Preschool to open in Wallingford Center

The voices of children will ring though a long-vacant corner of the Wallingford Center basement this fall, when a new preschool will open in the space across from the old photo center.

Michelle Warren, who lives in Wallingford with her husband and two school-age children, will open Exploration Academy in September and accept students from 30 months to 5 years old for half- and full-day preschool. Warren plans to maintain a class size of 18-20 students, and will have a student teacher ratio of approximately 6:1.

Warren’s husband Jonathan is a University of Washington professor; the couple hope to recruit teachers from the UW Early Childhood Education department, which also will be involved in curriculum development for the school. Warren herself is now completing her certificate in Early Childhood Education certification from North Seattle Community College and a master’s degree in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding from Cal State University, Dominguez Hills. She worked in the infant and child product industry for many years.

The Exploration Academy classroom will look somewhat like this one, from the Community Playthings site.

The students will use the Wallingford Playfield playground in good weather. For rainy days, class gardening and science exploration, a new covered outdoor area exclusively for the school’s use will be constructed over the summer. Warren described the space as 750 square feet of the plaza area on the Wallingford Avenue side of Pharmaca. The area will not be open to the public during non-school hours, Warren said.

As for the 1230-square-foot classroom itself, Warren told us, “We are particularly concerned with providing a classroom that is esthetically pleasing, functional, and environmentally conscientious. Flooring will be either cork or sustainable wood flooring, and learning tools made from sustainable wood and/or recycled materials are prioritized; as is organic foods for snacks and lunches.”

The students, Warren said, will be “deeply involved in their own curriculum,” which will focus on “the zone of proximal development and finding out how to find solutions.”

Want to see the new school? Warren is shooting for a construction completion date of August 15, after which families can tour the space. In the meantime, Warren is accepting applications for admissions this fall.