Announcements

As a therapeutic school rooted in nature-based practices, the seasons help keep the pace of learning at Green Chimneys. Fall provides our students with many valuable lessons and at Boni-Bel Farm & Country Store, education comes in both the hands-on and outdoor varieties.
Boni-Bel Farm, just down the road from our Brewster campus, serves as an adjunct to the classroom and a vocational education site for the students of Green Chimneys, as well as a charming farm and country store.
In the fields, Green Chimneys School students interact with nature as they learn about crops and farming. After school programming at Boni-Bel supports skill-building while vocational training extends to the Country Store where students explore operations and customer service in a real retail environment.
Among the many projects students have undertaken at Boni-Bel this semester include:
A bamboo grove is getting a lot of attention these days. Students are helping reshape the grove into an outdoor Zen garden before the arrival of winter. “Like most things, the hardest part is getting started,” explains Program Assistant Ellen Rockett. By working as a team, several of the students have cut a path to the center of one grove. “They’ve really taken interest in repurposing the cut bamboo. Employing their creativity and imagination, one student is making a bench out of the cut canes and a few others are creating wind chimes.”
Nature-based education and hands-on learning support academic growth while also helping children establish essential coping strategies, particularly for our students, many of whom struggle with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. (Read more about our approach here.) Students are growing while doing, and they’re able to practice life skills in the process. At Boni-Bel, students especially enjoy seeing customers appreciate their efforts.
Boni-Bel Farm & Country Store is located at 301 Doansburg Road, Brewster, NY, and is open Monday through Saturday, 10am-4pm. Details
Mark your calendar for Sat, Nov 28 when Holidays on the Farm begins and holiday trees, greens, and more are available. Details
With the completion of an elaborate new habitat built by Green Chimneys’ woodshop students, the Farm Science classroom was able to welcome Brownie into her new home. Brownie previously lived alone in her cage in the farm and wildlife office, but guinea pigs do best in larger environments. The new habitat allows her to live in a herd as she would in the wild, with many places to hide and ways to practice her skills. Brownie has always been a social creature, and she has taken over the guinea pig herd but is a very peaceful leader.