a few spaces remaining for the coming school year and would love for you to join us in the forest! Check out our website for more information www.rivergorgeforestschool.com

We're wrapping up another GREAT year at River Gorge Forest School with this incredible teaching team! As a thank you for all their hard work, our Parent Community Organization treated the team to a delicious lunch. We're so grateful for our teachers and this forest school community!

Loads of you have asked about RGFS 🌞SUMMER CAMPS🌞 

We're happy to announce that we're offering several camps this summer and we'd love to have you join us! Please register soon if you'd like to join as we are limiting the number of children for each session. 

NATURALIST ADVENTURES CAMP!

Join us for an exciting week of exploring our natural world! Throughout the week, we will investigate different habitats along with the living creatures that call them home. Hikes into Prentice Cooper State Forest and visits to Suck Creek give us opportunities for first-hand discoveries of the amazing life right in our own backyard. Games and crafts round out this week of outdoor fun!

June 23-27 9am-3pm
Age: 5-10
Cost: $300
Participant limit: 12

SURVIVALIST CAMP/ROBOTICS CAMP!

Join us as we combine two unique camps! Mornings are spent honing skills important to staying safe in the forest whether out for a day or for a longer stay in our beautiful natural areas! We will work on survival skills based on the book series for kids by Bear Grylls. Campers will have the opportunity to learn skills such as shelter building, knot tying, identifying edible plants from the forest and much more! Then, in the afternoon, we will venture into the world of robotics and coding! Creative inventions are brought to life as we work on different projects and discover how to program them to move in different ways. Join us for half or full-days! 

July 14-18 Survivalist 9am-12pm/Robotics 12pm-3pm
Ages: 5-10
Cost: Half Day - Survivalist $200; Half Day - Robotics $200 
Full Day: $300 
Participant limit: 12

FIBER ARTS CAMP!

Join us as we explore a variety of fiber arts! Discover ways nature adds color and beauty to our world as we investigate different techniques to color yarns and materials. Then try your hand at using yarn and cloth to make your own special projects to take home!

July 21-25 9am-3pm
Ages: 5-10 
Cost: $200
Participant Limit: 12

🌳If you'd like to get your kiddo signed up for RGFS SUMMER CAMP, please send us an email. You can find our email on our website (link in bio)🌿

Such a fun Fall Festival! We crafted, enjoyed some DELICIOUS creations during the soup cook-off, won some cakes, and smashed a few pumpkins. Our silent auction highlighted handmade creations by our very own students. What a big, beautiful day! 🍁🍂🎃

Huge thanks to our parents, forest friends, and staff who made this year's gathering a success. We love our little forest school community! ❤️💚

Thank you all for your generous donations & for bringing supplies to RGFS! The first load is headed to East TN & Western NC. We will continue to accept supplies until October 10th.

Also! A close friend and solid human, Scott Dillard, is in the trenches of WNC, working on providing Starlink and generators to areas in need. Please consider donating directly to the efforts via his Venmo -Dillard-1 and follow his progress on Instagram

We are all heartbroken by the devastation from Hurricane Helene and will be collecting supplies to support the communities in East TN and Western NC. We have a family member driving to WNC this Friday (October 4th) to deliver donations and will continue to accept supplies until October 10th. Please bring items to the lower pavilion at River Gorge Forest School (947 Up the Creek Trail, Chattanooga, TN 37405).

We would love your help with the following items:
-Hygiene items (toothbrushes/paste, soaps, menstrual products)
-Non perishable foods (preferably with a pop top)
-Diapers
-Formula
-Cleaning supplies
-Water

Thank you!

New school year in a new school space with some new forest friends! River Gorge Forest School is excited to be back in session, exploring and learning together!