OFFERING A PLAY-BASED LEARNING CURRICULUM

Our Story

Shorenorth is a cooperative preschool where everyone actively participates in life-long learning through play. Since 1972, we've strived to improve the day-to-day quality of life for the families we serve through education for children, parent education and support for all families. Our program is sponsored by Shoreline Community College. Your child will experience a variety of materials and programs and bond and build confidence with other adults and children, adding a worthwhile dimension to their life. The skills and friendships developed at our preschool last a lifetime! 

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) first accredited Shorenorth in 1999. NAEYC programs undergo a comprehensive process of internal self-study and external professional review to verify compliance with the criteria for the High Quality Early Childhood Programs. Shorenorth continues to follow the NAEYC guidelines today.

Our Philosophy

For Children: Research in the area of cognitive development in young children suggests children learn best in an age-appropriate, enriched, multi-sensory environment. Each child should be free to interact with this environment in a learning style and at a rate most appropriate for them as an individual. Most of class time is spent in free play to encourage this type of learning.
 
For Adults: We believe parents best learn parenting and adult development through being able to obtain information from informal lectures, books, articles, and audio-visual materials as well as the discussion and sharing of their own interpretations of these materials. The children’s lab/preschool offers an opportunity to observe and apply ideas they have learned from the parenting seminars. Both theoretical and practical applications for parenting are offered. Current research is also presented in parent education, led by our teachers. Parents are encouraged to present and share their own expertise during discussion. 

Our Learning Environments

Blue Room

The Blue Room has animals, trucks, puzzles and blocks, musical instruments and space for free play. This room hosts Baby N' Me Class and circle time for our Explorers, Toddlers, Movers and Groovers. Circle time helps our children learn structure and routine in class. It also prepares them for the Kindergarten environment as they are asked to follow the instructions during this teacher-led part of class.

Green Room

The Green Room is a large space used for art and science projects, reading and snack/lunch. Each week there will be a new art activity - collage work, gluing, finger-painting, mixing, stamping, drawing, etc. We save your child's art projects and send them home with you on a regular basis. We celebrate the process, rather than the end result of their art.

Movement Room

The Movement Room has play equipment such as a slide, rocking horses, bouncy balls, climbing pads and a climbing wall (hand-painted by our members!) to develop gross motor skills. This room also provides children with an opportunity to set boundaries for their personal space with their peers when engaged in physical play.

Imagination Room

The Imagination Room has space for imaginative play with kitchens, trains, dolls and a monthly rotating themed space (farmer’s market, doctor, fire station, post office, space station, etc). This is a great place for language and imagination interaction. This room gives children an opportunity to replicate cooking that they see in their home and work on their empathy with the baby dolls.

Outdoor Playscape

Designed by one of our parents and built by our community, the  Shorenorth Outdoor Playscape has climbing structures, a bridge, slide, boat, bubble station, sand pit, mud kitchen, fairy garden and more for maximum outdoor fun! Every class ends with free play outside. Our motto is "there is no bad weather for playing outside" - we encourage bringing layers and waterproof clothing to class.

Sensory Bin & Play Dough

We have a sensory bin that is changed throughout the year to provide different sensory materials (like sand, rice, corn, etc) for our children's little hands to develop fine motor skills. We also provide play dough in the Green Room for our bigger kids to mold and mix. Sand/playdough is very important for young children, giving them experiences with form, matter and sensory exploration.
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Video Tour

Our Staff

Jen Belcourt

Director & Baby N' Me Instructor

​Jen Belcourt collaborates with the Shorenorth Board of Directors and members to accomplish the business of the co-op that gets us into the classroom, learning with our children and one another. ​Joining Shorenorth as a parent in 2016, she has served on the Shorenorth Board in various capacities and was recruited by her fellow parents to the Director role in 2021. Jen also teaches the Baby ‘n Me class.

Prior to working in nonprofit business development, she served as a leadership consultant for college students and as an AmeriCorps Member running local classrooms and afterschool programs. At Shorenorth, Jen brings together her experience collaborating with nonprofit boards, love of community building and desire to support play-based learning in early childhood education.
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Jen is passionate about building connections between people and loves getting to know the unique skills and interests each family brings to the Shorenorth community. When not at preschool, she enjoys spending time with her family, exploring outdoors, reading, baking and traveling.

Erin Middleton-Stumpf

Explorers, Toddlers, Movers, Groovers, & K-3 Parent Education Instructor

​Erin Middleton teaches the Groovers, Movers, Toddlers, Explorer and K-3 Parent Education classes. Joining Shorenorth as a parent in 2015, she served on the Shorenorth Board for two terms and was recruited by our community to teach classes in 2018. She attended Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University and earned a BA in Environmental Education with a focus in Outdoor Education.
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Before teaching at Shorenorth, Erin taught outdoor preschool for 6 years through the City of Shoreline, travelled for two years in Armenia teaching English and Environmental Education and she spent summers as an outdoor summer camp counselor.

Erin is passionate about play, outdoor education, and helping to build an inclusive community. She is mother to Angus and Emilia and wife to Adam (met in the Peace Corps). Together they enjoy family time biking, camping, and exploring the woods and the beautiful Washington beaches.

Eco-Friendly 

Shorenorth has been committed to eco-friendly practices since 2008. We teach our children to become conscious, caring stewards of the earth by composting food waste and paper towels, and recycling paper, metal, and plastic materials. We encourage our older students to reduce their production of garbage and sort whatever garbage they make. 

We are shoe-free, implemented to avoid tracking harmful chemicals from the outdoors onto the floors where the kids crawl and play. We use a vinegar solution, Benefact spray and use wash cloths instead of paper towels for cleaning. Additionally, we improve air quality by using air filters in each learning space. 

We also have a garden in our outdoor playscape that we grow produce in to teach our students how food grows.