​Learning experiences are student driven, community based, creative and fun.

The Small School Story

At North Routt Preschool, we believe that young children learn through the relationships they form early in life. Our staff honors this belief by respecting the child’s point of view and including the student in every aspect of the learning process. Small group activities allow the staff to have positive interactions and get to know the individual needs of their students. For this reason, North Routt Preschool operates with a maximum group size of 15 students and no more than a 1 to 7 teacher to student ratio (1 to 5 for toddlers) for the majority of the school day. With the state standard being a 1 to 10 ratio, this is a much more intimate group than many other schools offer.

Students and teachers are partners in the learning process

Our Curriculum: Reggio Emilia

North Routt Preschool’s project based curriculum honors the Reggio Emilia approach to learning. In the Reggio approach, students and teacher are partners in the learning process. At North Routt Preschool, we honor this philosophy by developing projects out of the interest of the children. The teachers guide the projects by listening to the children’s thoughts and offering suggestions. Projects may span weeks or months depending on the children’s interests.

Our School Community 

Our school community begins at North Routt Preschool but extends far past the preschool walls. Through a weekly Physical Education program and monthly reading programs, Preschoolers regularly interact with the k-8 students at the neighboring Charter School.  Preschoolers learn that they are a part of a larger community and share in some of the community responsibilities such as collecting silver lined wrappers for a Charter School fund-raiser.  We encourage parents to actively participate in school excursions and share their passions and talents with our children. Community involvement ranges from visits to the nearby Home Ranch to visit the greenhouse and hike, monthly visits from the Steamboat Librarian, weekly yoga classes with a local yoga studio owner and parent and visits to the local fire station. 

Our Teachers

Our highly qualified teachers know that young children learn through their relationships and through their experiences.  For this reason, teachers create a warm nurturing environment in the classroom from which the students can explore their interests.  Mutual respect, kindness and affection abound in the NRP classrooms.