The Opportunity Tree

What it is named for

The original model

This is the centre the whole network is modelled on — the programme, the handbook, the budget and the forms that a state licensing analyst actually accepted. Every other centre in the network is a copy of this one, adapted to its building and its families.

The programme the rest of the network is copied from
The worked budget and staffing plan that cleared review
The reference point when any other centre has a question

Meet the director

Director — to be appointed

This centre is still choosing the person who will lead it. We would rather say that plainly than put a name here for the sake of it. If you have run a room, held a licence, or spent years doing this well and quietly, we would like to hear from you.

Talk to us about leading it

At a glance

The shape of it

Infant–PreK

Ages served

Planned capacity

Shift & gig

Schedule built for

In formation

Current status

Status, stated plainly. This centre is in formation. It is not open, it is not enrolling, and nothing on this page should be read as an offer of care or as a representation about a licence. The page exists so the people building the network can see what each centre is meant to be.

A day here

What your child’s day is shaped like

Nothing here is running yet. This is the day the centre is being built to have, written down so you can hold us to it.

Arriving

The routine the rest of the network is copied from, because it is the one that worked first.

The morning

A long uninterrupted block, mixed ages, and outdoor time built into the plan.

The programme

The curriculum, the handbook and the daily schedule that a state licensing analyst actually accepted.

Standards

When another centre is unsure how something should be done, this is the room they come and look at.

Going home

Notes that say what your child did, not what the group did.

A story for the name

The First Tree

Before any of it, there was a field with nothing in it, and one person with one small tree in a bucket.

It was not a good field. Everyone said so. Too much wind. Too much sun in the afternoon. Nobody had bothered with it in years, and nobody expected much now.

The tree went in anyway.

It was a hard first winter and a harder second one, and for a long while the field looked exactly like a field with one tree in it, which is not much to look at.

But a tree that survives a bad field learns things. It learns where the water is. It learns which way to lean when the wind comes off the water in January. And every autumn it drops seeds, and the seeds carry everything it learned.

One came up by the fence. Then two more near the gate. Then a whole crooked line of them along the ditch, each one a little braver than the last.

If you stand in that field now you will not notice the first tree particularly. It is not the tallest any more, and it is certainly not the prettiest.

But every single one of them came out of it.

About ninety seconds out loud. Ours to tell, yours to borrow at bedtime.

Questions parents ask

Straight answers

When does it open?

There is no opening date, and we would rather say that than invent one. The chip at the top of this page says “in formation” for exactly that reason. If you want to be told when there is real news, email us and we will tell you.

Does it hold a licence?

No, and this page does not suggest otherwise. Nothing here is an offer of care. If and when there is one, its number will be printed on this page — and not a day before.

What ages?

It is being planned for infants through pre-kindergarten.

Can I look round?

Not yet — there is no building to look round. When there is, you will be able to stand in it before you decide anything, which is the only way to judge one of these.

How do I ask a question?

Email info@theopportunitytree.com. A person reads it.

Ask about The Opportunity Tree