Week 1: BOPN mission and challenges to working at a non-profit start up

The mission of the Boston Outdoor Preschool Network (BOPN) “to build joyful communities of children and teachers connected to each other and their outdoor environments through discovery and play.” BOPN believes that children learn the most through play and spending time in nature is essential in the development of children. The teachers’ work at BOPN goes against many mainstream beliefs about education and is certainly different from traditional classroom education. There are many methods of working with children at BOPN that are different from what I have seen anywhere else or experienced myself. 

Before starting my first week at BOPN, my supervisor sent me an orientation presentation and reflection questions to answer. This orientation was useful to illustrate what to be ready for on the first day and help me understand how their Montessori style and emphasis on learning through play is different from past experiences working with children. While the orientation was helpful, I learned the most from jumping right in on the first day and observing my lead teachers. Watching how experienced teachers interact with students and each other helped inform my behavior. I have to veer away from behaviors I learned tutoring and babysitting and lean into behaviors that better support children’s discovery of the world. 

While BOPN attracts teachers who are committed to its mission, I am realizing how challenging it is to be an employee at a nonprofit startup. One of the primary challenges is constant change. The systems and processes crucial to running the school are still being built and refined during the school year. Teachers have to constantly adapt their procedures as they go. Additionally, there are not policies for every situation a teacher may find themselves in. I saw this problem in action on Thursday when there was a shooting about a half-mile away from where we were with children. It took place right before one group of students was leaving and forty-five minutes later another group was scheduled to arrive. Five or more helicopters were flying above us distracting the children and making it difficult for them to hear others. BOPN delayed the afternoon class and myself and the lead teachers left to take shelter in one of their homes. It was interesting to hear them discuss what they think is the right thing to do. There was still an active shooter in the area as emails were being sent to parents saying that the program was still going to take place this afternoon. I think it was challenging and scary for my lead teachers to be left with no clear policy for this situation. What would happen that afternoon was still being decided by BOPN’s executive director as the lead teachers sat there worried about the safety of the students that had just left and the students that would arrive this afternoon. The teachers I work with disagreed with the executive director’s decision to run a delayed class in the afternoon. It is especially difficult to make clear and rational decisions when emotions are running high and teachers need to think about what they would do in the event someone wanted to harm one of their four or five-year-old students. Overall, this day gave me a clear look into how challenging it is to work at a start-up.