Starting
My niece Bernadette was 5, and our son Anthony was 4 when the front sign went up, a gift from my parents.
Our first location in a crooked white house was historical, meaning that 14 people needed to have a meeting if we wanted to change the shutter color.
I loved telling people that I was calling from our world headquarters, aka the spare bedroom.
We used every square inch of the house - Ms Sara did tutoring and Ms Donna did laundry - as well as cooked - in the kitchen.
Christmas Parties
All 12 of our staff came to our humble but really fun first Christmas party – we played Pictionary in the preschool classroom
Now we love to host all 115 staffers in a ballroom, with awards, tons of raffles, school photos with their hype songs, and two desserts each – one boxed to take home!
Construction
We started the process to add on to the building after only 2 years running, which was a good thing because we fought the city for a year before the addition was approved.
Will had the breakout idea to open a second location. Michael, now a college freshman, loved visiting the site in Streetsboro.
Twinsburg filled so quickly that we added on to this building within a year.
We only looked at Avon because we didn’t think Twinsburg was ever going to get approved! Then both opened within 7 months of each other!
North Ridgeville has been really delayed because of the shutdown, but it has 20 years of design in it, a wonderful reward for waiting.
We quickly realized that we loved the built-in book cases and window seats and they are now in every building.
July 4th Parades
Joanna, a teacher here and now our VP of Operations, and I manned the banner in front of a boat that one of our clients volunteered to let us use for our first parade.
Now a beloved tradition, the school bus leads the way for an armada of families, wagons, and bikes.
Concerts
Our first Christmas concerts were small but sweet and held at the local elementary school.
Now we fill the local high school auditorium with enthusiastic parents and grandparents! We’ve been told by some grandmas that it’s the height of their holidays.
Graduations
We just had to come through with a big event for our families, even during the shutdown. So we got creative and had graduation outdoors!
Now a beloved tradition, and originally Will’s idea, we make graduation a big production, complete with Pomp & Circumstance, gowns, and diplomas.
Staff Life
We are always trying to outdo ourselves with each holiday. We found the secret to not scaring the kids is to put our costumes on in front of them, so they see the transformation.
When an unexpected 7 tons of equipment came too soon for opening Twinsburg, the Streetsboro staff stepped up and unloaded it into their music room.
Ms Illya, one of our 10+ year teachers, inspires other teachers to practice the Montessori method.
Pictures with teachers and classmates become cherished keepsakes, and show us how much we age!
Volunteering at the Avon Easter egg hunt lets us wear bunny ears without questions!
Dinner and games are a must at our staff meetings – here we get familiar with the new building by having a race for items using the kids’ shopping carts!
Mrs. K, one of our +10 year teachers, brings the grandma love!
One of our staff-created extravaganzas is the hall decorating contest. The kids love it!