HELLO. We’re so glad you’re here.
Welcome to our play-based, child-led space. Our year-round services include: open 7:30am-5:30pm Monday-Friday; ages 2-5; serving breakfast, lunch and snack. We have no more than 16 children on site each day with an 8:1 ratio of teachers to children. In general this is our enrollment process. Want to hear more from the perspective of parents? Here are some testimonials. Ongoing updates are here.
We will be opening a sibling school (Sunflower Preschool) in Fall 2024. It currently has openings for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Alrighty. Let’s Play.
Mud Pies Preschool provides a play-based, developmentally appropriate learning community for children ages 2-5. We are licensed as a certified family childcare home operating in Southeast Portland.
At Mud Pies Preschool, we are committed to modeling respectful communication, building close, trusting relationships with individual children, and nurturing the whole child through play-based learning experiences.
We operate on the understanding that children develop at their own unique rate and follow their natural instincts to learn about the world (themselves and others) through play. We actively choose not to provide formal lessons—instead emphasizing play, exploration, and social-emotional learning.
Research has demonstrated that play promotes skills such as creativity, critical thinking, impulse control, cooperation, problem solving, empathy, flexibility, and many other lifelong skills. Play is crucial for the cognitive, social, physical, and emotional well-being of children. At Mud Pies Preschool, we believe in providing long periods of unstructured play. This allows children ample time to pursue passions at their own pace, to develop friendship skills, and to engage fully in self-directed learning.
Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.
~VERNA MYERS
We recognize that children are best understood and supported in the context of family, culture, community, and society. We respect the dignity, worth and uniqueness of each individual (child, family member, and colleague). Our anti-bias education goals with children include identity, diversity, justice, and activism.
Play is the work of the child.
~MARIA MONTESSORI
Check out more photos of our fun spaces and dynamic play.
Learn more about our Team.
THE 12 THINGS WE DO TO HELP SUPPORT A SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19.
Whew, it’s been quite a few years. We looked to our regulator (see Oregon’s Early Learning Division) for advice around our operations including Covid (here are the ELD’s Requirements and Recommendations from April 11, 2022). In general these are the top things we did and, to some extent, still do to provide a safe and supportive space for the teachers, children and community.
- FILTER AIR
Behind-the-scenes in our HVAC system we have a fancy filter called the iWave that essentially zaps any pollutants and germs flying through the air. Per the advice of our HVAC crew we keep the fan on gently at all times which forces all indoor air at Mud Pies Preschool through the zapper. The intent is to reduce/eliminate anything airborne. We believe this investment helps everyone breathe easier — both physically and mentally. *We also have a standalone air filter running in the main play area.
2. USE MASKS / FACE COVERINGS / FACE SHIELDS *INSIDE*
We ask adults to wear masks if they are going inside.
3. REDUCE GROUP SIZE
We have giant spaces, indoors and outdoors. In addition we have a secondary space — the basement and backside — which we refer to as the B-Side. These additional spaces give us the flexibility to break the children into smaller groups. In general all the children start out the day together, then separate into A-Side (2s and 3s) and B-Side (4s and 5s) groups for lunch, rest, and snack, then reconvene at the end of the day.
4. WASH HANDS
Yep. Still washing them. We offer hand sanitizer during drop-off. We strongly suggest sanitizing/washing your child’s hands at pick up (keep a bottle of sanitizer in the car, or ask them to wash their hands as soon as they get home).
5. CLEAN/SANITIZE
We have a system and routine around regular cleaning and sanitizing.
6. COMMUNICATE
When in doubt, communicate.
- The best way to communicate is via the messages function on the ProCare app. Every teacher can then see every communication.
- The next best way is to text the school phone.
- The third best way is send an email; for longer messages or inquiries this sometimes makes the most sense. In general Kai handles anything related to children and Meredith handles anything related to invoicing or property maintenance.
We fill out incident reports in the event of bonks or bruises. In addition, we also often post pictures of the day via Facebook or ProCare. As we juggle these young humans — with meals and toys and diapering and emotionally messy days and physically messy days — we view communication as one of our safety tools. Let’s all use it.
7. STAY HOME WHEN SICK
This is a big one.
BEFORE YOU GET TO SCHOOL, if the following symptoms are present…
- a fever of 100.4 degrees or more
- an unusual or severe cough
- wheezing or difficulty breathing
…then the child needs to be symptom-free for 24 hours before returning to school. This also applies to over-the-counter medicine: if you have given your child a dose of something to reduce fever, that resets the clock to another 24 hours. We also ask that your child gets a Covid test before returning to school (hint: Brave Care is great with kids) and we have also stocked up on at-home Covid tests in case that is helpful.
And if these symptoms are present…
- diarrhea (>1 incidence),
- vomiting,
- unusual yellow color to skin,
- an unusual or severe cough,
- wheezing or difficulty breathing,
- skin or eye lesions,
- a severe rash,
- complaints of severe pain
then the child needs to stay home until they are symptom-free for 24-hours. It is also advised to see a medical professional.
A tricky part around sickness is the middle-ground: there’s a range between “healthy” and the above exclusion criteria. In a childcare facility, one cold can quickly become ten colds. As we think through germ transfer through snot and coughs, and the management of all the pieces, we’ve drawn the line here: If your child’s nose needs to be wiped >4 times per hour, please keep them home. (Or if we need to wipe their nose >4 times per hour, we will contact you to bring them home.) Same thing with coughs: if they are coughing >4 times/hour, please keep them home. Thank you!
See #11 for more around Covid/testing.
8. SIMPLIFY MEALS/TOYS
We’ve simplified our meals and shifted our toy selection into a refined offering on a rotation schedule.
9. DISTANCE
In general please keep some distance from other adults. We are lucky to have lots of outdoor space at our place to make distancing possible while dropping off or picking up the child(ren). Please remember to sign your child in/out via ProCare. (And if you can’t do that, just let a teacher know and we’ll support you.)
10. STRATEGICALLY SCHEDULE
We almost always have some flexibility in our schedule: legally we are required to have two teachers for sixteen children; we often have three or even four teachers on site. This is our strategy to reduce burn-out (and thus reduce turnover), and create a safe and supportive work environment.
Vaccine Info
Please see below for our 2023-24 rates for the children in our school and Multnomah County (released from Multnomah County May 15, 2024). For more context the requirements are listed here and the county graphs are at the Oregon Health Authority. Regarding Covid-19, all of our teachers and staff are vaccinated; we do not require proof of vaccination/booster status of other members of our community.
ALL VACCINES REQUIRED
All Required
Multnomah County: 73%
Mud Pies Preschool: 76%
DTaP/Tdap
Multnomah County: 81%
Mud Pies Preschool: 89%
POLIO
Multnomah County: 89%
Mud Pies Preschool: 89%
VARICELLA
Multnomah County: 88%
Mud Pies Preschool: 89%
MMR
Multnomah County: 89%
Mud Pies Preschool: 89%
HepB
Multnomah County: 88%
Mud Pies Preschool: 89%
HepA
Multnomah County: 88%
Mud Pies Preschool: 89%
HiB
Multnomah County: 88%
Mud Pies Preschool: 89%