What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 9am - 3:30am Wednesday 9am - 3:30am Thursday 9am - 3:30pm

Valley Explorers

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United States
Crozet, VA
Valley Explorers

A nurturing K–6 microschool in Crozet, VA, where core academics, hands-on projects, and meaningful relationships inspire a lifelong love of learning.

09/22/2026

✨ We are excited to announce that we have a few open spaces at Valley Explorers! ✨

If you have a Kindergarten–6th grader who might be looking for something a little different from a traditional school setting, we’d love to connect with you!

Valley Explorers is a small, cozy microschool with a homeschool feel. We keep our class sizes small so that we can really get to know each child, meet them where they are, and give them room to learn in ways that work for them.

Our days include the core subjects—math, reading, writing, science, and history—along with book clubs, student-led projects, hands-on activities, field trips, art, plenty of outdoor time, and lots of opportunities to follow their interests.

We believe school can be a place where kids feel safe, known, and excited to learn. We want them to have the structure and support they need while still having the freedom to ask questions, explore their interests, move their bodies, and enjoy being kids.

Whether your child is coming from a traditional school and you’re looking for a smaller, more flexible environment, or you’re homeschooling and could use a little extra support, community, and consistency in your week—we’d love to chat!

What would your child love most about a school like this? Tell us in the comments! We’d love to hear what families are looking for. 🌿

09/16/2026

✨ A little fairy garden magic from our week! 🧚‍♀️🌿

We’re settling into such a good rhythm at Valley Explorers—math groups are clicking, we’re getting excited about writing and creative stories, and our language arts time is full of small-group learning and lots of individual attention.

And one of our favorite parts? **We get to make our schedule work for the kids.** If inspiration strikes, we can pause and create. If the weather is beautiful, we can take our learning outside. If a fairy garden needs to be built… well, obviously, we make time for that! 🧚‍♂️🌸

Small groups, flexibility, creativity, and the freedom to follow where curiosity leads—that’s what makes our little school so special. ❤️

Learning doesn’t have to fit into a box. We can build it around the kids.

09/10/2026

We spent a beautiful week learning, playing, creating, and exploring.

Some of our kids created a bug garden, complete with different bug kingdoms. We played countless games of Uno, learned just how intelligent ravens are, talked about ways to cope with big feelings, and even made our own homemade fidgets.

Today, we wrapped up our week with an adventure at the Frontier Culture Museum. We spent time learning in the schoolhouse, chopping wood in England, visiting the huge pig in America, and listening to music in Africa.

09/04/2026

This week, we’ve been thinking so much about the students, families, teachers, and community members affected by the school shooting scare in the neighboring county. We can’t imagine the fear and uncertainty they experienced, or what it must have been like for parents to wait and wonder if their children were safe. Our hearts are with everyone who was affected.

It has also made us pause and feel incredibly grateful for the little community we get to be a part of each day. Not because we believe our setting is better than another school, or because we are somehow protected from the difficult things that can happen in the world, but simply because we recognize how precious it is to have a small, close-knit space where our kids know the adults caring for them, know one another, and feel a sense of belonging.
And our days certainly aren’t perfect. We have plenty of chaos, big feelings, disagreements, loud moments, and days that feel like they lasted about three times as long as they should have. That’s part of life with kids, and honestly, it’s part of what makes our little community feel real.
But underneath all of that everyday chaos, there is something really special about knowing these kids so well, watching them grow, and being able to create a space where they can feel safe, known, and cared for.
We feel incredibly lucky to have this little community, and this week has reminded us not to take that for granted.
Most of all, we’re wishing for a world where every child can walk through the doors of their school feeling safe, cared for, and free to simply be a kid. ❤️

08/31/2026

Today our Monday group fully embraced our adventure to visit “Monsignor Monet”! The older explorers created poppy field masterpieces and the younger group created some amazing water lilies! We learned a new vocabulary word (excited to hear them use “coruscate” in daily life ☺️) and played lots of math and number games!

08/30/2026

It’s time for a new quote above our class wings! What’s a fly/soar/dream quote you love??

08/27/2026

🌸 Meet RIVA!

Riva is the newest member of our teaching team and has quickly become such a wonderful part of our school community. She primarily works with our Kindergarten and First Grade students, but she’s always ready to jump in wherever she’s needed—and we’re so grateful for that flexibility!

• 🌟 My favorite part of teaching: I love having fun and learning through play with the kiddos! It might sound cheesy, but I love seeing them smile with joy and excitement. When their eyes light up and the laughter is bubbling, my heart is happy.

• 🎨 Favorite classroom activity: Dance of course!! My area of expertise is creative movement so naturally that’s my favorite subject!

• ☕ Something you might not know about me: I am a hobby collector! Some of my hobbies include wood-burning, sewing, birding, crystals, photography, pottery, decoupaging, and most recently, learning Spanish!

💛 What We Love About Riva
Riva is a dancer, a yogi, and a beautiful presence in our classroom. She brings so much energy and positivity to each day, and we especially love the mornings when she leads the kids in meditation. We’re not sure how she does it, but she somehow gets a room full of little ones to be quieter than we’ve ever heard them! They’re completely engaged and genuinely love it. 💛

But one of the things we admire most about Riva is the way she truly understands that kids are kids. She doesn’t expect perfection, and she doesn’t feel the need to “fix” every big feeling or difficult moment. She understands that children are still young, still learning, and still figuring out how to navigate the world.

She meets kids where they are, gives them space to grow, and somehow always finds the bright side—even in the most challenging moments. Riva has such a natural ability to see the good in every child and to believe in them, even when they’re having a hard day.

That kind of patience, positivity, and genuine belief in kids is something really special. We’re so lucky to have Riva guiding our little ones. ✨

08/24/2026

Mondays are the best!

We take it slow, keep things casual, and spend the day diving into a ton of hands-on learning.

Today we learned all about Madagascar and lemurs, explored Eric Carle’s art style, and created our own artwork inspired by his colorful, collage-style illustrations.

And, of course, we had to sneak in some math fun! Our students played UNO with fractions—because math is always more fun when it feels like a game.

A pretty perfect Monday! ✨

08/22/2026

Did you know we have a Buddy Program built right into our school day? 📚

Our older students get the opportunity to read to our younger students—and it’s beneficial for everyone!

For our older students: Reading to a younger buddy gives them a chance to practice fluency, build confidence, strengthen communication skills, and take on a leadership role.

For our younger students: They get a positive reading role model, extra practice listening to stories, and the chance to build confidence and excitement around reading.

But perhaps the best part? The relationships they build. Our buddy program gives students of different ages a chance to connect, get to know one another, and form friendships in ways they might not otherwise have the opportunity to. It creates a little community within our community—and we love watching those relationships grow!

08/19/2026

🌸 MEET LEAH!

👩‍🏫 Co-Director and lead teacher

🌟 Favorite part of teaching: When they get so caught up in the lesson they don’t want it to end! It’s my personal mission to get them excited about things as simple as adjectives and fractions. I love the times they say “awww do we have to stop?!”

🎨 Favorite classroom activity: I love when we do silly dances that gets even the most serious one laughing! It’s so much fun to see them be carefree and laughing together!

🏃🏽‍♀️ Something you may not know about me: when I get into the habit of it, I really enjoy running! I’ve done six half marathons.

💕 Why we love Leah:

One of my favorite things about Leah is how naturally she connects with students. She always seems to know exactly what to say and how to respond, whether a student needs encouragement, a little guidance, or simply someone to listen. She takes the time to truly get to know each child, and that connection shines through in the way she teaches.

Leah is also amazing at taking students’ interests and weaving them into our lessons, making learning feel personal, meaningful, and fun. She’s always down for crazy lesson plans and constantly encourages out-of-the-box thinking and creative learning, which makes collaborating with her such a joy.

Whether she’s finding a creative way to bring a lesson to life or heading down to the creek for another adventure, Leah brings curiosity, connection, and a whole lot of joy to our school. We're so lucky to have her!

Address

Crozet, VA

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 3:30am
Wednesday	9am - 3:30am
Thursday	9am - 3:30pm

Website

https://www.valleyexplorers.org/

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