GILL — Back in 1974, The Giving Tree School got its start as a family day care center in Betsy Evans and Jeff Coulson’s living room on the Northfield Mount Hermon School campus. And like a toddler, it was off and running within a couple of years.
Licensed as a nursery school in 1977, Giving Tree moved into its second home when the couple moved in 1984 and six years later into its own space off Main Road, where a 40th birthday celebration is planned for Saturday from 1 p.m. into the evening.
Evans, who had training in early childhood education at Skidmore College, remembers, “I’ve always valued the importance of play with young children, and didn’t want to go in the direction of a didactic, direct-instruction kind of school, but one that focused on children’s strengths – play and fun and mess and outdoors.”
The preschool is for ages 2.9 to 5 years.
Evans, who left the classroom to become president of the school’s board in 1997, focused on conflict resolution as a key part of the program.
“Children were really supported when they have conflicts — not punished, shamed, blamed, scolded — but taught to negotiate with each other and become more emotionally aware and able to express their feelings,” says Evans, who as a private consultant has led teacher training in 42 states and six countries, and has written three books and three videos.
The High/Scope curriculum, in which Giving Tree has been accredited since the 1990s, emphasizes a child-initiated, play-based approach that values children’s individual interests and emphasizes the need to letting children lead based on their individual developmental level.
With help from a $10,000 grant from Greenfield-based It Takes a Community Foundation, the school built a pavilion for its outdoor classroom, with a living roof, as part of its commitment to outdoor education and allowing for maximum time outside.
Saturday’s party, where there will be a sliding-scale admission charged, will include music by The Big Littles by and Giving Tree alum Ashley Storrow, as well as a food truck, locally made beer and wine and an auction with prizes donated by Just Roots, Thomas and Thomas, the Calvin Theater, area restaurants and more.
More information is available at givingtreeschool.org