Cary People : The Grove School: A seriously fresh new preschool in Cary and Plano!

Meet Ms. Stephanie!

Scott Andersen | August 18, 2010 | Comment

We are very happy to announce a new teacher at The Grove School of Cary. Her name is Ms. Stephanie. She is from Germany and has lived in NC for the last 13 years. She has over 20 years of experience teaching children in both Germany and the United States.

She will be busy at The Grove School! She is teaching our Mommy and Me! program, teaching German, cooking and coordinating our outdoor grove projects.

We are fortunate to have her with us! Please take a moment to stop in and say hello and to welcome her to our school. Also take a moment to watch her bilingual video.

Scott, a.k.a. Dr. Andersen, is our Head of School in Cary, NC. He brings 16 years of experience as a teacher and school/district administrator. He has also worked as a photojournalist and software developer.

Keywords: Cary, Grove School, staff

Meet Ms. Deedra

Scott Andersen | July 29, 2010 | Comments (3)

We are thrilled to have Ms. Deedra as part of The Grove School of Cary team. Ms. Deedra has worked with students from 12 months up to 10 years old. She has served as a lead teacher for the past for years. She has a Bachelor’s in Psychology.

Ms. Deedra will be working with Ms. Katie in our Early Preschool classroom.

Enjoy her video below.

Please join us in welcoming her to our Grove family.

Keywords: Cary, staff

People Make the Difference…The Right People That Is!

Scott Andersen | July 8, 2010 | Comment

In any organization, company, team, group, etc., the difference between being just good and being GREAT always boils down to people. In support of this, a CEO of a major company once said when asked to name the top five factors that led to his company’s success, replied with the following (as told in Jim Collins’ book Good to Great):

“One would be people.
Two would be people.
Three would be people.
Four would be people.
And five would be people.”

As you know, our school is growing. As a result, we are going through the process of looking for the best and the brightest teachers to grow with us.

And it is not an easy task!

Because our standards and expectations are so high and our program is so unique, it takes a very talented and unique teacher for our students and our school. In the past month, we have received hundreds of resumes to review from all over the country. We are honored to have so much interest from folks wanting to be a part of our school. While that is a blessing, it is also a curse. It does take a lot of our time, both Sarah (our Education Manager) and I, to review the incoming resumes and decide who should go forward in the selection process.

I would estimate that about 20% of the applicants move forward to the next phase which is a screening interview. While I was doing my doctoral research at the University of Georgia, one of the professors I worked with published a study on hiring the right people. Unfortunately, he found that even the best predictor of whether an employee would be a good fit for your organization was only correct about 21% of the time. Starting with 100 applicants and by merging those two numbers, the 20% of applicants that move forward and the best predictor of a good fit being about 21%, that brings us to about 4 applicants out of 100 that are likely to be a good fit.

We cannot and will not settle for mediocre or average. We must have exceptional talent. For that reason, we have adopted the approach that Collins outlines in his book: “When in doubt, don’t hire and keep looking.” As we rapidly grow and the pressure to hire staff to meet the demands of our incoming families increases, this approach can be quite scary!

The corollary to that is that we may need to limit our growth based upon our ability to find enough of the right people. In a business sense, this corollary is equally scary. No business would ever want to turn away customers, especially in today’s economy. Naturally, we want every customer possible.

I am thrilled to report that our efforts and patience are paying off. We have a lot of talent in our pipeline and are getting ready to bring on board a few more wonderfully talented teachers. We anticipate our hiring to continue through the fall with our commensurate growth.

The pressure will continue to be on our leadership team to continually attract, hire and retain the right people. After all, people make all the difference…the right people that is!

Keywords: Cary, Dr. Scott Andersen, hiring, staff, teachers

Meet Ms. Gina!

Scott Andersen | June 14, 2010 | Comment

We are thrilled to introduce to everyone Ms. Gina, a new teacher at The Grove School of Cary. Ms. Gina is working in the Early Preschool classroom with Ms. Katie.

Ms. Gina has been working in preschools for eight years, the last five as a lead teacher. Ms Gina has a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.

Please stop in and introduce yourself to her. I know she would love to meet you.

Watch her introductory video:

Keywords: Cary, Grove School, staff

Welcome Ms. Tanja!

Scott Andersen | June 11, 2010 | Comment

All of us here at The Grove School are thrilled to have Ms. Tanja with us. Ms. Tanja started this week and will be working with all of the students in our school as our strand teacher. Classes will come into the multipurpose room for lessons in art, music, dance, theatrical play, etc. that have been especially designed for them by her. She will also be here in the mornings to work in the wrap around program.

Tanja is from Germany and received her degree in Early Childhood Education there. She studied holistic movement, dance, relaxation and fitness there as well. She has worked as a preschool teacher, a dance teacher, a movement teacher, a multi arts teacher as well as a nanny.

We are fortunate to have her with us. We hope that you will stop by and introduce yourself to her. I know she would love to meet you!

Watch her video below.

Keywords: Cary, Grove School, staff

Welcome Ms. Katie!

Scott Andersen | May 12, 2010 | Comment

All of us at The Grove School would like to welcome Ms. Katie Markelz to The Grove School family! She started work May 11. Katie will be working in our Early Preschool room (2 year olds).

Katie was born and raised in a small fishing village known as Homer, Alaska. Her childhood spent running in the woods, swimming in rivers and hiking mountains inspired her to study education and learn skills for providing all children with positive childhood experiences.

Katie received her degree in Early Childhood Education and focused on studying educational philosophies including Waldorf, Montessori and Reggio Emilia. She holds teacher certification in many states including North Carolina. She has a wide range of experience with children 3 months to 8 years old in varies settings including public schools, private schools, preschools, elementary schools and in-home childcare.

In addition to education, Katie is passionate about ballet and was a dancer for 14 years. She loves to travel and has lived in Spain, Bermuda, Bahamas and Austria. She enjoys spending her free time reading and swooning over her black tabby cat Mukluk.

We are thrilled to have her with us!

Please take a moment to stop by, say hello and introduce yourself to help her feel welcome in our family.

Keywords: Cary, Grove School, staff

Meet the Cary teachers: Susan Davies

Scott Andersen | January 5, 2010 | Comment

Sue Davies

Susan has been married for 27 years to her husband, Barry, and is the mother of three daughters–Amanda, Katie and Emily. Her children have been a blessing to her. Caring, teaching and loving them has reinforced her desire to be an educator of young children. She has over 20 years experience working with young children.

As an early childhood educator, Susan is determined to be a positive influence in the lives of children by providing an environment that is safe, stimulating and developmentally appropriate. She takes great pleasure in seeing children each and every day and being able to contribute to their growth process. It warms her heart to wipe away tears and find a smile, to provide a hug when a friend takes away a toy and to help build up a tower that broke apart. These gestures are simple, but they are so important to a child.

Keywords: Cary, Grove School, Susan Davies, teachers

The most important arrival–our teachers!

Scott Andersen | January 1, 2010 | Comment

Since mid-October, I have been writing, blogging and making videos about the progress that has been taking place with the facility, furniture and equipment for The Grove School of Cary. It has been thrilling to watch this facility transform from a bare shell of a building into a state-of–the art and environmentally friendly learning environment. Some of you have shared this journey with me.

Well, Monday, January 4th marks the most important arrival of all for The Grove School – our teachers. The best thing we do for our children in any school environment is to put a highly trained and child-centered teacher in the classroom with them each and every day. We have scoured applications from hundreds of teachers from around the country and have selected a wonderful cadre of highly trained professionals who not only embrace the early learning philosophy, but do so with a commitment to instill the ideals of “healthy body, healthy mind and healthy planet” throughout the school day.

The Grove School leadership, at all levels, recognizes and values the role that teachers play in the teaching and learning process. It is the teachers who, in concert with the parents, work the real magic. It is the teachers who will creatively guide, shape, inspire, motivate, stretch, challenge, correct, and praise our children as they begin this most important journey of learning.

I hold great anticipation of the many wonderful experiences the students of The Grove School will have in their expert hands.

Yes, the building is wonderful. Our furniture is beautiful and sustainable. Our technology is first class. However, more importantly, the same words describe the teachers of The Grove School. They are wonderful, beautiful and first class!

Check back soon as we will be posting videos, bios and photos of our staff. I invite you to stop by and meet all of us sometime real soon!

Keywords: Cary, staff, teachers, The Grove School

The right start makes all the difference

Scott Andersen | November 16, 2009 | Comment

In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. Therefore the plane got off to a wrong start.

This error at the beginning of the flight placed the aircraft 28 miles to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this particular flight before and they had no way of knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000 feet.

As the pilots flew continued their flight, the white of all the snow and the ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above creating an illusion that they were flying over level terrain. When their cockpit alarms sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board.

It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error—a matter of only a few degrees and the result of getting off to a bad start.

Fortunately, the world of educating our young children is not quite as grave as the physical life or death situation depicted in the story above. However, the theme of how you start makes a big difference in how you finish is very consistent with educating our children.

Research abounds in how students benefit greatly from the best possible educational foundation. What is good about the research is that it also is common sense. I love it when research and common sense come together to create practical solutions.

It is not only best for the child to get the best possible start, but it is also best on the pocket book. The savings for parents, communities and taxpayers are tremendous when students are able to meet learning expectations at the earliest possible age.

I love to find win-win situations in life. One of the best win-wins is providing a focus on early childhood learning. It is not just a win-win; it is a win-win-win-win-win-win…etc. (I think you get the point!)

For this reason, I am thrilled to be a part of the important work of The Grove School. And I am competitive. I don’t like to lose. I like to win-win-win-win-win…

Keywords: Dr. Scott Andersen, early childhood learning, Grove School, Right start

Hi, I’m Scott

Scott Andersen | November 9, 2009 | Comment (1)

I cannot tell you how excited I am to be a part of The Grove School. The first time I heard about the idea, I fell in love with it and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

I have been a proponent of the ideas behind Healthy Mind, Healthy Body, Health Planet since second grade. My teacher, Ms. Raspen, taught me those concepts and I can still remember them to this day. She taught me to learn, to take care of myself and to be aware of the environment. I remember I won a special award for recycling in her class. The treat was awesome: a ride with her in her yellow VW to go buy a toy at the local drug store. It was one of the best days ever!

I have quite a diverse background. I received a degree in computer science from the University of Oklahoma (Go Sooners!) and worked as a software consultant for a few years. I then worked as a photojournalist and photo editor for the Associated Press in Oklahoma City, Dallas and Chicago. Then somehow I got into education, my true love. I taught Spanish, English, Math and Technology before getting into administration. I have been in administration for over 10 years.

My experience as an educational leader has taught me a lot. Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is getting our children off to the best possible start with their learning. It starts as soon as they are born. The Grove School is going to provide the experiences young children need to prepare themselves for many years of learning, performing and growing.

I can’t wait to see all that we will be able to do together for our children.