“I was impressed by the school’s mission and commitment to the whole family.”

I remember the first time I visited Mainspring Schools, looking at the playground and seeing all of these kids running around with such purpose but also noticing there weren’t any toys or traditional playground elements. I asked the then Executive Director about this and his response floored me. He said, "We want kids to actively use their imaginations, we don’t believe in boxing them in." My mind was blown! Learning, through play, what a concept!

I started my relationship with Mainspring as a board member. I was impressed by the school’s mission and commitment to the whole family. My family is now one of those families that Mainspring is committed to as we now have both of our children (3 years old and 6 months old) at Mainspring.

Both my wife and I grew up in families where a grandma, or some other family member, kept the kids until they were able to talk, and initially, that was our stance. We did not want our kids to go to daycare before they could articulate their experiences. Our son started at Mainspring at about 18 months and he was, and still is, very talkative! I had been a board member at that point for about nine months and beginning to understand the Mainspring magic but nothing builds understanding like lived experience. We started seeing growth in his social and emotional skills in leaps and bounds. Not to mention he had a huge smile on his face every day at pick-up!

Jodie, his wife, and their two children on Halloween. 

The best testimony that I can give to Mainspring is that, while our initial feeling was that our kids would not start schooling outside of the house before they were able to talk, we trusted Mainspring enough to send our daughter to them at just four months.

Every family wants their kids in a learning environment that is enriching to both the child and family, but at a fundamental level, all parents want to trust that their child is being cared for in a manner similar to what they would do as parents. Mainspring gives that to every family regardless of their income level. It takes a special place to fully commit to the social and emotional health of all its students and their families, regardless of the challenges they are facing, and at the same time consistently graduate over 90% of the students kindergarten-ready! Mainspring is that special place.

That special place that continues to mean so much to me and so many other families is in the middle of its End of Year Giving (EOYG) campaign and we need your help to continue to provide high-quality education and support to our current families and hopefully offer that same level of service to many more.

-Jodie Easley, Mainspring Board Member and Parent