Hello!

Welcome to Garden Grove Schoolhouse!

 

From a young age, I knew I would grow up to be a teacher. I regularly played school in front of my family’s basement chalkboard and would fill the student seats with my dolls, stuffed animals, and younger siblings. I wrote lesson plans and gave report cards to neighborhood friends and once ran a summer school program in my backyard playhouse. I loved learning and wanted others to love it as well.

 

Growing up, I watched both of my parents and maternal grandmother excel in their careers as teachers. Inspired by them and many of my childhood schoolteachers, I attended BYU-Idaho and graduated with my degree in Elementary Education. During college I worked as a teacher’s aide in several grade levels and in many other school capacities. It was during that time that I fell in love with kindergarten.

 

After college, I landed my dream job teaching kindergarten in the exact classroom I had attended as a child. I spent ten great years there, working with wonderful students, parents, and coworkers. During those years, I attended many professional development conferences in Utah and across the United States. I also spent part of two summers traveling with Global Education Allies to Finland, Sweden, and Estonia, and then to Singapore and Cambodia. My teaching goals grew during these trips where I met an array of incredible educators and experienced new ways of teaching and learning. Expanding my worldview of education encouraged me to become a better teacher.

 

During the pandemic shut-down and after seeing the alarming social, emotional, and academic consequences of it firsthand, my educational philosophy really shifted. I was no longer interested in pushing kids as fast as they could go with scripted programs, workbooks, and timed tests. My heart grew discontent with the pacing of public education and the fact that “kindergarten was the new first-grade.” At the end of most days, I was frustrated that my vision of what was best for the children in my care was not matching up with the expectations the school system was putting on them as students and on me as a teacher. Because of this moral and ethical divide, I knew I had to walk away from the job I had previously loved. 

 

I left teaching in May of 2022 and spent a year healing, learning, and researching various philosophies and methodologies of teaching. I wanted to remember the good, important work that I had previously done and recreate those opportunities in a fun, meaningful, and developmentally appropriate way for children in their early school years. After taking a year off from teaching, I returned to the classroom to teach first-grade. I loved the students in my class and the curriculum I taught, but once again knew I needed something different.

 

Inspired by the original Kindergarten started in 1840, and influenced by the Finnish education system, the idea of Garden Grove Schoolhouse was born. Often longing for a return to "the good ol' days" and the simplicity of the iconic one-room schoolhouse, I've been on a mission to create my own school that includes a focus on learning, service, and life skills. It's been a long process to see the school come together, but it's a dream I haven't given up on.

A dream that younger me--standing in front of the basement chalkboard--would be thrilled to see come true. 

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Goodness grows here at Garden Grove Schoolhouse. We're letting children learn through play, exploration, and art; allowing them to go outside rain or shine; encouraging them to display their faith and serve others; and helping them hold onto their childhoods for as long as possible. We’re looking at early-elementary education through a new lens, with old-fashioned roots. We’re planting seeds for a lifetime love of learning. Join us as we reap the rewards! 

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Nonie Hunter

Garden Grove Schoolhouse Founder and Teacher