Six decades of doing school differently.
Founded 1961. Still going strong.
Cedarbrook was founded by Margaret Halsey, an educator and naturalist, with a small group of Portland parents who believed elementary school could be something more. The school was built on three tenets: respect for self, respect for others, and respect for nature. Those roots still run through everything we do — 65 years later.
Respect for Self
Students develop confidence and self-awareness through meaningful learning experiences.
Respect for Others
Community care and understanding are woven into the fabric of daily life.
Respect for Nature
Environmental stewardship and outdoor learning are foundational.
A school that grew with its community
Cedarbrook's Founding
Margaret Halsey founds Cedarbrook School with a small group of Portland parents. Starts as K–3, sharing space with a church annex on Forest Avenue.
First Full Class
Cedarbrook graduates its first 3rd-grade class — eight students, all of whom were in the very first kindergarten cohort. A few even returned as parents decades later.
A Permanent Home
Cedarbrook moves into its current campus on Forest Avenue, expanding the outdoor classroom, garden, and natural play spaces that still anchor the school.
Cedarbrook Expands to K–5
The school grows to six grade levels, adding a small gymnasium, art studio, and woodworking shop. Branches (4–5) becomes its own pod.
The Canopy is Built
Cedarbrook adds grades 6–8, becoming a full K–8 school. The new middle school program — called Canopy — keeps the small-classroom feel while introducing departmental teachers, lab science, and a capstone project.
The 8th Grade Capstone
Every Canopy student now leaves Cedarbrook with a year-long capstone project — researched, written, and presented to the whole school community.
Student Author Summit
Cedarbrook launches its yearly Student Author Summit, where 2nd–8th graders write, illustrate, and bind their own books, then share them with a guest author.
If I were to show the school to a new parent, frankly, the only thing that I would do is show them the 8th graders. The confidence, the poise, the language, the vocabulary.Theo, class of '25
Cedarbrook got me ready for high school by teaching me to stand up for myself and to stand up for others.Lena, class of '24
Understanding the history is one piece
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