Our Program

The Great Green Room is set on a fully fenced acre lot in Skyway. There is an expansive patio space for bike riding, an art station, block building and a sand kitchen. A large open field leads to a grove of evergreen trees that includes a slack line, disk swing, slides, stumps and space adventurous play! There is a large covered porch with an outdoor couch for reading and lots of manipulatives and toys for imaginative play. There is an outdoor sanitation station for hand washing and access to an indoor bathroom.

The primary mission of the Great Green Room is to help children develop social and emotional skills, creating a strong foundation from which to navigate their relationships with themselves and those around them. We are an all outdoor preschool. We offer a lot of free-play time. Free-play offers not only space for creativity, imagination and cooperation, but also conflict. When conflicts naturally arise, teachers are there to help the children constructively address the conflict and work to resolve it. We use Committee for Children’s social and emotional learning curriculum called Second Step to provide us with the tools to manage our own emotions and social interactions. We do Second Step lessons at circle time along with singing, stories and changing the calendar.

Much of our structure comes in the rhythm of our day, which includes learning self-care and care for our community. We have snack available when the kids arrive to give them energy for their busy day at preschool. After free exploration we have a clean-up time followed by a circle time and lunch.

COVID-19 Preschool Policy and Procedure

Healthy Preschool Policy

Kids have always been able to come to school with colds (otherwise kids would never be in school!), but at this time we would need to take extra precautions. Every family must be prepared to keep their child home at any sign of illness. 

Please follow these procedures each day:

  • Give your child temperature and a wellness check before they come to school each day. When to stay home:
    • Temperature 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when taken by mouth 
    • Sore throat 
    • New cough (for students with chronic allergic/ asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline) 
    • Diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain 
    • New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever
  • At this time, we ask that children with any signs of illness get a COVID-19 test. If they test negative, yet have any symptoms of illness, they will need to stay home for 72 hours from the onset of symptoms (the typical contagious period for the common cold).
  • If anyone in your household has symptoms of illness, your child should also stay home, even if your child has no symptoms. 

While these precautions may feel unreasonable at other times, we feel this is necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect all our children.

COVID testing and closure policy 

  • If a child or teacher is suspected of having COVID-19 we will close until test results comes back;
    • If the test is negative, the child or teacher will stay home for 72 hours from the onset of symptoms;
    • If the test is positive we will close for at least 7 days from the last time the individual who tested positive was at GGR. We will reopen when everyone at preschool receives a negative test. **test shall be no earlier than the 5th day after exposure to the positive individual**
  • If a household member or close contact of a child or teacher has tested positive for COVID-19, the child or teacher must remain away from school and get tested at the time of a known exposure;
    • If the individual’s test is negative, the individual must get retested no sooner than 5 days from the last day at preschool. See below for our policy if that test is positive. The child or student can return to school following a negative test, after their household member has been symptom-free without the aid of medication for 24 hours, as long as it is 10 days past the onset of symptoms.
    • If the test is positive we will close for at least 7 days from the last time the individual who tested positive was at GGR. We will reopen when everyone at preschool receives a negative test. **test shall be no earlier than the 5th day after exposure to the positive individual**