In 1969, a small group of parents from St. Mark’s United Methodist Church joined together to begin our part-time nursery school program. Starting with one classroom of three-year-olds, a play-based curriculum was designed to foster the physical, emotional, social and cognitive development of young children. The following year, the program expanded to include four year olds. From our inception, required parent participation has elevated our program and created a valuable opportunity for families to experience our classrooms first hand. In celebration of our 10th anniversary, our program expanded to include community outreach events such as “Young at Art” that continues today. We received our initial accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in 1990. We have maintained our accreditation since then, and we take pride in receiving special commendations in the area of teacher-child relationships. In 2000, a building renovation allowed new programming opportunities for both infants and toddlers. Nine years later, we added our long-awaited and cherished kindergarten program. 

We celebrated our 50th year anniversary in 2019 not knowing that the following year would bring the Covid 19 pandemic, requiring immeasurable resolve and adaptability. Finding our way through the few years that followed was both a challenge and an opportunity to grow stronger. Our community’s creativity, passion and resilience during this time served to reignite and reinforce our school’s mission.

As our school continues to grow, administration and teachers look forward to providing a rich experience for families including unique music and literacy experiences, creative opportunities for children to take risks and get messy during play, parent support and education workshops, and greater community events for families. Our staff has a renewed commitment to humility, flexibility and partnership as we learn alongside families. We are grounded in our school’s mission to provide an empowering, play based, child led experience for young children that is rooted in loving relationships, and to helping create community for young families. We cherish our history while embracing the children of our future with an understanding that some things never change—the need for companionship, love, safety and acceptance.