A Hurricane of a Week!
Here we are. Just like that, September has arrived and there is a distinctive difference in the air this morning. We have completed the first week of our 6th year at HCMA and while so many things are the same, so many things are different. We've come so far in 6 years and on the eve of the Nature Preschool's debut, I am feeling a little nostalgic.
In August of 2011, I was busily preparing a classroom in a less than ideal space, with determination and love. There wasn't a detail missed. After all, this classroom wouldn't just become the home of my students it would also be a classroom for my own daughter, then 4 years old. I had 5 families (that would turn into 6) that had chosen HCMA for their children. Families that were excited that our core value of “Heart”, teaching children to be kind, just, compassionate and in control of their bodies, was a value that aligned with their own family philosophies. Through the years those families have become dear friends and constant supporters of HCMA!
With the support of those families HCMA grew out of it's original location and into it's current home on Central Square, more than doubling in square footage. With the addition of the Nature Preschool, we've grown from an original staff of 1 (and a dedicated volunteer - Grammie Carolyn) to a staff of 6 this fall! However, HCMA never would have become what it is today without the constant support of my family. HCMA is a way of life for my daughter and husband. My daughter no longer attends school here, but our entire family looks forward to HCMA family days as though she did. My dear husband has put in countless hours doing projects for me in the classroom; one time nearly knocking himself unconscious while working in the old school's basement! Andy's contributions have always come after a full day of work at his 'real' job. It has become tradition for my daughter to spend the first week of "Mom's School" with her grandparents,great grandmother, aunts and cousins who have juggled schedules to care for her in a week they knew would be completely exhausting for me. For all of their contributions I am forever grateful! HCMA would not be what it is today, without the contributions of so many!
And while so much has changed for HCMA - some things just don't change! While I was putting the finishing touches on that first ever classroom, a hurricane, named Irene, was blowing up the coast. Hurricane Hermine reminds me again, that everything comes full circle and the rhythms of nature and life are no different!
It has been a hard, exhausting, and beautiful 6 years. Here is to another 6 years, surrounded by the most positive, nurturing, and like minded families there are! Thank you! Cheers!
Pictures from that first Fall.
