Growing Places: The Start of Life-Long Learning
Friendly neighborhoods and an excellent public school system have long attracted families to the Oyster River area. For younger families, access to a convenient, quality preschool is a necessity. Growing Places is a nonprofit organization that has been serving families in the area for over 40 years. They provide a safe nurturing environment that helps kids begin their educational journey.
Growing Places main campus is located just north of the Lee traffic circle at 56 Pinkham Road. The campus has two buildings that house infant, preschool, and pre-kindergarten programs, and also has plenty of outdoor space for kids to explore and play. They accept children from 6 weeks until they are ready for Kindergarten.
What really stands out about their programs is their high quality staff. Many have been working at Growing Places for years and all have taken college education classes in early childhood development. This experience allows them to provide an environment that is tailored to your child's needs. It also helps them coordinate the transitions between programs as your child ages.
The Lee campus is open Monday through Friday 7:30AM - 5:30 PM and can reached by phone at (603) 868-1160.
Growing Places also has a location on the UNH Campus in the Woodside Community Center. Their two classrooms provide preschool and pre-kindergarten programs for children between the ages 2-5.
Each class has a curriculum that is designed to help kids develop their social skills. The goal is to allow them to grow at their own pace and prepare for Kindergarten.
The Durham campus is open Monday-Friday 7:30 AM-5:30PM and can be reached by phone at (603) 868-5674.
For many parents, elementary school hours do not match up with their work hours. Growing Places has partnered with Moharimet Elementary School in Madbury to create the Our Time program. It is open to children between the ages of 5-12, and takes place in the school's multipurpose room before and after school Monday through Friday from 7AM-8:45 AM and 3PM-6PM.
During Our Time, students play games, create crafts, and play on the school's wonderful playground. Since vacation schedules can be a problem, they also offer full day programming during school vacations and on teacher workshop days. Additionally, they also run two summer camp programs. Camp Cowabunga is a traditional day camp, and Timbernook
is a nature based experience camp that takes place in
the woods by the Sugar Shack.
To find out more about Growing Places programs and classroom availability , check out their website or schedule a visit to their Durham or Lee locations.