How did a Clean-Energy-and-Composting Corporate Executive and Home Builder become owners of a preschool? By catching a life curve ball, and running with it with the community.
Chapter 1: Humming Along
Running a preschool was never part of the plan.
We started out as parents. When our son turned two-and-a-half, we were delighted to find an amazing space with awesome teachers just a ½-mile from our home. It was great: our son gained socialization skills while we could lean further into our respective careers. We trusted the teachers. We loved the setting. We valued the extensive hours and generous services.
From February through November 2018, we hummed along with this new groove of parenting. Also, a bunch of our neighbors attended another nearby school run by the same owner, and we enjoyed becoming a part of this community.
We thought that this scene would last until our child was ready for kindergarten.
Ha.
Chapter 2: The Curve Ball
On the evening of December 7, 2018 we received the following email from the owner:
“After almost 20 years of working (and living) in my child care businesses, I have made the decision to shift into a new career within the early childhood field. I have accepted a position with the state’s Early Learning Division. Sadly, one of the requirements of the position is that I no longer operate my early childhood programs. Busy Bee Preschool and Sunflowers Preschool will be closing as of January 31st, 2019.”
Insert panic and a collective cry of shock and grief from ~40 households who attended these two schools, plus the staff.
Some preschools are light-duty childcare with the spirit of “let’s get Jimmy and Jane socialized for a few hours per week” scenes. These preschools were different: they offered care 7:30am-5:30pm with meals and diaper services. Many of the parents were working professionals who depended on regular childcare in order to fulfill their career obligations. These households now faced essentially six-weeks-notice to find new childcare in a saturated market while heading into the holidays.
The stress level was high.
Chapter 3: Catching the Curve Ball
Serendipitously, months prior we had invited the lead teacher, Skylar, and her partner to come to our home for dinner the very next evening. This was not the owner, who was shutting the place(s) down, but rather the lead teacher who essentially ran the school our child attended. We adored Skylar: she was steady, calm, loving, strong, and clear with parents and children alike.
We mused, “I guess we’ll have a lot to talk about at dinner,” as we were about to lose our childcare, and she was about to lose her job.
Over dinner, we shared our unique position and idea. We had three main things going for us. First, over the years we had purchased a handful of properties in the neighborhood. As we fixed them up and rented them out, we had developed our “property management” muscles. Second, I (Meredith) had begun winding down my position of the prior decade serving as a director of communications for a company that turned organic waste into clean energy and compost, and had started looking for my next role in life. Third, we both had some background in education: before I was born my mother had run a preschool in Vermont; Gene had been an outdoor leader in college; Gene’s mother, who plays an active role in our lives, has been a Waldorf teacher for 30 years. So while neither Gene nor I wanted to run a school or preschool, it was part of our backdrops of experience.
We asked Skylar, “If we buy the thing, will you run it?”
She sat up a little straighter in her chair. We held our breaths. She paused and said she’d need an evening to think about it thoroughly and talk it through with her partner.
The following day she texted, “I’m in.”
Chapter 4: Creating Possibilities by Bringing All of Our Skills to the Table
The next few weeks were nuts.
Meredith and Gene shifted into action mode.
- We needed to line up financing: we leveraged our home and tapped into every piggy bank. (Shout out to Scott Shewbridge at First Tech Federal Credit Union for guiding us to a HELOC.)
- We needed to create a new business: voila Mud Pies Preschool LLC.
- We needed to lay the foundation for the Mud Pies Preschool brand: full credit to Skylar for coming up with the awesome name, and a humble bow to the talented Elizabeth Rhodes, author of Feminism is for Boys, for creating our super logo.
- We needed to buy the property and home or figure out a new one. (Cheers to Karim Alaeddine and Jessica LeDoux at Living Room Reality for being our real estate wingmen.)
- We needed to buy the toys and play equipment. (The owner agreed to sell them to us.)
- We needed to transparently communicate with all the parents in a way that simultaneously gained their confidence as we relayed relevant details of our process and timeline, while also providing caveats that it might all fall through. We didn’t want to leave anyone in the lurch.
- We needed to juggle our existing commitments with our new ones.
Skylar meanwhile held a steady environment for the children, staff and parents. She upheld up the integrity of the existing school with its owner, while also leaning into this new thing we were creating together.
So many emotions were flying around the community beyond the logistics and zillion details that needed to be managed. I’ll never forget walking by our neighbors’ home early one morning and hearing their child – she was five years old, attended one of the schools, understood what was going on, and was very stressed out – wailing. Just wailing. Her mom remarked how she was absorbing their stress. It broke my heart and I vowed that we would do everything we could to fix the situation.
Chapter 5: Transitioning
Bit by bit, we pulled it off. It truly takes a village, and we’ve tried to call out many of the unsung heroes who helped us through that chapter. Some snapshots include:
Depositing the loan in the bank. (Thank you, Cole, at Advantis Credit Union.)
Teller: “So do you have any plans for this chunk of change?”
Me: “We’re going to buy $50,000 worth of toys.”
Teller: “That’s the best answer I’ve ever heard.”
Meeting with all the parents/guardians.
It was an icy day. The door was locked at the place we had rented. Gene guessed the code to the keypad and we were in! Parents and kids showed up, we presented our vision, and everyone filled out enrollment paperwork. (Thanks to Alyson and Greta for potluck supplies, and Mason for snapping photos.)
Hosting the preschool in our home.
There were three weeks between when the previous school(s) shut down and when we could – if everything worked out – open up Mud Pies Preschool. All of the families pieced together childcare. To help, we opened up our own personal home to host three children each day. (Shout out to Bree for coordinating the complicated schedule. Kudos to Kai for tending the children in our home. And a huge hug to the parents who went along with the wild ride.)
Figuring out how to run a preschool.
Skylar lent us all of her books. And our neighbor spent a couple hours making sure we had a handle on the intricacies of the business. (If you need care for your 0-2-year-old, head to Savannah’s team at The Nest Playschool.) Oh, and we had to pass all of our safety-set certifications.
Signing the papers to close on the property.
Whew! That was a milestone. Afterwards, we brought our mortgage lender flowers. (If you are ever in need of a lender, look no further than Jerry Driscoll at Guild Mortgage.)
Cleaning up the space.
We had one week between closing on the property and opening up the business. We pulled in professional cleaners to suck out the ductwork and do some deep rug cleaning. (A huge bow to Austin and the team at S&A Cleaning for their can-do attitude and excellent suction equipment. They now provide weekly cleaning, because let’s face it: kids are gross.) Skylar was a boss at organizing the back storage pantry area and curating all the spaces. I did repair work and painting. Gene filled in with some more technical projects. Dave, a parent, spent the Sunday afternoon before we opened tuning up the landscape.
There were plenty of setbacks and unexpected hurdles. For example, on the first day we owned the property, I tried to open the cupboard under the kitchen sink to get out dishwasher soap for the dishwasher, and could not for the life of me figure out the child safety lock. After a few minutes I started cursing. Then I started laughing: here I was, opening up a preschool, and was totally thwarted by a simple plastic child-safety device. Oh the irony. I took a breath, figured it out (you push in while squeezing up to unlatch the lock), and continued on.
There were plenty of restless nights thinking about all that needed to be done and worrying if we would be able to pull it off.
Chapter 6: Opening Mud Pies Preschool LLC.
Boom. On February 25, 2019, Mud Pies Preschool LLC opened with full enrollment and a waitlist. It felt like a miracle: a fast-paced, hard-earned miracle. We waived tuition for the first week. Skylar ran the show. Meredith segued into a role of accountant, custodian and substitute teacher. Kai was the first member of our staff. Teri joined the team to help out (she already knew many of the children from their time at the Nest Playschool, an awesome place for babies and toddlers). Nina joined the team shortly afterwards.
Most importantly, all the parents breathed a sigh of relief that a new chapter had begun. And all the kids were psyched.
Well, almost all the children were psyched. Our child must have felt the energy and heard the conversations about us running Mud Pies Preschool. The first day of Mud Pies Preschool for him, he threw his first tantrum and refused to go. (This is a child who doesn’t really throw tantrums, and had never deeply resisted going to school. The irony – given our new roles of owners of this business – cut deep!) Anyways, we navigated those big feelings and shifted into new roles as both parents at the school and background supporters of the business.
Chapter 7: Building Community
We built on the foundation of a magical space. Mud Pies Preschool’s location in Southeast Portland has a long history of serving as a childcare space. It has very functional areas: built-in cabinets for cots and bedding; small potties and sinks; hooks at just the right height for small jackets and helmets; furniture designed for a pint-sized population. There are so many loving and thoughtful, play-based spaces full of whimsy. And the toys! They’re durable and long-lasting. And the books! So many. It was so great to be able to transition this space into its next chapter.
Skylar and Kai had many ideas on how to improve the space and systems. We started monthly dinners with staff. We filled out our team bench with a couple awesome hires. We hosted a potluck event with all the children and parents to provide a space for everyone to get to know each other outside of drop off and pick up. We tried out our first “flashlight night” whereby ten children came from 6-9pm for glowing fun. While keeping an eagle eye on our budget and balance sheet, we put extra time and money back into upgrading equipment and play spaces. We also staffed up and gave everyone raises.
Chapter 8: The Space. The Systems.
By late summer 2019, we felt like we were in our groove. We had a solid team. We had an amazing space that we kept upgrading with small improvements on weekends. We had built out systems to make operations easier.
When we hosted a fall potluck my heart soared when I heard a parent remark, “It was good before. It’s even better now.”
Chapter 9: The 2020 Vision
We’ve got another curve ball on the horizon: in 2020, Skylar is moving to eastern Oregon to fulfill some family needs. We are so sad to see her go.
And yet we now know first-hand that as one chapter ends, another will begin. True to her steady disposition, commitment to the children and love for the families, Skylar let us know with lots of advance notice. We’ve organized a five-month transition plan to hire and onboard an amazing new lead teacher by late spring 2020.
And boom: Kai will take the reigns as Director in April 2020. Hurrah!
Over Thanksgiving 2019 we rebuilt the sandbox. Enjoy!
In March 2020, COVID-19 struck. We temporarily shut down at the end of March. For transparency we kept/are keeping a blog on updates as we navigate the situation. We kept the team, the space, and the community intact through the shut-down through zoom meetings, marco-polo videos, and Facebook posts. We slowly reopened for seven households with essential workers on May 19, 2020. We continue to navigate forward.
We hatched a plan (see the following movie) and developed the B-Side of Mud Pies Preschool. It looks awesome!
It’s the end of 2020. Here’s our letter to parents, modified slightly:
Dear Mud Pies Preschool Community,
We believe more than ever before that play-based early childhood education provides the best pathway to help shape young humans as they explore their possibilities, interact with each other, and make sense of the world. Mud Pies Preschool just got started a couple years ago. Looking ahead, we’d like to create a vision for the future:
- For the children: may your experiences at Mud Pies Preschool provide you with the foundation and tools to become full expressions of yourselves;
- For the team: may Mud Pies Preschool be the most rewarding work experience of your career; and
- For the parents: may Mud Pies Preschool be the best investment of your household.
Overall, we’re feeling steady. Our values of safety, play and service have served us well through challenging times. Our team is intact and strong and resourceful. Our spaces are better than ever. Our community is glowing with gratitude and care for each other. As we close out the calendar year, here are a few more details.
THE CHILDREN
Despite all of the ups and downs this year, the children are thriving! Our days are filled with lots of laughter, singing, dancing, running, jumping, climbing and so on. In the last few months, the children have collectively taken a particular interest in monster/chasing games, “Mr. Fox”, and coloring. Everyone has been working on fostering empathy by checking in with each other when someone is hurt or upset. The kids have been very eager to connect with others in many ways–through play, gift giving, and helping each other to name a few.
The A-side (2- and 3-year-olds) kids have been spending their days reading books, doing fine motor activities, and making many, many drawings for their grown-ups. This group has gotten a lot of new faces over the past while. They have all been very welcoming and willing to help the new children join in their games and make sure everyone feels comfortable. They are always overjoyed to head outside and get deep into play.
The B-side (4- and 5-year-olds) kids have been craving more responsibility, so Chelsea created jobs for each of them. These jobs rotate daily giving everyone a chance to participate in each different category (e.g., line leader, clean-up reminder, etc). They have also been working hard to recognize each other’s emotions through body language and facial expression. We recently got an activity with mirrors and mouths, noses, eyes, etc to experiment with what different facial expressions look like in real time. They have also been working on literacy and writing–telling each other stories and talking lots about phonics. They are so excited to share words and phrases they can read.
THE TEAM
We’re in a good groove. This has been a challenging year and the hard times have made us stronger and more resilient. This is a tough, demanding, and rewarding job.
THE PARENTS
What a thoughtful, kind, generous group of parents! When you have questions or concerns, you bring them forward which is great because then we can address those concerns. You also praise us which makes our hearts soar. Strong communication – via ProCare, email, Facebook, text, and quick chats during drop off/pick up – has been key for navigating this year together, so thank you for your partnership on that front.
FINANCES
We’ve steadied out. Our income is now back above our expenses, which is how we try to do it. It all adds up. Like many small businesses we balance a range of income and expenses: for example we paid off the b-side bathroom early (this saved us thousands of dollars over the next few years) and we log each and every meal served (this provides us with $0.21-$1.58 per meal served). Along those lines, this is a gentle reminder that tuition rates are going up $10/month in February.
SAFETY
Whew! We could write a lot here. In general, thank you for prioritizing cautious choices. More specifically this is a “winter nudge” to invite you to look at the lists prepared by the red cross and up your disaster preparedness game.
Summer 2021
Introducing “Muddie Pierre” our, um, mascot (?). She’s a gentle visual reminder for parents.
Fall 2021
Our team bench is full. Our faces are still masked (except during outdoor photo shoots). The children keep growing up. This kiddo-rearing adventure with our parent-partners continues!
Fall 2022
We keep on keeping on! Things feel like we’ve calibrated to a new normal. And we wrote a “Welcome to Preschool” book.
Spring 2023
We migrated our communications over to our new “Updates” page. This was a rough year financially, for reasons outlined on said updates page.
Spring 2024
We are celebrating our 5-year-anniversary of embarking on this adventure. Wow, what a journey!