What is CBI Forest School?

CBI Forest School (“CBIFS”) is not your typical school. Our students, aged 18 months through nine years, use the natural, outdoor world as their classroom. Run by the historic Congregation Beth Israel, founded in Charlottesville in 1881, our small student body is made up of Jewish and non-Jewish families. We are an intimate community with 91 current students, representing 66 families. Curriculum centers around our core values: celebrating individuality, awakening to the world, fostering community, and engaging in joyful learning. Our teachers emphasize tikkun olam, repairing the world, while taking care of each other, ourselves, and our planet.

Why Dudley Mountain Road?

A local philanthropist, who is an adjacent Dudley Mountain neighbor, was seeking a way to ensure ecological preservation of this rural area. When the donor family heard that CBIFS needed a rural, forested home, they knew the land was an ideal plot for children to become stewards of the land while growing with the rhythms of their natural development. Alongside the approval of a Special Use Permit, the donors will extinguish all division rights with a permanent conservation easement on the entire 150+ acre parcel, protecting the rural character of the area in perpetuity.

What does Ma’ayan mean?

Ma’ayan is the Hebrew word for a natural spring, the place where water flows up from beneath the ground. It can also mean a source, like a source of wisdom. We hope this land can become a source, a Ma’ayan of spiritual nourishment and joy for our community.

Will a school create a traffic hazard on Dudley Mountain Road?

Neighbors in the area are rightfully concerned about road safety. We are, too. We want to reiterate that CBIFS is a small community - this is not a typical public school. We have staggered pick-up and drop-off times across one hour each to minimize any traffic disruptions to our neighbors. Estimates show that during the peak morning or afternoon windows, the flow of traffic will result in less than two cars per minute.

Moreover, following the successful example of nearby rural communities like Batesville / Plank Road, we are petitioning the county to restrict oversized truck traffic on Dudley Mountain Road.

How will CBIFS affect water supply and water conservation in the Dudley Mountain area?

The estimated water usage for CBIFS is nearly 60% less than the by-right development use. Based on fixtures included in the proposal, CBIFS daily water usage is estimated to be only 683 gallons per day. For comparison, if four homes were built on this site as current zoning allows, water consumption would more than double to 1,640 gallons per day. (According to the EPA, the average water use for one family is 410 gallons per day; therefore, 4 * 410 = 1,640 gallons/day.)

CBIFS site has been designed in keeping with a natural footprint and minimal disruption to the unblemished state of the land. Lighting is used sparingly, at low levels, and directed downward to minimize light pollution. 

How will long-standing hunting rights change in Dudley Mountain?

We support our neighbors’ hunting rights. Current regulations and local firearm ordinances established by the county are available through the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and the Albemarle County Code of Ordinances. We are currently exploring the idea of a deer management program on the property.

What is CBIFS’s long term vision for the future?

We aim to be good neighbors and responsible, respectful stewards of this rural land. We value our neighbors’ opinions and concerns and are always open to conversations.

How long will it take to build CBI Ma’ayan?

Since obtaining a special use permit from Albemarle County in August 2025, we are working with the CBI building committee in partnership with Line and Grade Engineers to work through the site plan. We hope to have a shovel in the ground by next fall and the buildings ready by Fall/Winter 2027

Please reach out anytime to Jill Abbey-Clark at director@cbiforestschool.com.