About

The Learning Garden Preschool

Welcome

The Learning Garden is a private nonprofit preschool, offering developmentally appropriate programs for children agaes 3-6 years as well as extended day programs.

We're open Monday - Friday from 8 am - 5pm servicing the Lower Cape towns of Orleans, Eastham, Brewster, Chatham, Harwich. We are licensed by Early Education and Care and we are proud of our student-teacher ratios in all our programs.

We support children and their families by developing confidence, respect, and trust in a nurturing environment.

Our school is located on a 2 acre parcel of land in Orleans and was establishd in 1983 with sunny cheerful classrooms and a large well equipped playground.

Learning Garden History

The Learning Garden was built as a preschool in 1983 on two acres of land in Orleans. It offers traditional nursery school programs from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and after school care from noon to 5:00 p.m.

The Learning Garden is owned and operated by two Directors and is governed by a Board of Directors. The school focuses on helping children gain the necessary skills they will need to become excellent students as they continue their education at the elementary school level.

Enrollment is filled on a first come first serve basis with priority given to siblings and returning families. The Learning Garden is a non-profit preschool and relies on tuition payments from families to operate successfully. To find out more about our programs, go to the “about us” or “curriculum” sections.

Hanna Schneider graduated with a BS from Wheelock College where she majored in Early Childhood Education and minored in Theatre Arts with a museum education focus. Hanna is Massachusetts Lead Teacher certified and Director certified. She has been teaching nursery school since 1988; 9 years with the Beacon Hill Nursery School in Boston and since 2003, in the Preschool Program at the Learning Garden. She enjoyed working with Bobbi Tyng for many years and is thrilled to be the Lead teacher of the preschool and Co- Director.

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Brenda Halliday graduated from the State University of New York at Geneseo with a BS in Elementary Education and Special Needs. She is Massachusetts Lead Teacher and Director certified and has been teaching preschool since 1977. She helped start the Learning Garden Preschool in 1983 and continues a our Support Director.

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Pam Smith graduated from Bentley College with a BS in Management. She has been office manager at The Learning Garden since 1993. She is Massachusetts Teacher certified and works in the Enrichment Program in the afternoon.

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Brenda Donlon graduated from Emerson College with a BS in History and Communication. She has been a Teacher in the Preschool Program at The Learning Garden since 2006, after being a substitute teacher for several years. Brenda is teaches our Green Room Pre-K. Brenda is Teacher Certified by EEC.

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Sandy Fields graduated from Wheelock College with a BS in Early Childhood Education and before teaching preschool, she taught first grade for two years in Medway, MA. Sandy is Massachusetts Lead Teacher certified and for the past 23 years has been the Enrichment Lead Teacher at The Learning Garden.

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Jennifer Gaeta graduated from the University of Hartford with a B.S in Sociology. She started teaching at The Learning Garden in 2010. Jens is now Co-Director, and is Lead Teacher of the Pre-K Blue Room. Jen is Teacher Certified by EEC.

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Mari Pickard graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with a degree in Psychology and Education. After graduating Mari taught kindergarten in South Korea for a year, and then had the opportunity to travel around Asia. Upon returning to the U.S. she worked with AmeriCorps for Big Brothers Big Sisters on the Cape. Mari was initially a substitute at The Learning Garden and is now working in in the Blue Room Pre-K.

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Melanie Langdon-Amerault attended the Community College of Rhode Island and the University of Rhode Island. She ran the playgroup for the Harwich Early Childhood Council and worked with different playgroups in surrounding towns. She is now a teacher in the PreSchool Program starting September 2014.

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Lisa Squire graduated from Bucknell University with a B.A in Elementary Education. She has been a teacher at The Learning Garden since 2013 in the Pre-K Program.

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Liz barlow grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but has made the Lower Cape her home for the past 27 years. She has two children, Carrine, a senior at Ithaca College, and Grant, a sophomore at Paul Smith's College. Both alums of the Learning Garden!

Liz has a Liberal Arts college background. She studied: Animal Biology, Natural Science and Women's Literature at New England College in Henniker, NH, Applied Sciences at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and Human Biolog, Horticulture, and Fiber Arts/Textile Design at the University of Iowa.

Her interests include gardenting, holiday floral design, reading and knitting.

She spends part of her summers in the Southern Adirondack area in upstate N.Y., where she enjoys kayaking, swimming, and gathering with friends for game nights.

Liz is a teacher in the Green Room Pre-K.

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