The John Dorr Nature Laboratory at Horace Mann School

JOHN DORR NATURE LABORATORY MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. BOX 290 | WASHINGTON DEPOT, CT 06794 STREET ADDRESS: 121 CARMEL HILL ROAD NORTH BETHLEHEM, CT 06751 | (860) 868-2230

HORACE MANN SCHOOL 231 WEST 246TH STREET | BRONX, NY 10471 (718) 432-4000

www.horacemann.org

The John Dorr Nature Laboratory at

Horace Mann School

Our School Core Values:

A Living Laboratory

• Life of the Mind • Mature Behavior • Mutual Respect • A Secure and Healthful Environment • A Balance Between Individual Achievement

and a Caring Community

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304-acre campus of woods, fields, and streams, nestled in the hills of northwestern Connecticut and vibrant with the sights and sounds of the outdoors, creates a natural wonderland waiting to be experienced by each Horace Mann student. This is the setting of the John Dorr Nature Laboratory – a place that uses the rhythm of the seasons to help students explore changes in themselves and the world around them. This setting becomes a medium for the students’ self-discovery, and through which they can examine their relationships with others, and study the natural environment in new and growth-enhancing ways.

The idea of an outdoor campus was the inspiration of School administrators and John Dorr, an inventor, and friend of the School. Moved by the ancient Greek adage “character is worth,” School personnel believed that it was the duty of schools to provide experiences, both inside and outside the traditional classroom, that nurture a sense of personal worth and responsibility, and an appreciation of the natural environment.

In 1964, this dream became a reality when Nell Dorr gave Horace Mann eighty-five acres of land in Washington, CT, in memory of her husband John. Today’s Dorr campus includes a Gold LEED-certified lodge and multipurpose barn built in 1999, the original Payne lodge, two student bunkhouses, five faculty residences, a 45-foot Cooperative Adventure Tower, Odyssey high-ropes course, multi-surface climbing wall, a private pond, swamplands, wetlands, five miles of trails, and maintenance and support facilities.

An early welcome to Dorr’s natural playground

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he Dorr experience begins for the pre-k, kindergarten and first graders when the Dorr faculty visit the campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx. Programs involve creative play, hands-on apple cider making, and insect exploration.

Students visit Dorr for the first time in the second grade for a one-day program in late May. They spend time exploring the pond and swamp and looking for different life forms, learning how to fish, making crafts, and observing nature through sensory awareness activities.

Third graders spend two days in April expanding on the Native American theme that is part of the academic curriculum. Along with making Native American crafts, the students visit a recreated Native American village and participate in activities that allow them to experience the life and culture of Native Americans in the Northeast.

The three-day fourth grade program serves, in part, as an extension of the grade’s study of stream ecology and weather. The students also pursue creative writing assignments, go swimming and canoeing, work together building cooking fires and cooking for one another, and learn to use unstructured play to form friendships and create adventures.

“I was so excited to sleep at Dorr for the first time. At night, the teachers read us The Lorax and in the morning we all woke up a bit sleepy but ready to start an awesome day full of adventure.”

– Sophia ’24

The fifth grade course uses the metaphor of a journey to assist students as they reflect on their own experience, and explore their relationships with one another as well as their time in the Lower Division. The design includes scientific observation of the environment, astronomy, rock climbing and apple cider making.

Growing up and learning together

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orace Mann’s sixth graders visit Dorr for three days at the start of the school year where a year-long guidance program is initiated.

Designed to enhance the transition into the Middle Division the students engage in activities with their homeroom teachers, the Dorr faculty, and Upper Division student mentors. The program includes problem-solving games, raft building, discussion groups, and activities that encourage and cultivate a respect for the needs and feelings of others.

The seventh grade comes to Dorr for a two-day science program that focuses on geology and stream-ecology concepts by visiting a local river.

The field study and subsequent lab report bridge the gap between conceptual learning and real-world application.

“I loved how everyone worked together. We all listened to each other and supported each other. It was like nothing I had ever done.”

– Casey ’19

“The C.A.T. (Cooperative Adventure Tower) was meaningful to me because it made me explore qualities inside myself and others. One quality I found inside myself was trust. …

When you trust others and yourself it makes that leap of faith easier and more meaningful.”

– Amanda ’19

Easing the transition for eighth graders

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he longest program consists of eight days at the nature lab and is reserved for eighth graders. It is a significant learning experience for many students. The tasks they must accomplish during their stay range from fundamental chores to making tough decisions such as finding their way through the woods with a map and compass in the dark, or distributing equipment equitably for a backpacking trip so that no one is overburdened. As a result students are compelled to think carefully and responsibly in new patterns.

The first four days of the program are spent creating a common experience by introducing students to problem solving activities designed to help students experience themselves and their relationships with others in new and different ways. These activities include learning how to get ten people over a ten-foot wall, climbing the 45-foot Cooperative Adventure Tower (C.A.T.) while students depend on a classmate to belay them, or zipping off the tower on a 300-foot zip wire. The activities require communication, trust, and cooperation. The students go through a great deal of discussing, of discarding of advice, of scoffing and admiring, of feeling first hesitant, and then triumphant – all of which are part of building a community.

The last four days are spent planning and implementing a backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. Although three teachers accompany each of the two groups of eight-to-ten students, the intent of the trip is to allow the students to plan, organize, and carry out the trip as independently as possible.

Ultimately, students are asked to spend time reflecting on their experience, and on how it may be relevant to other aspects of their lives and futures.

Building lasting memories

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he Upper Division orientation is a three-day program designed to welcome students entering Horace Mann for the first time in the ninth grade. The activities introduce the students to the social and academic life of the school, and provide them with an opportunity to form new friendships.

During the year, Upper Division students have an opportunity to participate in a variety of weekend workshops and retreats, including a three-day workshop for Middle Division homeroom mentors and a Peer Leader training program. Clubs and organizations design programs in social justice and diversity training, and different music and theater performing arts groups participate in group-building weekends. Students in Physics and Environmental Studies classes participate in workshops on renewable energy and biodiversity. The school’s Outdoor Club comes for climbing and backpacking trips.

The Searcher Program is a ten-week adaptive Outward Bound program for seniors that meets after school each day and includes four weekend trips. The program is a group experience designed to emphasize the cooperative aspects of learning and living and, to that end, challenge students in mind, body, and spirit through rigorous and contemplative outdoor activities, including backpacking, rock climbing, white-water canoeing, a solo experience, and a five-day student-led final expedition in the Adirondack Mountains. The Searcher experience relies as much on absorbing awareness through emotions as it does consciously acquiring it through intellect.

Each participant is encouraged to move beyond viewing life through the arrested eye of preconceived comfort zones and to embrace oneself with a new sense, a heartfelt sense, of awareness and appreciation.

Finally, each year in June, graduating seniors have an opportunity to share in a celebratory weekend called Senior Dorr, as a special farewell to their classmates and their time at the John Dorr Nature Laboratory and Horace Mann School.

“It made me realize that there’s so much you could be missing by looking down at a screen.”

– Ragan ’19

A lesson for the ages

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he Dorr Nature Laboratory is a place where kids can be kids within a unique learning environment while rising to the occasions that present themselves. They learn the importance of community. It cannot be imposed or asked for, but must grow out of experience. It is a concomitant, not of working together and relying on one another, but of a shared experience of having worked together and having relied upon one another. It is a camaraderie that springs from a respect and affection for one’s companions. Students learn that mutual success hinges on mutual concern, and nothing less.

Gaining this knowledge is one of the many rewards of time spent at Dorr, and one of the lessons students carry into the world.

“At Dorr [we] strip away all those other focuses that distract [us] from the community and all that’s left is the group [we’re] with.

For three days that’s your whole focus, that’s your whole life, just right here. That’s not something you get at school or anywhere else…for me being able to live entirely in the moment and just focus entirely on the group I’m with is something incredibly special and something I’m grateful for.”

– Jack Golub ’15

“As an alum, teacher and parent, I have found Dorr to be a safe space that allows students to discover, appreciate and understand a little bit more about themselves and each other. The magic of Dorr is that students can feel both vulnerable and supported at the same time. Students work together, help one another and have experiences that create everlasting bonds and memories.”

– Susan Delanty ’79, Upper Division Teacher, Dean of Students

The Dorr Community

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orr programs take place under the supervision of a faculty consisting of the Director, Assistant Director, and four other full-time teachers.

Additional support is provided by a full-time nurse, a full-time administrative assistant, on-site maintenance staff and a full-time chef. The Head of School, Division Heads and select faculty members and administrators also work to collaboratively support the Dorr programs.

Programs for each grade are designed to enhance the educational experience at Horace Mann’s other campuses. The philosophical principle that underscores the curriculum at Dorr is the belief that developing a sense of community within a school is essential to creating a positive learning environment. The merits of cooperation are apparent to students from the moment they arrive: whether working together doing Beauty and Order, negotiating obstacles on the high-and-low ropes courses, or successfully completing a backpacking trip, all require a union of effort. Each student is stimulated by age-appropriate activities, experimentation, and risk in order to learn, to grow, and, most important, to nurture a sense of self.

“I loved when Dorr came to the Lower School during Applefest.

We made amazing apple cider!”

– Robbie ’27

Commitment to the environment

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common thread that runs through all programs is one of student awareness, understanding and appreciation for nature. Dorr’s 19,000 square foot LEED-certified lodge and barn represent the school’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Solar roof panels generate thirty percent of the facility’s energy each year, and a live solar data monitoring system allows students to see how much energy is used and generated on a daily basis from the Dorr campus or the main campus in the Bronx. A geothermal pump helps to cool the facilities, further reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Rainwater is recycled for irrigation and sanitation. Sustainability concepts come to life as students compost food for Dorr’s garden, weigh their food waste after each meal, and track their energy and water usage. Students learn how to be stewards of the land by planting trees, gardening, or caring for the forests and fields thereby fostering a connection with the Earth.

“To me, one of the main reasons for coming to Dorr was to make new and lasting friendships, and without free time, it would have been impossible. We all gathered on the couches and talked and played guitar (or at least tried to).”

– Veronica ’19

Dorr and the Broader Community

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he John Dorr Nature Laboratory, its faculty members and facilities, play an important role in the professional and communal life of the School. All new employees participate in an orientation at Dorr showcasing what the Dorr program has available to supplement and enrich instruction taking place on the Manhattan and Bronx campuses. From full-day professional development workshops providing the space and time required for deep thought and extended conversations about the School’s curriculum, to smaller workshops on each of the campuses featuring Dorr faculty members, to grade level specific or division-wide team-building activities, to opportunities for acquiring new pedagogical practices, Dorr is a critical player in the Life of the Mind at Horace Mann School.

The Dorr Annual Family Picnic has become an integral part of the start of each school year, welcoming new and returning families, alumni and their families, and employees and their families. Each year, Dorr faculty members strive to introduce one or more new initiatives designed to strengthen the connections between our Connecticut campus and those in New York.

“Dorr teaches leadership, teamwork, compassion, and good judgement – all in the framework of a wilderness experience with classmates. It introduced me to a new world called ‘Nature’ and a lifelong path of learning from and within her beauty.”

– Josh Bernstein ’89, Former President and CEO, Boulder Outdoor Survival School, inc. (BOSS)

“That was a memorable day for me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck from it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause, you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain …, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link of one memorable day.”

– Charles Dickens Great Expectations

Glossary of Dorr Terms Beauty and Order – each student group maintains Dorr for each other and all subsequent groups. Duties include cooking, washing, cleaning, sweeping, and vacuuming.

Brody Pond – 8-acre pond fed by an adjacent wetlands where students participate in fishing, frog-catching, canoeing, swimming, raft-building, dreaming, and reflecting.

Care and Comfort – Dorr’s own way of providing First-Aid C.A.T. – The Alpine Tower at Dorr is named the Cooperative Adventure Tower.

Circle Ingredients – Guiding our behavior and the way we treat each other at Dorr, the Circle Ingredients include concepts such as treating each other the way we want to be treated and being patient and accepting of everyone.

Dorr Dog – a scrumptiously inviting way to experience how to cook a hot dog over an open fire (4th Grade only) Dorr’mores – two chocolate chip cookies with a roasted marshmallow in between.

Know Your Resources – one of the hallmarks of Dorr is instilling independence. Dorr teachers consistently ask students to examine their available resources.

Mud Suckers – The Mudsuckers live in the stream and survive on a steady diet of kid-sized rubber boots.

Nell’s – Bunkhouse for visiting students named for Nell Dorr Odyssey – Longitudinal high-ropes course designed to be attempted in pods of 8 students.

Payne Lodge – Named for an HM faculty member from the pre-Dorr days, Payne was the original Lodge on the Dorr campus and still houses second, third, and fourth-grade programs.

VanAlstyne – Bunkhouse for visiting students, named for the Van Alstyne Family

“In the Odyssey, (high-ropes course), I was able to bond with people I would have never talked to at school. I was able to see unexpected sides and personalities of friends or others.”

Important Phone Numbers

– Miyu ’19

Glenn Sherratt Director

(860) 868-2230 x2

Nick DePreter Assistant Director

(860) 868-2230 x3

Lorna Francis Administrative Assistant

(860) 868-2230 x1

Care & Comfort (Nurse)

(860) 868-2230 x9

After Hours (9:30p.m.-7:30a.m.)

Emergency Telephone Number When Students are in Residence

(646) 531-3855

Design: © Peapod Design, Norwalk, CT

Directions to Campus Directions from Riverdale Take the Saw Mill River Parkway North to Route 684 North.

Follow Route 684 to Route 84 East (Danbury, CT). Stay on 84 East for approximately 26 miles to Exit 15 (Southbury, Woodbury).

Go down the ramp and turn left on to Route 6. Follow Route 6 for about 5 miles to the intersection of Route 47. Turn left on to Route 47 and go about 1 mile to Route 132. Bear right on to Route 132 and follow it for about 4.3 miles to Carmel Hill Road North (look for a grass island in the road). Turn left on to Carmel Hill Road North and go 0.7 miles to a driveway on your left, 121 Carmel Hill Road North, Bethlehem, CT. Follow the driveway for 1.3 miles until it ends.

Alternate route: The Cross County Expressway to the Hutchinson Parkway to route 684 north or the Major Deegan to 287 East to 684 North.