"It is the caring and loving environment that we believe has helped our children's development and learning."  The best thing our kids get from being at Growing Places is getting to find out who they are and express themselves as individuals and children in a loving, welcoming environment.  This is what they need right now more than anything.  As impressed as we are by the creativity and thought put into early childhood education projects and various themes, it is the caring and loving environment that we believe has helped our children's development and excitement for learning.  Lastly, although Growing Places has taken care of our children, we too have felt taken care of. Our worries, and concerns as parents has always been met with warm and thoughtful responses and we too have learned from the teachers and staff.

"Some of what they learned in the Growing Places community is part of who they are today..."
I must confess it wasn't easy putting my children in the full time care of someone else when they were so young. However, it didn't take long for me to realize all the wonderful things that entered their lives because they were in child care at Growing Places. I'm sure that some of what they learned in the Growing Places community is part of who they are today...and in many ways some of the best parts.

"We're grateful for the care and intention that goes into planning and environment that feels at once secure, friendly, creative and interesting." We're grateful for all the little and big things that we notice about the care that you all put into your work. We're grateful for the way you value play. We're grateful for how you share and model care and patience in helping the friends learn to be themselves, with others.  We're grateful for the clear sense we have that shame is never a part of what our child learns at school. We're grateful for the care and intention that goes into planning an environment that feels at once secure, friendly, creative and interesting.  We want you to know how much we truly appreciate what you do.  It seems like most schools start off with good intentions, but it is so rare to find a school or child care center that can face all of the challenges inherent to the work, and still truly embody the core values with which they started.

"The staff truly communicate with and listen to the children." The culture of care and respect is maintained with positive and direct language, body language as well as words. I have always noticed the difference between places where the staff is mostly talking with each other and those where the staff is spread out among the children - it really shows, and Growing Places is all about being with the children."