VERGENNES — “Working with kids is some of the best therapy around. Their curiosity, innocence, and unconditional love is so heartwarming,” said Ashley Bessette.

She should know. A career early childhood educator, Bessette is program director at Evergreen Preschool in Vergennes. She was recently appointed by the three local public school districts as Addison County Universal Pre-K Coordinator, and will leave for that position in August.

Evergreen Preschool, located at 30 South Water St. in Vergennes, has been proudly serving the community since 1982. The establishment began as a cooperative, founded by a group of moms in the area who were seeking a preschool experience for their children at a time when a learning experience for children younger than 1st grade wasn’t always easily available. 

Evergreen has since evolved into what it is now a nonprofit that is designated by the Vermont STep Ahead Recognition System as a 5-star program. Evergreen is also a Universal Prequalified establishment. This means that children who come to Evergreen are eligible to receive public funds to help pay for up to 10 hours of free preschool per week. 

Quality childcare is essential to the healthy development of young children. In June 2023, the Vermont Legislature passed Act 76, which makes major investments in Vermont’s childcare system, and mandates policy changes that aim to make quality childcare more available by improving the pay and training of early childhood educators and offer more subsidies for families, and thus increasing the number of childcare spots available in the Green Mountain State.

In addition to making the next generation of workers better prepared and more capable, it is hoped that better early child education will make the current Vermont workforce more stable by giving parents solid support when raising their kids.

“Act 76 gave us funding for raises. Being able to pay teachers more is the best way to retain the work force,” Bessette said. 

5-YEAR-OLD NOLAN Fallon scoops some ice at Evergreen Preschool.

Evergreen Preschool is primarily funded through tuition. Act 76, a 2023 bill that allocates more resources towards Vermont childcare centers, gave Evergreen more funds to improve their operations. This was primarily used to give raises to facility staff. This is particularly significant because one of the contributors to Vermont’s childcare shortage is the overall lack of early childhood educators.

Being fully staffed is not only better for the children and their families, it is also better for the providers, like the ones at Evergreen who can really focus on their job and the children they are educating.

“There’s days where we will just be laughing the entire day about who said what and who did what, it’s so magical,” Bessette said.

Evergreen Preschool aims to foster children’s natural thirst for knowledge and meaning through play in a collaborative environment that respects, values, encourages and sees the individuality of each child and family. The hope is to also inspire a deep connection with the natural environment and surrounding community.

The Evergreen staff prioritizes providing a positive learning experience for its students, one way they do this is by ensuring a low student-to-faculty ratio. The preschool serves students aged 3-5 in a two-year program, meaning those enrolled are guaranteed a spot for the following year’s instruction. They have a total of 35 spots per year and operate on a split schedule — there is a group of 17 or 18 3-year-olds come in for two days a week and a group of 17 or 18 4- and 5-year-olds in for three days a week. This split schedule has been a staple of Evergreen preschool’s pedagogy, as it allows the staff to pay more careful attention to each child in the facility. There is usually five adults on site on a given day. 

“Our philosophy is: Be safe, be kind, be gentle,” Bessette said.

The preschool incorporates a lot of play and natured based learning in their daily routines, having frequent activities that seek to expose children to the world around them. Just last week, the preschool hosted a lemonade stand in hopes of providing a treat to those in the area hoping to cope with the heat. The stand was also a fundraiser; the children had been learning about turtles and wanted to raise a little money to go toward turtle preservation.

The youngsters also recently took a field trip to visit the Watershed Center, a nature preserve and education center in Bristol. Evergreen Preschool heavily values community. Staff work to ensure that families are deeply involved in their children’s education. Evergreen has a social committee, a group of parents who collaborate to organize events to connect families outside of school hours. Families also take turns providing the class daily snacks. 

Families looking to enroll should be on the lookout for an application, which typically opens in February and is for spots opening up the following August.

“Every step they take is a big deal and it brings me joy to be on the ride with them,” said Bessette.