At St. Thomas Early Learning Center (STELC), our mission is rooted in honoring the pace of early childhood while nurturing wonder, discovery, and joy. With the generous support of a NAES grant, our staff experienced meaningful professional development opportunities that have already begun transforming our classrooms and enriching our community.
This grant empowered our teachers to engage deeply in their own learning. In summer 2024, team members attended the Nature Explorer International Leadership Institute, gaining inspiration and tools to strengthen our commitment to caring for God’s creation through outdoor play and learning. As teacher Jodi Sheridan shared, “The experience was a wonderful reminder of the restorative power that spending time in a natural outdoor space holds for a person. It inspired a renewed focus on bringing that experience to our STELC students and their families.”
In response to the same conference, Meredith Arledge established our school’s Wonderlab – a hands-on, curiosity-driven space where children engage with science through exploration and play. It also motivated her to expand and enrich our school gardens, transforming them into a living classroom where students connect with nature. These child-centered initiatives support our vision to cultivate kind, curious learners in the Brazos Valley.
In March 2025, nearly our entire staff attended the Texas Play and Development Conference. The excitement and insights gained were brought back and shared during regular staff meetings, amplifying the impact across classrooms and age groups. While the NAES grant didn’t fund these experiences in full, it gave us critical flexibility in our budget, allowing us to invest intentionally in staff development that aligns with our Episcopal values—honoring each child’s dignity, fostering community, and deepening our spiritual connection to the natural world.
This investment in our educators has led to more engaged teachers and enriched learning environments—evidence of the power of professional growth to shape a school’s culture and curriculum. We are grateful for NAES’s partnership in helping us live more fully into our mission.