About OAK

The OAK (Outdoor Adventures for Kids) Learning Center is a nature-based four-year-old kindergarten at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.

The OAK Learning Center provides an experience that nurtures physical, social, emotional and early academic skills by fostering appreciation for the outdoors through nature-based discovery and purposeful play.

The District has partnered with the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary and the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay to offer a 4-year-old kindergarten program called the Oak Learning Center. Students in this half-day program spend their time outside at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, exploring and learning about nature while preparing for 5-year-old kindergarten. A certified teacher and naturalist work together to facilitate the course.

Through this program, students have the opportunity to develop a love for wildlife and nature conservation at an early age while learning skills needed to succeed throughout their school career.

This innovative public school choice program is open to all 4K students in the Green Bay Area Public School District attendance area, and is tuition free. Oak Learning Center Nature-based 4K is a choice program, and transportation to and from the class is not provided by the District.

University educators, public school educators, Wildlife Sanctuary staff and dedicated community members have actively partnered to plan and implement this unique educational opportunity. This partnership is a true collaboration for the betterment of the local community and future generations.

The Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary is a beautiful 560-acre urban wildlife refuge featuring live animal exhibits, educational displays, miles of hiking/skiing trails and various wildlife viewing opportunities.

It is the environmental connections and attitudinal development of environmental education, along with sensory and play-based learning of early childhood, that come together to form a powerful education experience in a nature-based preschool.