Children’s House Makes Changes, Looking Ahead to Next 40 Years

April awaits the pleasure of your company at the Children's House Soiree Fundraiser this Saturday

VIP Soiree and Family Farm “Bawl” this weekend

Children’s House on Orcas Island started 40 years ago. Its campus is made up of two buildings on Pea Patch Lane, off North Beach Road – the Lavendar House preschool and the Infant Toddler Center.

This Saturday, it will honor another island “old-timer” and fund-raiser extraordinaire, Mayor April the Cow, at the Mayor’s home pasture, across the street from the Funhouse in Eastsound at an invitational affair in the late afternoon. Sunday afternoon, the festivities are more family-oriented with an ice cream social and barn dance at Morningstar Farms from 2 to 5 p.m.

The VIP Soiree on Saturday. Sept 3  includes champagne, luxury wines and imported cheeses at a tented, white linen affair from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The event includes a photo opportunity with “Her Honor.” Tickets are. $100 per person and by reservation only to Children’s House 376-4744.

The ice-cream social and barn dance on Sunday will include live music by JP & OK Rhythm Boys. From 2 to 5 p.m. The cost for this event is $10 per person ($40 per family). Directions to Morningstar Farms can be found at www.oich.org

Debuting at the Bawl will be a song composed for April by Dave Roseberry of the Parking Angels?

And well she deserves it, says ChildrenBoard President Dale Heisinger, because April “is the one that helped us reach our [fundraising] goal this year.”

April was a write-in candidate for the campaign, a Children’s House fundraiser for three years now; yet she swamped the balloting. Speculation has it that her overwhelming victory was in deference to her years of wise ruminations. April was first purchased by Jim Shaffer-Bauck in a 4-H auction. The Brown Swiss is the largest breed of cow in the world, and she has captured the affection – and special snacks – of  islanders for years.

The Mayoral Campaign has taken on a life of its own since it was introduced as a fundraiser in 2009, and the weekend’s parties are a continuing way of thanking the community for its support  and letting it know of the recent growth and re-direction of Children’s House.

Susan Anderson, Director, Business Development and Dale Heisinger, Chairman of the Board, face the future of Children's House with enthusiastic optimism

The early learning center has made a leadership change, with Susan Anderson assuming duties as Director, Business Development. Anderson will report to the board, and take on management and administrative responsibilities for the non-profit organization.

Jana Albright, formerly Executive Director, will then focus on Children’s House programs and curriculum, including teaching and training for teacher certification.

Anderson’s title, Executive, Business Devlopment, indicates what her focus is – fund-raising. As a business owner, she comes from a background with a larger structure, “and structure is good,” she says, “just as good business sense is good business sense.”

Her goal is to find the right ways to inspire the teachers, parents and children of Children’s House.  “It’s all about being in something you really enjoy.”  She can personally attest to that, as she came from a “stressful 24-hour business background,” to Orcas Island and first came to Children’s House because “I wanted to stay here. People do a lot of trade-offs to stay on the island,”  she says.

“We are the sum of our parts, just as our organizations are. From aide to lead teacher, each person is an important part of our mission and our statement.”

Heisinger agrees. “One outlier defines the institution and generates the story. And that includes the board. When you have limited resources, it happens that boards get overwhelmed and entrenched. We’ve experienced difficulty finding qualified people dedicated to the mission –  and you have to be a worker bee… each board member has  a skill set in different areas, to give what they’re good at.

Everyone is pulling together and we all work very hard. I’m an advocate for children, which is why I joined OICH; that’s what we do.”

This restructuring reflects an increased commitment to the program, Heisinger says, and Jana Albright, Programs Director,  affirms that commitment.

Albright says, “It’s an exciting development for me, and something I’ve been asking for since I became Director. My masters degree is in child devlopement and I’m very grateful we’ve found Susan. I’m thrilled to be able to be out there with the children and teachers.

“There is a powerful interaction that goes on at Children’s House. The small group size [one to five children]  and carefully thought-out routines build strong bonds and relationships outside the home, and strengthens the children’s ability to interact in the future. It’s very exciting for me.

“We look for the employee who understands the power of the right kind of interaction with the child, who knows how to interject learning into a child’s activity. We are fortunate, in a small place, to have people who are natural at it.

“That means that every child has a chance to be heard and grow according to their own temperament.”

She emphasized the importance of teamwork at Children’s House, “Everyone [on staff] is highly valued at every level.  Therein lies our greatest success and greatest challenge —  in paying our staff a fair wage.”

Children’s House hired Anderson as Administrative Coordinator last year, an open position created to take on the administrative duties necessary for OICH to be successful. She had been a professional magazine journalist and editor of trade publications; she had also been the business owner of a stock photography agency for 13 years, before coming to Orcas Island in 2010.

“Susan has an incredible skill set, especially in communication,” says Heisinger. “This is the time – we have the right person with the right expertise… to do what I’ve wanted to do for three years.”

“When we look at the bottom line it will impact us, but by increasing community awareness, we’ll get much more community support. That will benefit us in the long term,” says Heisinger.

”The board is very supportive of new ideas – no business on the island can rest on its laurels,” says Susan. “We can’t survive without some exposure about what Children’s House does.”

Its mission, as stated on the OICH website, is : “building a community in which all children have the opportunity to learn and grow in a healthy, supportive environment.”  Heisinger states it simply as “providing quality preschool early learning for the children of Orcas Island. The learning process and the playing process is our basic mission.”

Another change is a physical, logistic one – the closure of the Infant Room so that toddler classrooms can expand into that area at the Infant Toddler Center.

This decision comes after considering finances and logistics. Anderson says, “The number of children that come through the Infant Center at any given time is very few, and there is no way, logistically to share the room. With the state requirements for staffing and equipment in an Infant Center, it didn’t make sense to keep it open.”

Heisinger added that Children’s House will continue to provide infant care until the new Kaleidoscope Infant Toddler expansion is complete (expected in early September).  “ The island needs an infant center, and we’ll keep this open until Kaleidoscope is  fully operational,” he said.

Heisinger, a retired pediatrician, is super-amped as he describes the events and the new directions Children’s House is taking towards future sustainability. He says, “I’ve been on the board for five years and this is the most excited I’ve been about the direction we’re taking.

“Now Jana can refocus about the things she loves doing. I’m very optimistic about the future of Children’s House.”

Fall enrollment currently stands at 40 (total enrollment; not everyone attends every day).

The OICH annual operating budget is approximately $285,000. There are eight teaching staff and  four permanent substitutes. Revenue comes from tuitions, donations, fund-raising, grants and an endowment through the Orcas Island Community Foundation. The endowment continues to grow, as distributions are paid from the earned interest.  Some funds for special needs kids come through the state Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program; however those funds do not come during the four summer months.

Children’s House faces a shortfall of about $3,000 a month. “That’s what the board has to manage, with everyone pulling together,” says Heisinger. “Everything we do is geared to a strategy, looking forward to where we’re going to be the next 40 years.”

Anderson says, “Our business is a relationship business; emotions are involved. It not just about continue to operate tomorrow, but wanting to have those relationships for years.”