Forest Friends of the KP, the community’s first licensed full-time preschool, plans to open its doors to two classes of 15 children in October. It’s not doors that students will enter, but a path through the woods to outdoor classrooms. The nature-based school, located on the grounds of the Key Peninsula Lutheran Church in Lakebay, is the culmination of months of work, planning and vision.
Kim Shaw, director of the Key Peninsula Cooperative Preschool, did not have a nature-based preschool in mind when her team applied for a grant from Pierce County to bring childcare to the area. They intended to offer a full-time program for children from 3 months to 5 years of age at the Lakebay Community Church. Permitting requirements and a lack of local infrastructure disrupted their plans, and they could not find an existing indoor space that could be converted to a childcare space with their existing budget. (See “Co-op Preschool Works to Bring Childcare to the KP,” June 2024)
But they were determined to find other ways to provide much-needed services to the KP. “We have never done this before, but we have decided we are going to learn how to do it,” Shaw said. “When our first plans fell through, we let our indoor licensor know what we wanted to do, and she was super excited and sent us to the outdoor licensors.”
The Lutheran Church offered the use of its 10 acres of forest — the state allows children 2-and-a half-years and older to attend outdoor schools with up to three children per acre — and volunteers cleared two classrooms with trails. Tents will provide shelter.
The outdoor licensor visited the site and recommended that they run a summer camp to practice. They offered camp sessions in July, August and September.
“I understand why she recommended the summer camp,” Shaw said. “We are learning an awful lot. A mixed-age group works better in the forest rather than separating them into age groups of bigs and littles. We are finding the bigger kids know how to do things and can show the little ones. It’s better for both.”
The preschool is learning the curriculum as well and has joined the Washington Nature Preschool Association. “I follow the Reggio Emilia philosophy, and we are translating that outdoors,” Shaw said. “But we also want to do the forest school philosophy that they follow in Europe. It has some different angles. They believe in allowing kids to do risky play compared to more typical preschools.”
Staffing for the forest school will be one adult per five students, a lower ratio than the one to seven required for indoor preschools.
Shaw is responsible for curriculum development and staff oversight. Christine Luna, who came to the project as a cooperative preschool parent (she has four children ranging in age from 2 to 9), oversees operations and fundraising.
Shaw worked in Montana in the field of early childhood education before moving to the Pacific Northwest 10 years ago. She moved to the Key Peninsula in 2020 and became the director of the cooperative preschool when it reopened after the pandemic. She has a background in family and human development and a master’s degree in early childhood education.
Luna has an undergraduate degree in early childhood development, worked in youth programs with a parks department, and then joined the staff at the Union Gospel Mission in fund development. She wrote parenting articles for several years during the time she was home with her children.
Preschool hours will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The cost will be $1,275 a month, the amount Washington state will pay for families needing subsidized care. Families who qualify for subsidies will have no additional cost. “We want to be as affordable as possible,” Shaw said. At press time they had filled 22 of the 30 available spots.
Care, before and after, will be available indoors at the Lutheran Church for an additional fee.
Luna said there are plans for the future and hopes to open at other sites, partnering with Key Pen Parks. Each site would have its own director and unique character, depending on the site director’s vision.
“The sky’s the limit,” Luna said. “I am so proud of what we are doing.”
In addition to establishing Forest Friends, Shaw and Luna have worked on reopening the Cooperative Preschool at a new site. They will move from the Lakebay Community Church to the Key Peninsula Civic Center, taking over the space previously occupied by the Children’s Home Society. They still have room for the Tuesday-Thursday program.
Using funding from the original county grant, the preschool has converted a room at the Lutheran Church to offer full-time childcare for nine children from 3 months to 2-and-a-half years. They plan to open in early 2025.
The preschool has not given up on the possibility of converting the space at the Lakebay Community Church into a full-time childcare facility. It will apply for a Washington State Early Learning Facilities grant if it can cover the projected costs of upgrading the existing well and addressing other issues.
For more information, go to www.keypeninsulapreschool.org/.
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