As of the 2026 school year, we will be located on our new 4-acre property, nestled between Newberg and Sherwood on Corral Creek Road. (previously located at Camp Tilikum)
2026-2027 tuition is a $600 registration + $5150/yr per learner paid over 9 months. Sibling discounts are a 10% tuition reduction for the second learner and 20% for the third.
K-8th grade equivalents.
While we expose children to the importance of mindful spirituality and stress the historical importance of Christianity to the development of Western Civilization, we do not promote any one religion.
School begins after Labor Day and ends by Memorial Day. Breaks throughout the year are determined by our quest/project schedule which last about 4 to 6 weeks of focused work followed by 1 week off. Many breaks align with local school calendars, including Thanksgiving, Winter and Spring breaks.
School days are 8:45-3:15pm Monday-Friday
We can accommodate up to 45 learners from K-8th grade
We’re Matt & Brittani Johnson and our 5 children ages 8 to 16. We graduated from George Fox University and have been running businesses in Oregon ever since. We gained a passion for alternative schooling in 2020 and look forward to many years serving our community in this way.
We chose the name as play on both the forming of raw materials into something strong and useful and forging one’s own path. Fingerprints, topo maps, Damascus steel, no two are alike and we incorporated this imagery into our identity.
Brittani Johnson is the Spark guide (K-2nd), Rachael Boyle is the Explorers guide (3rd-6th), and Matt Johnson and Rachael Boyle guide Navigators (7th-8th)
We respect and incorporate Maria Montessori’s philosophy but we are not a Montessori school. We also use the latest interactive technologies, hands on projects and the Socratic Method for discussions. Our Spark studio does follow the Montessori method very closely during the morning portion of the school day, and is a low-tech environment.
We believe that each of us has a special calling in life, and a series of trials and tests that must be faced with integrity and purpose, in order to live a satisfying and fulfilled life. Our mission is to prepare your child for his or her special journey.
We believe that children learn best when working with children younger and older than themselves rather than split up into groups based solely on age. In addition to individualized curriculum, all ages of students work together in groups. We have 3 age groups: K-2nd, 3rd-6th, 7th-8th.
We are not trained to serve children with serious learning disabilities but may be able to serve young heroes with dyslexia if they receive outside support.
We believe each of our students will find a passion — something they love and have a gift to do. They will use this gift to serve others and fulfill a need they are passionate about in the world. This may be by becoming a shoe-shiner who tells stories and makes people’s day just by doing his job with love and vigor; it may be by becoming a coach who sees the light in a child’s eyes and guides her to pursue a dream; it may be by becoming a father or mother who leads a family on a Hero’s Journey; it may be becoming an entrepreneur or business leader guided by compassion and integrity; or it may be by becoming an artist or writer who brings beauty to people’s lives.
Yes, Forge is IALDS accredited. More information is available here. https://ialds.org/
