Treehouse Learning doesn’t just excel in quality Early Childhood Education! We are also a leader in sustainability recognized with the highest award in the state through the Colorado Green Business Network
Tucked into an acre-size enclave southeast of Baseline and Highway 42 in Lousiville, you can catch a glimpse of Treehouse Learning from the highway, if you know when to look! The architectural landmark is a gem of the Indian Peaks neighborhood, with origami-folded rooflines over an octagonal atrium flanked by hexagonal spokes. Look closely and you can spot mature trees, a rooftop solar array, or a towering bloom of bright yellow Maximilian Sunflower, gigantic sentinels of native-flower pollinator habitat.
Founded in 1997 by Dr. Nancy and Larry Benson, Treehouse Learning has long been a leader in Early Childhood Education, with a mission to help generations of children learn, grow, and thrive. Serving ~115 infant, toddler, preschool, and Kindergarten children with a staff of ~35, even the name and logo invoke being “at home” in nature. As a second-generation, independent family business led by co-owner/ mother-of-four Amy Benson May, Treehouse Learning has emerged as a sustainable business leader through the Colorado Green Business Network’s Gold-level recognition for sustainable business practices in operations and facilities.
In September 2024, Treehouse Learning also bested semi-finalist, Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, to win Colorado’s highest honor– the 24-Karat Gold Challenge Cup, a competitive award (think Stanley Cup of Sustainability) for incorporation of environmental stewardship and ecological literacy into our daily curriculum through a series of organically blossoming initiatives that involved children, families, and our entire community.
Treehouse Learning was also recognized at the Gold achievement level through a points-based recognition program of sustainability measures in our facilities and business operations, including policy and leadership and resource reductions in the areas of energy, water, transportation, purchasing, and waste. While we were proud to join an elite group of Gold-level business leaders across the state, Treehouse Learning became determined to win the 24Karat Challenge knowing that our commitment to sustainability goes far beyond business practices and into the very nature and purpose of our existence as a business- to help children grow and thrive.
Because we care for children, we care for their future and the planet!
Treehouse Learning stewards the program vision as a mission-driven organization on behalf of children, families, teachers, community, country and planet. Tasked with the care and education of our planet’s youngest citizens, Treehouse Learning has always understood that caring for children, by necessity, means caring for their future on the planet. Inspired by an African Proverb, “What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help a child to learn,” Treehouse Learning offers a nature-rich Montessori and Regio Emilia-inspired, play-based curriculum that encourages children to form relationships with the natural world, and engage in deep, meaningful learning through engagement with the natural world, via a whole-child approach nourishing children’s intellectual, physical, and social development as human beings.
Ecological literacy and environmental stewardship is embedded into all aspect of our daily routines and curriculum. Through inviting even our smallest infants to engage with the living, natural world that they are a part of, our expectation is that joyful and positive relationships with nature and the natural world, and empowerment to be a responsible participant who is part of a natural, created world, will shape children throughout their lives, as well as influence their families, communities, and planet over a lifetime.
“What you help a child to love can be more important than what you help a child to learn.”- African Proverb
Treehouse Learning’s award-winning project sprouted in late spring 2023, after a parent facilitated a donation of low-water, native pollinator plants from Resource Central’s Garden-In-A-Box program. After removing ornamental Kentucky Blue Grass, Summer Camp children planted the first Pollinator Garden, and a focus on nature-inspired learning and discovery spread like dandelions. Toddlers, preschoolers, and Kindergarten students planted veggies in raised-bed planters on playgrounds, which were proudly featured in chef-prepared lunches, along with locally grown produce. Dozens of community-based educational outreach presenters lead workshops, featuring organizations like Growing Gardens, EcoCycle, Garden-to-Table, and Lafayette Open Space.
Kindergarteners and Summer Campers walked to Greenlee Wildlife Preserve at Waneka Lake for nature-based field trips. Inside, Treehouse Learning’s interior is a living art gallery extolling the beauty of nature, featuring impressive montages of children’s artwork inspired by nature, made with natural materials, or made from repurposed/recycled materials. At Big Circle, a daily, community-wide gathering, children sing songs about pollinators and trees. Classroom vegetable gardens invited children to learn about the water cycle and the lifecycles of seeds, plants, and living things while digging in the dirt. We also incorporated locally grown veggies into our food program and even experimented with sending home the garden bounty to families to enjoy at home.
In the fall of 2023, Treehouse Learning partnered with Play Boulder’s Tree Trust program to plant 13 locally-grown, resilient trees well-suited to Colorado’s variable climate. Indigenous group, Harvest of All First Nations shared Hopi Blue Corn, planted into a Three-Sisters garden, a traditional combination of corn, beans, and pumpkins. The public-adjacent land around the building continues to evolve into intentional outdoor classrooms for the benefit of our entire community, including pollinators!
Treehouse Learning occupies a unique position where the nature of our business allows us to impact not just children, but entire families and communities directly. Treehouse Learning is proud to be a leader in early childhood education, a model for sustainability, and win this award on behalf of ALL children!