A new play-based preschool, PlaySTX, is accepting enrollment for the 2017-2018 school year. The school will welcome students ages one to four. Familiar educators have committed to teaching at PlaySTX including Shannon Gray and Raheema Wagner (formerly of Stone House); along with Jess David, which many island families know from Undercover Books and the Christiansted library; and Megan Kohut, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapist.
As Stone House Preschool unfortunately closed its doors for good when the 2016-2017 school year recently finished, it widened a void of child care options for preschool children on St. Croix. In the same play-based spirit as Stone House (which succeeded on-island for thirteen years), PlaySTX will loosely follow the LifeWays and Waldorf approaches to child care. An emphasis will be placed on unstructured play time and exploring outdoors. The agenda is simply the business of life, with children helping prepare and clean-up for snacks and lunch, etc. This approach helps foster imagination and creative play, forge social skills and avoids over-stimulation.
The couple spearheading the start of PlaySTX are Gwendolyn (Gwen) and Michael Eden. She is a National Board-Certified Teacher at AZ Academy and he is an attorney. With their young daughter thriving at Stone House, they personally wanted to see a play-based preschool option continue on-island and are taking the initiative to make that happen.
Ready to enroll your child at PlaySTX? St. Croix is a refreshing place to send children to school. From outdoor play every day, to small class sizes and personal attention from teachers. When you’re ready to call St. Croix home for your family, contact Chris and Kerri Hanley. As the authorities on Virgin Islands real estate, they can guide you in buying the ideal family home. Start by downloading their St. Croix Event Guide to find a perfect time for an extended trip: