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

Our Student-Led Video Tour

Scott Andersen | March 10, 2010 | Comment

Wow! What a fun day! I thoroughly enjoyed working with our two Pre-K students. I think they enjoyed it too. We spend a good portion of the day learning about video production, enunciation and communication. I hope you enjoy it. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

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, Student led tour, video, video tour

My Favorite Drink!

Scott Andersen | March 9, 2010 | Comment

I like to drink. I am not referring to alcoholic drinks, but to flavorful drinks like cherry limeades, diet Pepsi and fresh fruit smoothies. However, after running 6 miles on Saturday and 4 miles this morning, there was nothing more satisfying than a big drink of water!

Over the past several weeks, I have been trying to increase my water intake in replacement of those others drinks which are just bad for me or contain too many calories. Hopefully when you come in the building, you will see a tall stainless steel double-walled water bottle on my desk. Furthermore, I hope you see me drinking from it!

I love the water we have here at The Grove School. Our drinking water goes through our water filtration system (see photo) and reminds me of the delicious water I used to get from my personal well I had when I lived in NH. That water was delicious and so is our water here.

Perhaps you will join me in my water drinking challenge. Some of you may be way ahead of me. But for those of you who seem to have an attached coffee cup or soda bottle to your hand, I invite you to replace it with a delicious drink of water.

Keywords: Cary, Grove School, Head of School, Healthy Me, water

Composting ORT

Scott Andersen | March 8, 2010 | Comment (1)

Here is some video from our students doing a little composting today. We had some build up of ort that we needed to include in the composting bin.

Keywords: Cary, composting, ort, outdoor classroom, The Grove School

Grand Opening Video

Scott Andersen | March 2, 2010 | Comments (2)

We had a great turn out for our Grand Opening last week. For those of you who attended, this VIDEO will seem familiar. For those of you who missed it, take a look and see what you missed!

Keywords: Cary, Dr. Scott Andersen, events, Grove School

Stories, learning, playing and connecting

Scott Andersen | February 27, 2010 | Comment

We have been running weekly story times and play dates for almost a month now. Every Tuesday and Thursday we hold a story time from 10:30 to 11:30. On Wednesdays we hold a play date from 10:00 to 12:00. We love having these times to invite families into our school and to participate in story telling, learning, playing and connecting.

During all of these times, we share books and other literacy based activities. After all, learning to read is paramount! We also include activities that engage students in hands on learning and the exercise of creativity and imagination. Obviously, during our play dates, we PLAY! It is important for children to have play time together. One of our specialties at The Grove School is to create play time that is also instructional. I love it when our teachers craft activities where the children think they are playing, and they are, but also include very specific learning objectives. This is a win-win for all involved. Finally, we love the story times and play dates because they give parents an opportunity to connect one with another while their children are engaged in the activities. One of our goals is to help create and participate in a positive community and providing an opportunities for parents to interact with one another is one of the ways we can do this.

I invite all to participate in these fun times. No need to call in advance. Just show up and have fun!

Keywords: Cary, events, parents, play dates, story times, The Grove School

Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting

Scott Andersen | February 23, 2010 | Comment

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.

Keywords: Cary, Cary Chamber of Commerce, Grove School, Ribbon Cutting

Cary grand opening: bring the kids!

Scott Andersen | February 19, 2010 | Comment

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!

Keywords: BA Tumbler's Tumblebus, Cary, Downtown Cary Farmer's Market, Dr. Debra Bell, Dr. Shefali Parmar, Gale Adcock, grand opening, Great Harvest, Grove School, Whole Foods

Cary grand opening: local elected officials to participate

Scott Andersen | February 17, 2010 | Comment

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.

Keywords: Ervin Portman, Gale Adcock, grand opening, Grove School, Nelson Dollar

Cary grand opening agenda: THUR 2/25

Scott Andersen | February 16, 2010 | Comment

The big day is almost here. Join us on Thursday, February 25, 2010 for The Grove School of Cary’s grand opening. Come anytime you can!

10:00 a.m. Ribbon cutting with State Representative Nelson Dollar and Cary Councilmember Ervin Portman

11:00 a.m. Celebration of opening lead by Ty Durekas, President of The Grove School
Storytelling and teacher lead activity for the children

11:15 a.m. Community partner proclamation

11:30 a.m. School tour lead by Head of School, Dr. Scott Andersen

11:45 a.m. Classroom technology introduction and demo

12:00 p.m. Introduction of our “sister school” in Plano, TX via Skype

12:15 p.m. Lunch buffet catered by Whole Foods

1:00 p.m. School tour – curriculum introductions lead by Education Manager

1:45 p.m. Outdoor Grove tour/ Healthy Planet activity

2:15 p.m. Snack

2:30 p.m. Story time with Cary Councilmember Gale Adcock

2:45 p.m. Classroom technology introduction and demo

3:15 p.m. Community engagement and communication

4:00 p.m. Children’s activities (indoor and outdoor planting), admissions and educational breakout sessions, including:
• Dr. Shefali Parmar, Pediatrician
• Dr. Debra Bell, Whole Family Chiropractor
• Paige Williams, Great Harvest Bread Company, the anatomy of bread making
• Organic gardening
• Jamie Patrick, Explore (Art, Music, Dance)
• Laura Lainhoff, Tumblebus
• Jennifer Gibbs, Cary Farmer’s Market
• Town of Cary, Recycling program
• Classroom technology introduction and demo

5:30 p.m. Meet the teachers – introductions of staff

6:00 p.m. Parent connections – meet and greet for current and prospective parents

6:45 p.m. Closing remarks

Keywords: Cary, grand opening, Grove School

Video: Peek inside a play date

Scott Andersen | February 10, 2010 | Comment

We’re meeting many new families at our weekly play dates. Check out this video to see the fun stuff you can explore with your kids every Wednesday from 10-12 at The Grove School.