18 months to 2
Seedlings
Primary caregiver model. Low-ratio, language-rich days with a lot of outdoor time, messy play, and real naps.
- Ratio
- 1 : 4
- Tuition
- From $1,840 / mo
Fall 2026 enrollment openAges 18 months to 5 years
(503) 555-0126Hawthorne, Portland · Since 2019
A little school, made by hand.
A nature-forward play school for ages 18 months through five. Mixed-age classrooms, primary caregivers, ninety minutes outside every day, and a lunch nobody wants to leave.
- 4.9 · 127 Google reviews
- Oregon ELD licensed
- 90 min / day outdoors
Fall 20266 tour slots left
Tour the campus
Forty-five minutes with Margaret. You’ll visit every classroom in session and leave with a printed tuition packet.
- When
- Tues & Thurs
- 10 a.m. / 2 p.m.
- Age range
- 18 months to 5
- Four programs
Tours fill three weeks out · waitlist application included
Programs
Four rooms. One rhythm.
Named by the children years ago and never re-branded since. Every room shares the same day (the same circle, the same lunch, the same forest), scaled to the age of the kids in it.
2 to 3
Sprouts
Emergent curriculum, toilet-learning support, and long stretches of uninterrupted play. First real friendships start here.
- Ratio
- 1 : 6
- Tuition
- From $1,640 / mo
3 to 4
Saplings
Mixed-age classrooms with project work, studio time, and weekly forest walks. Reading, writing, and number sense woven in.
- Ratio
- 1 : 8
- Tuition
- From $1,520 / mo
4 to 5
Kindergarten Prep
Portfolio-based assessment, public-school transition support, and the part we love most: long, self-directed studio days.
- Ratio
- 1 : 10
- Tuition
- From $1,420 / mo
A day, end to end
The same unhurried shape, every day.
Children know the shape of the day within a week. Predictable rhythm is how small humans stay regulated. We don’t rotate stations every fifteen minutes, and we don’t run a different schedule on Fridays.
Mins outside
90
Hot meals
2
Rest block
1h
- 8:00
Slow arrival
Unhurried drop-off with a greeting from a primary teacher.
- 9:00
Morning circle
Songs, stories, and the day's intentions in mixed-age groups.
- 9:45
Outdoor block
Ninety minutes outside. Rain gear provided. We mean it.
- 11:30
Family-style lunch
Chef-prepared, seasonal, served at low tables with real plates.
- 12:30
Rest & quiet
Nappers nap. Non-nappers read, draw, or build quietly.
- 2:15
Studio & work
Art, music, clay, project work. Long stretches, no rotating stations.
- 4:30
Gentle pickup
Garden wind-down. Parents linger. Nobody is waiting at a door.
Philosophy
Four things we won’t compromise on.
Everything else is negotiable. These four are not.
Outside, most days.
Ninety minutes of daily outdoor play, rain or shine. The rain-gear closet is stocked. We don't cancel for weather.
Mixed-age classrooms.
Three- to five-year-olds learn together. Younger children stretch toward the older ones; older children lead and teach.
Primary caregivers.
Each child has a named primary teacher. Drop-off, pickup, portfolios, and parent conferences all run through one person.
Emergent curriculum.
We follow the children. Projects last days, weeks, or months depending on interest, not the calendar.
Teachers
Named people. Real training.
Every teacher on campus has a credential, a name, and a classroom they stay in for the year. Continuity is how small kids build trust.
Margaret Bowen, M.Ed.
Founding Director · 18 years teaching
Bank Street College of Education · Reggio Emilia fellowship · OR ELD certified
Margaret opened Willow & Wren in 2019 after twelve years running a public-school kindergarten. She still teaches circle three mornings a week.
Rohan Tadesse
Studio Teacher · Seedlings lead
PCC Early Childhood · Infant Massage certified · 9 years in Reggio settings
Rohan leads the Seedlings room. He ran a parent-toddler co-op for six years before joining Willow & Wren, and keeps the day at a toddler's pace.
Aisha Kaur
Lead Teacher · Saplings + Kindergarten Prep
PSU M.Ed. · Forest School practitioner · ORELC member
Aisha leads the mixed-age 3 to 5 room and the forest program. Wednesdays are her forest day. The kids walk out the gate at 9:15 and come back muddy.
Tuition, honestly
One number, everything included.
We don’t itemize art supplies, field-trip fees, or snack fees. If your child uses it at school, it’s in the monthly rate.
- Two hot meals + a snack daily
- All studio materials + supplies
- Weekly forest days + trips
- Music, movement, and studio specialists
- Semester portfolio + parent conferences
- First aid, CPR, and MESH-trained staff
See full tuitionSliding-scale + sibling discounts available
What families say
4.9 stars. 127 reviews.
Touring four schools in Southeast, this was the only one where the kids were visibly running their own day. Our son started in Sprouts and two years later still talks about the forest on Wednesdays.
The primary-caregiver model completely changed how drop-off felt. Margaret knew our daughter's real name, her fake name, her stuffed owl's name, and her bedtime on week two.
As an educator myself, I wanted to see real emergent curriculum, not a rebranded theme-of-the-week. Willow & Wren is the real thing. The project documentation binders are stunning.
Honest tuition, honest ratios, honest rain policy. We're paying more than we did in Seattle and it is unambiguously worth it. Lunch alone is better than ours at home.
Questions
The honest answers.
Can’t find yours? Email Margaret directly at hello@willowandwren.example.
What's the tour like?
Forty-five minutes, Tuesdays or Thursdays at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. You'll visit every classroom while it's in session, spend twenty minutes with Margaret, and leave with a packet covering tuition, ratios, calendar, and our waitlist policy.
Is there a waitlist?
Usually. Seedlings fills eighteen months out, Sprouts and Saplings typically six to nine. We reserve two mid-year spots in each room for families moving to Portland. We know how hard that can be.
What does tuition include?
Two chef-prepared meals and a snack daily, all materials, field trips and forest days, parent conferences, and a semester portfolio. We don't charge extra for anything short of overnight camp.
Do you offer sibling or sliding-scale tuition?
Yes to both. Sibling discount is 10% on the younger child's tuition. Sliding-scale (needs-based) spots open each spring. We reserve 12% of seats for families below 80% of Portland median income.
What about kindergarten transitions?
We actively support the jump to public or independent kindergarten. Our K-Prep teacher writes narrative reports to the receiving school, and we host a kindergarten-transition panel in May with alumni families.
Full-day vs. part-time?
Most families pick full-day (8 to 5:30). We offer a true part-time schedule (MWF or TTh) in Sprouts and Saplings, with identical curriculum and snack-ratios to the full-day children.
Hawthorne · Portland
Visit the campus
Southeast, off Hawthorne.
Two buildings on a half-acre lot: a 1920s craftsman house for Seedlings and Sprouts, and a purpose-built barn for Saplings and Kindergarten Prep. The whole campus wraps a central garden.
Hours
- Monday8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Tuesday8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Wednesday8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Thursday8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Friday8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- SaturdayClosed
- SundayClosed
Come meet the whole little crew.
Tuesdays and Thursdays. Forty-five minutes. Rain gear optional but encouraged.