Children’s Garden Preschool of North Dakota is Now EDGE Licensed

Owners Sara and Shaun Brentrup went through a licensing process with a national company called The Early Development of Global Education, LLC to be certified as an ecologically-friendly school. They will hold an open house April 22, which is Earth Day, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to tour the classrooms and learn about the eco-friendly products in use at the school.

The Children’s Garden School is located in the northwest corner of Zion Lutheran Church, located at 1800 Hiawatha St. The church was built in 2006. Since it’s a new building, it was easier for the preschool to meet EDGE’s licensure requirements, said Sara Brentrup. For instance, the sinks and toilets in the preschool classrooms were already low-flow, so they didn’t use as much water.

A number of the other requirements were things the Brentrups were already doing; others were easy adjustments to make.

The Brentrups switched to buying recycled products for use in the preschool: recycled copy paper, tissue and toilet paper, and chemical-free cleaning products. Sara Brentrup said some of the items are carried by local stores and she belongs to a cooperative group that purchases other items on-line or through stores. The cost is not signifcantly greater for those items, since they get good deals through the co-op.

The preschool used to serve drinks to the preschool students in styrofoam cups; now they use reusable glasses.
“It takes us three minutes at the end of the day to wash up,” said Sara Brentrup.

The school also has contracted with Earth Recyclying to recycle items such as ink cartridges, cans, plastics, and paper towels.

EDGE also wanted the preschool to contribute to helping an endangered species. The Children’s Garden Preschool has contributed to the Roosevelt Park Zoo to help out the Egyptian tortoises. A sign will be installed over the tortoises’ cage in the zoo indicating that The Children’s Garden Preschool is a contributor.

The preschool also has live plants in both its classrooms and a terrarium with frogs to help the children experience the natural world. They use a curriculum from the EDGE to help the kids learn about protecting the environment.
Sara Brentrup said she encourages the families of the chidren to bring their used items to the school for use in craft projects or to recycle instead of just throwing them away.

One little boy told Sara Brentrup, “My dad doesn’t recycle at home, but I was telling him that he should.”
Sara Brentrup also said she hopes to phase out use of plastics in the preschool within five years. They have been buying more wooden toys and handmade yarn toys for the children to play with.

With the EDGE license, the preschool will eventually qualify for discounts on certain items and could receive money towards certain projects. The Brentrups hope to apply some of those dollars towards playground equipment.
The preschool serves about 80 children between the ages of 3 and 6.

Source: minotdailynews.com

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