Our History
How we began
In 2007, Jay and Danielle were sending their sons Ben and Leif to a small home-based preschool in Carrboro, North Carolina 3 mornings a week. Their wonderful teacher Sadie gave them the news that she would not be continuing her school, because she felt it wasn’t best for her family at that time. Jay and Danielle began looking for a school that they liked with the same homey and nurturing feel, but couldn’t find anything. It was a little bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The ratios were too high, the waitlists too long, the schedules were inflexible, and the classrooms felt too cold! So, Jay who is entrepreneurial in spirit, said, “Hey, I wonder if Sadie would start a preschool with us?” and, she did!
How we grew
In a few short months, Our PlayHouse Preschool opened its doors in August of 2008 with approximately 35 families enrolled from 2 to 5 days a week in a play-based school with an emergent curriculum. Our PlayHouse began a tradition of potlucks, parent volunteers, a Fall Parade, and annual art show. The next year (2009) we added a small kindergarten class and second playground, changing our name to Our PlayHouse Preschool and Kindergarten. In 2010, Our PlayHouse added the young 2s classroom and changed our classrooms from mixed age groupings to classrooms based roughly on a child’s single year of age. We also added a Fall Festival and Valentine’s Day breakfasts to our calendar, and established Kindness Principles for our school.
In our first year, we had some growing pains as we established our philosophy and found teachers and families that supported our vision. Over the past few years, we have strengthened our program to include principles of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, creating a community of learners among students, families, staff, and the outside community.
Who we are now
We now have four classrooms; a 2s room (the Star House), a 3s room (the Comet House), a 4s room (the Moon House), and a Kindergarten room (the Sun House). Our two younger classrooms share one playground, and the older classrooms share another. Beth Whitaker is our current director. She joined us as a teacher in our first year, and progressed to director after Sadie moved on to spend more time with family. We have a wonderful staff of dedicated and enthusiastic teachers, and serve over 70 children and their families. We look forward to growing roots in the community for years to come.
