Sarah Besse, Co-Founder & Executive Director

Sarah is passionate about developing innovative early education opportunities that engage the whole child and that foster joy and creativity.

Sarah is passionate about developing innovative early education opportunities that engage the whole child and that foster joy and creativity. To achieve this goal, she draws on experiences that have taught her to value a deep connection to nature as essential for the well-being of individuals, communities, and our planet. Sarah's work at BOPN is also driven by research showing the benefits of extended time in nature for young children: deep appreciation for our environment; better agility, balance, and coordination; more imaginative forms of play; stress reduction; and improvements in confidence, social skills, language, motivation, concentration, resiliency, and critical thinking. Previously, she taught at a Montessori preschool and reimagined the boat building program at a Boston public school. Moving forward, Sarah is excited to start new programs and to partner with public schools to make nature-based early ed accessible to more children. Sarah has Montessori certification, a Masters of Science in Early Childhood Education from Wheelock College, and a B.A. in history from Carleton College.