Blog? Yes, please!

I have been thinking about creating a blog for our school for a long time now. This just seems like the right time. I am excited to use this blog as a way to share ideas, brag about our children and teachers, make connections, discuss big topics, express our views, and allow the world to get to know us a little more.

Sometimes I, Mindy, will be writing. Sometimes one of our phenomenal teachers may be writing. Maybe we will have a guest contributer every now and then. I might even let Chef Matt (my business partner and husband) write a post.

So, who am I?

My name is Mindy Farris. I am the director and, along with my husband Matt, owner of The Savvy Apple Preschool. I am a mother to two little ones of my own - Brody and Riley. I am an educator with a degree in Early Childhood Education. I am an employer to nine incredible women (our teachers!). I am a dreamer, a creator, and a fun-enthusiast.

Since I was in high school, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in college, I knew I wanted to someday open my own school. I imagined teaching for 30+ years in public schools, retiring, and then possibly opening my own school. I never imagined that I would be living out such a huge dream in such a short amount of time.

It only took six years of teaching, my husband, and my two children to inspire me to chase one big and crazy dream.

It was January of 2014 when I went back to work teaching my group of first graders after having my daughter, Riley. I was leaving my two year old and 3 month old in the care of others while I worked well over 40 hours each week. When I dropped my son off at school, I was thankful that he was with caregivers that were nice and making sure his basic needs were met, but I dreamt of more.

I called my mom and expressed my frustrations through tears, and she said, "Why don't you open up your own school?". To make a long story short, those eight words led to my husband and I both leaving our jobs, renovating an old building, and opening The Savvy Apple Preschool about six months later.

It literally has been a dream come true. We have created something that we love. We are thankful every.single.day for the life we live and all the people that make it possible: our friends, our family, our staff, our children (all fifty-something of them!), and all the parents.

We certainly aren't perfect, and we have learned a lot over the past year since we opened our doors. But we think we have a pretty good thing going, and we aren't done yet. We are dreamers, guys, and dreamers don't stop dreaming...