Admissions
Hopefully you've looked around and The Grove School feels like a great place for your child. Fantastic! We’d love to meet up with you in person, answer your questions and tell you more first hand. Shoot us an e-mail or give us a call and we’ll get back to you shortly.
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Careers
We're looking for rare individuals. Teachers with degrees in early childhood or environmental education and a fire in the belly to make a difference. Administrators with a head for business and a heart for helping children reach their full potential. People who are so invested that they'll stay with us for years, growing and developing our educational community. Is that you?
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Let's play
Kids learn through play, but what about the grown ups? The Grove School is a playground for everyone. Join the fun!
(Psst, you can move the colored circles with your mouse.)
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  • inside

    outside

    safety

  • We hold our school to the highest safety, cleanliness and maintenance standards. The building is accessible via a single-entry security system with keypad access. There's daily sign in and out for each child. And we follow strict parent/guardian identification procedures. We also regularly inspect our building and playground to ensure that your child is safe and secure with us.

  • inside

    outside

    safety

  • We designed our playground to appeal to your child’s boundless curiosity. There’s a greenhouse and raised beds for growing flowers and vegetables. Outdoor instruments like drums and marimbas for creating an imaginary band. A stage for putting on plays. And sand and shallow water areas for digging and making sand castles. All of our outdoor activities balance teacher-led instruction with plenty of free play.

  • inside

    outside

    safety

  • The Grove School's building was deliberately redesigned to foster increased learning while being environmentally conscious. We use natural light wherever possible, which improves concentration and conserves energy. Recycled rubber flooring, sustainably harvested materials and low-VOC paint make the school a healthy place to learn while reducing our impact on the planet. We also filter both the air and water.

 
 
 

It is great to have friends that aren’t afraid to speak the truth in love! One year ago, my two girlfriends sat me down and surprised me with an “Augie” intervention. As a mother of three, a student in early childhood studies, and an in-home childcare giver, I think I had begun to feel immune to any problems my “sweet little boy,” Augie, might be causing.

One would think that after I found blueberries all over his bedroom carpet and toothpaste in my hairbrush, that I might have been clued in to the fact that he needed an outlet. However it took a couple embarrassing incidents of him “using the potty” in the front yard in front of the neighbors to help me see that maybe he did need some other activities!

The real problem was that I was not willing to trust anyone else in his care. I knew that he was acting out, but wasn’t ready to give him up! That was when my good friends hit me with the hard truth, “Oh, so you’re not staying home for his sake… you’re staying at home for yourself.” Ouch!

Well, much to my sweet satisfaction, the search for a preschool has ended in a commendable school for Augie and an amazing job for me at the Grove School. My fears of Augie being unloved or misunderstood have been laid to rest as I have been witness to great love for him from his teachers and his new “best buddies” at school. In one month, he has learned to write his name, count to twenty without saying “thirteen, fifteen, fifteen,” and he actually participates in art! He rolls around on the eco-turf hills and is constantly hugging on his friends at school.

His little mind is busy all day and he gets quality time outdoors. This has ended our blueberry and toothpaste episodes! We have been so pleased to have the chance to soar with the Grove School. I am pretty sure the neighbors are pleased too!

Lisa is an early preschool teacher at The Grove School of Cary. She is a mother of 3, had run her own preschool and is currently working on a Master's Degree in Education.

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This is the fourth article in a series about The Grove School Summer Program. The program runs from Monday, June 7 through Friday August 27, 2010 at both our Cary, NC and Plano, TX schools. Learn more about the program.

Under the Sea
This unit is awash with fun opportunities for your child to learn about the water biome. Large-group discussions include differences between saltwater and fresh-water bodies of water, whether or not water animals make good pets, and fun fish facts. Since many children are fascinated by sea creatures, they will have fun practicing measurement concepts in activities such as How Big Are Whales? Science concepts will also be introduced in water-related activities such as testing objects that sink and float, and experimenting with funnels. Throughout the two-week unit, children will have many opportunities to explore an under-the-sea environment — complete with treasure chest! — in the dramatic play center.

What We’ll Read
The Ocean Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta

“A is for Atlantic Ocean…B is for Bluefish….” In The Ocean Alphabet Book, children are invited to come along on an alphabetical journey through the North Atlantic Ocean. While having fun identifying different sea life from A to Z, children are also making connections between letters and their sounds. Each page answers ocean-related questions and gives fascinating details about sea life.The book’s watercolor illustrations in ocean-color hues of blues and greens are inviting elements for readers of all ages.

Culminating Event — Water Day

Splish! Splash! Sploosh! The Water Day event at the end of this unit is sure to provide wet and wacky fun for all. During this event, children will demonstrate different water-related activities they have enjoyed over the past two weeks. Will this object sink or float? Let’s test it! Let’s make bubbles with our hands! Here’s how!

Linda is a program development senior specialist and holds a master's degree in Early Childhood Education. She loves the fact that The Grove School curriculum and learning environments help children take care of themselves, one another and the natural world.

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This is the third article in a series about The Grove School Summer Program. The program runs from Monday, June 7 through Friday August 27, 2010 at both our Cary, NC and Plano, TX schools. Learn more about the program.

Where the Green Grass Grows

During this unit children will have fun learning about different grassland environments and the wonderful animals that live in the grasslands through a variety of small-group and large-group activities. For example, children will draw pictures of and practice writing about an imaginary walk in the grasslands in their journals.

They will also explore measurement in the activity The Length of a Giraffe’s Neck, and graphing and patterning in the activity Animal-Coat Patterns.

What We’ll Read
We All Went on Safari — A Counting Journey Through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs

This delightful book by Laurie Krebs takes children on an exciting counting adventure through the grasslands of Tanzania. As children help count the animals from one to ten that they encounter during their Tanzanian journey, they also learn how to count from one to ten in Swahili. Informative and entertaining, We All Went on Safari — A Counting Journey Through Tanzania is a book children will delight in hearing again and again.

Culminating Event — Wildlife Safari

To celebrate the end of this unit, children will have opportunities to express their creativity by making their own animal masks. They will also be encouraged to wear their masks during the event and pretend to be the safari animals their masks represent.

Linda is a program development senior specialist and holds a master's degree in Early Childhood Education. She loves the fact that The Grove School curriculum and learning environments help children take care of themselves, one another and the natural world.

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This is the second article in a series about The Grove School Summer Program. The program runs from Monday, June 7 through Friday August 27, 2010 at both our Cary, NC and Plano, TX schools. Learn more about the program.

Bees, Trees, and Me

During this unit, children will learn about rain forests and boreal forests. The classroom environment is filled with pictures and objects representing each type of forest, allowing children to gain a better understanding of the greatness and wonders of forests and forest environments. Creating books and writing in their journals about forest adventures will further children’s abilities to recognize letters and their sounds and give them practice with fine-motor skills. Children will also participate in measurement, sorting, and patterning activities that will enhance their mathematical thinking.

What We’ll Read
The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer

The Salamander Room is a beautifully illustrated book showing the importance of the forest environment to the life of a little salamander. With imagination and care, a young boy transforms his bedroom into a forest home good enough for any salamander. As the story unfolds, the boy’s mother asks him how he will accommodate the needs of the salamander and the other forest animals, revealing the intricacies of boreal forests and the myriad of animals who depend on forests to survive.

With its wondrous forest scenes in glowing, woodsy hues, The Salamander Room is sure to captivate children’s imagination and inspire them to learn more about forests and the creatures who live within them.

Culminating Event — Campfire
Some preschool-age children have already experienced the thrill of sitting around campfires with family and friends. For this unit’s culminating event, children will participate in a pretend campfire experience. Children will work together to create paper logs and paper fire for the “centerpiece” campfire. They will also sing camp songs and eat trail mix they have made themselves.

Linda is a program development senior specialist and holds a master's degree in Early Childhood Education. She loves the fact that The Grove School curriculum and learning environments help children take care of themselves, one another and the natural world.

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Ambassadors from the Cary Chamber of Commerce visited The Grove School of Cary on Tuesday to perform a ribbon cutting ceremony in our outdoor classroom and to tour the school. The ambassadors and staff and students from the school are shown in the photo.

Watch the video.

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This is the first article in a series about The Grove School Summer Program. The program runs from Monday, June 7 through Friday August 27, 2010 at both our Cary, NC and Plano, TX schools. Learn more about the program.

Golden Sands and Desert Lands
During this unit children explore one of the world’s most fascinating biomes — the sandy landscape of desert regions. Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth’s surface and receive less than 10 inches of rain per year. They display extreme temperatures and are filled with wonderful plants and animals that have developed interesting ways of surviving the harsh desert climate.

Children will be introduced to different types of deserts, the animal and plant life that inhabit them, and the weather conditions that make this biome so unique. Through math, literacy, science, and art experiences, your child will investigate animal tracks, learn why camels have humps and cacti have spines, and much more.

What We’ll Read
The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell

This American Southwest version of The Three Little Pigs teaches children about the desert biome as they also expand their knowledge of the desert and some of the creatures who live there. The rich text encourages vocabulary development by inviting children to learn new words from the desert environment. The book’s wonderful illustrations of the three cowboy javelinas and its expressive and humorous language are sure to entertain children and create further interest in the desert and its creatures.

Culminating Event — Sand-Art Gallery
The culminating event for the unit Golden Sands and Desert Lands will be a Sand-Art Gallery. Throughout the unit, children will create artwork using sand to display at the Sand-Art Gallery. Children will also make invitations to the event for family members and friends.

Linda is a program development senior specialist and holds a master's degree in Early Childhood Education. She loves the fact that The Grove School curriculum and learning environments help children take care of themselves, one another and the natural world.

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This summer, as part of our regular school day, children at The Grove School will go on an eco-adventure. This amazing introduction to ecology focuses on five major biomes of the world—deserts, forests, grasslands, tundra and water.

Throughout this science-based program, children will explore the characteristics of each biome’s plant and animal populations. They’ll also learn proactive steps they can take to care for and protect the environment around them.

We’ll use math, literacy, science, writing, drama and art experiences to investigate these fascinating parts of our planet. And there will be lots of ways for parents to encourage ongoing learning about the biomes at home and in the community.

Program Details

- The program runs from Monday, June 7 through Friday August 27, 2010 at both our Cary, NC and Plano, TX schools.
- There is no extra fee for the program. It’s a part of The Grove School’s regular school-day curriculum.
- We encourage parents to sign up now for the program, but you can enroll your child in The Grove School anytime throughout the summer months for them to be a part of this experience.

What Your Kids Will Learn About

Check out these articles about each of the biomes we’ll study:

Golden Sands and Desert Lands
Bees, Trees and Me
Where the Green Grass Grows
Under the Sea
Arctic Adventures
Outside My Window

Laura is our director of school operations. With 3 children of her own and a 19-year tenure in the early education field, her expertise is helping to build a community of health conscious achievers with the capacity to love and appreciate the world around us.

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Our grand opening next Thursday, 2/25 is loaded with fun stuff for your children to do. Here’s what we’ve got planned for them:

10:30 Storytime, Growing with the Trees
11:30 Learn how to make pretzels!
2:30 Storytime with Councilmember Gale Adcock
3-6 More pretzel making, Tumblebus (a gym on wheels!), an animal adaptation demo and free play in the Outdoor Grove

And we’re proud to share this day with these amazing local businesses and organizations who’ll be giving demos and answering your questions:

Pediatrician Dr. Shefali Parmar
Whole Family Chiropractor Dr. Debra Bell
Great Harvest
BA Tumbler’s Tumblebus
Downtown Cary Farmer’s Market
Whole Foods

Come by anytime!

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We’re thrilled to have some of our local representatives join us for next week’s grand opening.

State Representative Nelson Dollar and Councilmember Ervin Portman will help with our 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.

And Councilmember Gale Adcock will read a story to the children at 2:30 p.m.

There’s something for everybody at our grand opening. Stories and snacks for the kids, demos and tours for the parents. So bring your family and join in the fun, even it’s just for a few minutes.

For a full schedule of the day’s events, click here.

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“I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

Jamie Oliver
TED2010

This is something we do every day here at The Grove School. Our curriculum teaches kids how to make good food choices. We introduce gardening and the basic concepts of how to grow our own foods. And our daily menus include fresh, nutritious and delicious meals that help children to grow stronger physically and mentally.

In Jamie’s TED Talk, I was most impressed by his idea to have every child leave high school with 10 healthy recipes they can use to cook for themselves as they go through college and life. What a practical and empowering bit of knowledge to instill in our children.

Britt is the editor of The Grove School website. She's got 15 years of writing and editing experience, a 6 year old daughter, a garden and a healthy obsession with all things green.

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