What is CBI Forest School?

CBI Forest School is a daycare, preschool, and elementary school where children experience the rhythms of Jewish life by using the natural world as their classroom. Run by Congregation Beth Israel (Charlottesville’s only synagogue), CBIFS school serves approximately 100 Jewish and non-Jewish students ages 18 months through Grade 4. Our new location would have the capacity for up to 144 students.

What is unique about CBI Forest School?

We are the only full-time Jewish nature based school in the country and the largest nature-based preschool in Virginia. In 2022, Director Jill Abbey-Clark won a prestigious Covenant Award for Jewish educators, honoring innovation and dedication to education and the development of children in an ever changing world.

As the largest forest preschool in the area, CBI Forest School offers children the outdoors as a springboard to inquiry and development. By using a nature-based curriculum, children become stewards of the land while also growing with the rhythms of their natural development. Children develop skills such as agency, resilience, independence, flexibility, empathy, intention and cooperation, by engaging in outdoor activities.

The Forest School is also a great place to work. In a challenging time for hiring and maintaining high-quality teachers, the Forest School’s teacher tenure averages over 10 years, demonstrating the dedication to the philosophy and care of the community.

How does the Forest School support the local Jewish community? 

CBI Forest School is the only Jewish Day School in Central Virginia. (The closest option for another Jewish school is based in Richmond.). The majority of students (75%) are Jewish. Of those, 90% have one parent who is Jewish and one who is not. We are proud to employ and collaborate with educators and staff who come to us from diverse local Jewish institutions, from UVA’s Hillel to Hegyion Orchard/Farfield Farm.

How does the Forest School support the local need for early childhood education? 

As is well-documented, the Charlottesville-Albemarle region has a far greater demand for early childhood education than there are slots. The Forest School currently has 60 slots for children aged 18 months-4 years olds. By operating out of Dudley Mountain, CBIFS would become only the third local early childhood education facility located south of Interstate 64 and Scottsville.

Where is the Forest School now? Why can’t it stay there? 

During the pandemic, the school operated at Camp Holiday Trails as facilities were already in existence there to meet our needs as an outdoor school. Cabins were transformed into classrooms, fulfilling the needs of indoor space. We submitted for a special use permit in 2023 for an existing developed property off of Owensville Road to convert it to a school, but ran into prohibitive costs due to site access issues coupled with a 10 year lease that caused us to withdraw that application. CBI Forest School is currently hosted at a temporary location in Charlottesville, a site at which we will be unable to remain due to the construction of new housing units planned for 2025. The land off of Dudley Mountain Road will allow the Forest School to establish roots in a permanent location to continue serving young children and families in our area.

What’s a special use permit? Why does CBIFS need it?

A Special Use Permit is a permission granted by the local government to allow a land use that is not typically permitted in a specific zoning district, but may be allowed after review of its potential impacts on the surrounding area.

In Albemarle County, schools can only be built on land that is zoned commercial (which is just 5% of the land in the county). The property on Dudley Mountain Road is zoned rural. In order to build a school there, CBIFS needs a Special Use Permit. CBIFS applied for a Special Use Permit, which will be discussed at an Albemarle County Planning Commission meeting in May. The Planning Commission makes a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, who ultimately votes on whether to grant the Special Use Permit.

What is the timeline for the Forest School’s Special Use Permitting process?

The Special Use Permit application will be discussed by the Albemarle County Planning Commission at a public meeting, with a target date of May 13, 2025. They will make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, who will vote at their meeting with a target date of July 16, 2025.

I support the Forest School, I just don’t want it to be on Dudley Mountain. Isn’t there somewhere else it can go?

Unfortunately, a denial of a permit to operate out of Dudley Mountain Road would likely mean that the Forest School would not be able to continue. The expenditures associated with the special use permitting process are very high. Additionally, there is no other rural plot suitable for the school. This is our last best bet to establish the Forest School for this generation of children, and their children. 

Before the purchase of 1648 Dudley Mountain Rd In 2023, the former owner of the 165-acre property began to propose building a dense, for-profit subdivision on the land and an adjacent parcel. In order to prevent this development or anything similar on this land, a local couple who resides nearby purchased the property. When they found out that the Forest School could use the land ecologically, with a small development footprint relative to the large acreage, they chose to donate the land to CBI. This couple does not have children and are not members of Congregation Beth Israel. After the scope of the construction is approved, the donors will extinguish all the division rights with a conservation easement.

Neighbors on Dudley Mountain Road are concerned about protecting the wilderness of their neighborhood. How will the establishment of CBI Forest School support this goal?

CBI Forest School is deeply committed to the protection of the natural environment. Through a conservation easement as a part of its acquisition of the Dudley Mountain Road property, CBIFS will maintain the wilderness of this area of Albemarle County in perpetuity.

A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or conservation organization that limits the future development of a property. The goal of a conservation easement is to protect the natural resources of the land, such as wildlife habitats, water quality, and scenic areas.

After the scope of the construction is approved, the donors will extinguish all the division rights and rights to develop beyond the master plan with a conservation easement. The conservation easement process will begin once the master plan for the property is finalized in the next 1-2 years. The land donor has consulted with two local conservation easement experts, who are both confident there will be no issue in finding an easement holder to accept this property.

Additionally, CBI has already enrolled in the Department of Forestry Hardwood Initiative, with the first phase of activity focused on removing invasive species along the stream bisecting the property. CBI has also enrolled in the James River Buffer Program to remove invasive species and plant hardwoods in the riparian areas along either side of Dudley Mountain Road.