Who We Are
This is what teaching looks like when the system is on your side.
“Laura has created a beautiful learning place for these kids. Questions are encouraged, answered, and explained, silliness is a way of life, and every kid is given the attention they need. I have never met someone as in tune with small children and their emotional and developmental needs than Laura. It's a beautiful community.”
— Parent
Laura Engel //
Sylva School Founder
Dear Families,
There is something sacred about childhood.
It lives in the quiet moments, in muddy hands and wandering thoughts, in the way a child can lose track of time because they are exactly where they are meant to be.
I have spent years watching that kind of childhood unfold.
And I have also watched how easily it can be interrupted.
Not all at once, but slowly.
In the rush.
In the expectations.
In comparisons to other students.
In the micromanaging of the daily school schedule.
In the quiet ways children begin to look outward for approval instead of inward for knowing.
Sylva School was created as a way to hold onto what matters most.
A place where your child does not have to rush out of who they are.
Where they are trusted to explore, to question, to take their time becoming.
Where learning exists, but does not take over.
Sylva School was created as a promise to hold onto the version of childhood that honors a child’s right to learn at their pace, to feel important, to be held in their emotions, and to have the kind of support that motivates them intrinsically.
Here, academics are focused and adaptive, making room for something just as important, a full childhood.
Time to play.
Time to belong.
Time to take risks, to fail, to try again.
Time to build confidence that comes from within.
Time to experience the world as it is, through movement, exploration, and a living relationship with the city they call home.
Because growth does not happen on a fixed timeline.
It happens in environments where children feel safe enough to be fully themselves.
Sylva, meaning forest, reflects that belief. That children, like nature, are not meant to be rushed or shaped into sameness but supported as they grow in their own way.
If something in you is searching for a different path, one that feels more aligned with the sanctity of childhood, more human, truer to your child, you are not alone in that feeling.
This is why Sylva School exists.
Sincerely,
Laura
Carla Campos //
Teacher & Operations Manager
A California native born and raised in Davis, and the eldest of seven kiddos. I have spent a lot of time understanding child development from various perspectives.
Through my education as an undergraduate and graduate student, to my jobs spanning biological research, teacher’s aide, student translator, educational puppeteer, graduate course instructor, and many more. I’ve come to establish a library of how human development looks and works. Here at Sylva School I’m adding more to that library connecting child-led play, emotional regulation, and human development with adaptive outdoor learning.
Fun Facts: I’ve been volunteering at the California Raptor Center for the last year, helping with rehabilitation and care of wild + resident raptors.
Sylva School
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Sylva School is rooted in the timeless, research-backed tradition of Scandinavian forest schools, which develops personal, social, and emotional skills, and we’re infusing it with a cutting-edge adaptive learning platform so that you have a well-rounded happy kid.
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Sylva School is built around a simple belief: self‑regulation is a superpower, and children develop it best through nature, child-led play, and healthy relationships.
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Our goal is to guide each child to self-regulation, reflection, handle stress and disappointment, and choose a healthy, meaningful path.
The combination of being grounded in nature and using technology as a tool to support individual learning will equip your kid to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Our Teachers & Staff
We believe that if something can't be modeled, it shouldn't be taught. Teachers get real-time mastery data and the room to respond to each child as an individual.
We believe in simple ideas, strong relationships, and lasting impact. Every member of our team trains daily in trauma-informed communication grounded in neuroscience. They've done the work to understand how they respond under pressure and how to regulate themselves before they help a child do the same. Regulation comes before instruction. Always.
As mentors, they watch for subtle signals so they can step in early, respond without escalation, and hold space in a way that makes growth feel safe in every situation. They listen, observe, and celebrate the journey as much as the wins so that each child feels genuinely understood, not managed.
