Our Story
Our Mission
Cairn Hill prepares children of all backgrounds for personal and academic success through joyful learning opportunities rooted in nature, play and the arts.
Our Goals
Cairn Hill provides holistic, experiential learning experiences that foster the development of children's physical, social-emotional and academic competencies.
We believe that children learn best through hands-on exploration and play.
Through daily extensive exposure to the outdoors, we seek to cultivate in children a deep connection to nature and an appreciation of the earth.
We include gardening and encourage healthy eating to strengthen the bodies and minds of young children. We are developing the next generation of stewards of our planet!
Our History
In early 2012, three educators: Daniel Bekele, Ed.D., Cheryl Dressler, Ed.D., and Margaret Ris, M.Ed met at the Abiata Café in Malden, Massachusetts to determine the best way to offer children high quality, affordable educational opportunities inspired by Waldorf and nature-based approaches to learning.
They agreed to found a non-profit organization for this purpose and named it after a spot in Malden’s beautiful and rugged Fells Reservation: Cairn Hil.
The founders appreciated the metaphor of the cairn—a pile of stones marking a path created by many—and envisioned the activities of the new organization as helping to guide children along their paths.
Camp Lion & Spring Pond
Camp Lion
Cairn Hill Nature Preschool is located at Camp Lion on the border of the two vibrant cities of Lynn and Salem, Massachusetts. Lynn is a Gateway City with an impressive mixture of ethnicity, income levels and languages. Lynn has many ponds and marshlands, and both Salem and Lynn claim the Atlantic Ocean as resources. Camp Lion is owned by the Lions Club of Lynn and provides access to woodlands, trails, vernal pools and Spring Pond - the perfect location for a nature preschool.
Spring Pond
Camp Lion is nestled close to Spring Pond, historically known as a retreat spot. Famous historic writers, Alonzo Lewis and Samuel W. Cole, wrote about the breathtaking presence these areas have.
"I never witnessed any growth that awakened my admiration more. Not withstanding the injuries sustained by fires, and other wanton encroachments, the whole region about the beautiful sheet of water long known as Spring Pond, whose waters supply the city of Salem with elixer of life, is made beautiful by their verdure."
by Samuel W. Cole, writer, historian, educator
