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ArtWorks: Smart Start is an early arts education center for Preschool students.
At Smart Start, we encourage children to play, explore, create, and discover through high-sensory art, music, creative movement, and play. We believe that ART WORKS for even our youngest learners.
Our goal is to cultivate children's creative potential and help them get off to a SMART START!
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Smart Start 2024-2025 Open House Monday, August 26th at 6pm
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For Students aged 2-6 (must be potty-trained)
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Classes meet Monday-Thursday from 8 am-12 pm.
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Drop-off begins at 7:45 am
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We follow the Russell County School System's calendar in regard to holidays, professional development days, etc.
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$150 non-refundable registration and supply fee
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$425 per month (for 4 days per week). Billed monthly.
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Total enrollment is capped at 30 students.
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Students work one-on-one and in small groups with our teachers and assistants to ensure individualized instruction. Students engage in invitations that best fit each child's age, development, and grasp of concepts. This allows all ages to learn and grow together while also allowing students to learn and thrive in their own time and at their own pace.
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Passionate and certified educators teach classes.
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Smart Start is an arts immersion program that is highly influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to education. This means our students experience learning through play invitations, exploration, natural objects, the arts, and an ever-changing environment that is not only visually pleasing but serves as its own mode of instruction. Our teachers and assistants engage students in meaningful conversation and play that allows learning to happen relationally and progress organically.
The Benefits of the Arts in Early Childhood
The arts develop motor skills, help children appreciate numeracy, and accelerate brain development. Arts education builds self-esteem and strengthens creative centers in the brain. Creative arts activities engage a child's imagination and can include activities such as visual art, dance, drama, and music. This helps children cultivate their abilities across virtually every domain. Arts activities foster flexibility of the mind and emphasize that the process by which we create is just as important as the end result. The arts celebrate daily growth in an atmosphere of joy and life.
PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
Thanks to generous friends and community partners, we offer partial (half-tuition) scholarships for Smart Start classes.
Click the link below to learn more!
MEET OUR TEACHERS!
Leah Anderson
Ms. Leah loves sewing, crafting, story-telling, and using her imagination. She also serves as our Visual Arts Program Director and loves coming up with creative ideas. She comes up with the best ideas for our imaginative play center! She enjoys creating with our students and seeing their originality shine through in each piece.
Marisa Ramsey
Ms. Marisa loves reading, gardening, singing, dancing, and theatre. She also serves as our Education Director and delights in designing a program tailor-made for young artists and learners. She loves reading to our students, playing outside, and getting her hands in the dirt!
Jessalyn Bunch
Ms. Jess loves her dogs, cooking, doing puzzles, and reading way too late at night. Ms. Jess is present each day in our classroom and is our number one helper! She makes sure everything is prepped and ready to go and is the smiling face that greets every student each morning and sends them out the door with love each afternoon.
Cheryl Adams
Ms. Cheryl has been dancing from early childhood, trying out steps from musicals and the Mickey Mouse Club on the fireplace hearth. Before settling in Russell County, Cheryl taught dance and English in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools for over 30 years. She and her husband live on their farm in Ono with cows, a horse named Charlie, and their dog, Annie. Cheryl loves dancing, traveling, reading, and swimming in beautiful Lake Cumberland.
