Today we’d like to introduce you to Heathermarie Griffin.
Hi Heathermarie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Fourteen years ago, I moved from Santa Monica, California to the Upper East Side of Miami. The impetus for moving across country was my three-year-old daughter, Madelaine. I’m a single mother by choice, and my child came to me via adoption. At the time I was working long hours throughout Los Angeles selling luxury real estate yet wanted to be fully present in her childhood. I was struggling to create a balance between a demanding career and parenthood. In 2009 while on holiday in Miami, I was discussing my internal dilemma with a friend. She mentioned a small business for sale which offered mommy and me classes. I had an epiphany on the spot! I was going to close the working-parent gap by buying a business where I could bring my daughter with me daily. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Education and previously owned a preschool in Laguna Niguel, California. This would be a natural evolution in returning to teaching. En route to the airport, I visited Skipping Stones, gave the owners my business card, then headed back to Los Angeles. While in air the owners left me a voicemail regarding the sale of their program. Three months later I was the new owner.
Fast forward to current day, my daughter is approaching seventeen, and the universe blessed me with her now eleven-year-old brother Pax.
Skipping Stones Miami Preschool is not only my business, it’s become my sanctuary and community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth road…no, owning a business in Miami as a single woman comes with its own inherent issues. I was often asked who my boss was. That one still makes me laugh today. Combine that with moving to a new city without any family, a small child, and only one friend.
I grew the business from a classes-only setting where parents legally had to be present at all times to a formal licensed preschool. As a one-woman show, the zoning and childcare licensing process was unbearable at times. However, my background in real estate aided in navigating the building paperwork along with my degree in education allowed for me to be the owner and director of the school.
In 2019, after much prompting from present and past families, I decided to double the business footprint and capacity.
Love, sweat, and tears went into designing the perfect environment for littles to thrive. March 11th, 2020, we received the occupancy permit to open. Two days later on March 13th, due to the pandemic, we were ordered to close our program.
The financial burden to cover the business expenses with no children present was enough to consider closing my doors.
We did it! I’m over the moon to be here today.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We’re a small community preschool with a big purpose. We accept twenty-five families yearly into our program. Skipping Stones is a ‘play with a purpose’ center specializing in small class-to-teacher ratios; a hands-on creative curriculum for littles ages 2.5 years through 5 years. My personal belief is to change the world we need to change the experience of the child. I want children to have the childhood they deserve. Society and industrialized school systems are caught up in the “earlier is better” educational mindset. I’ve been defending the science of play for thirty years. Play is not the fun that gets to happen after the learning. Play IS the learning for preschoolers.
What sets us apart from other schools is our commitment to DAP, developmentally appropriate practices. The concepts taught in our classes are understood by the child within a few hours of instruction. A concept that’s not DAP is calendar time. This is too abstract for the stage of brain development for most children at 4 and 5 years old. This is why in most preschools there is so much time dedicated to it. They aren’t ready to fully understand those abstract concepts! We talk about calendar time during circle time, we don’t teach it. What we do teach, and what I’m most proud of is mindfulness, daily affirmations, mud play, kindness, cooperation, messy art, and a love for literature. Come play with us!
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I grew up an only child in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, anything related to the great outdoors lit me up. The blizzard of 1978 dumped over two feet of snow, and we were homebound for days. I remember patiently awaiting the mail as it was delivered by horseback because the roads were impassable. The postal person allowed me to ride Harry the Clydesdale house to house on my street. This was magical for my seven-year-old self. A core memory for the books.
When the snow thawed and summer arrived, I was directed, as most kids in my neighborhood, to stay outdoors until the one streetlight came on. I could be found foraging for wild mushrooms, berries, and the like or playing Creekside with my imaginary fairies, elves, and gnomes.
Pricing:
- Full Day Pre-K 2 years to 4 years $12,850
- Half Day Pre-K 2 years $11,500
- Full Day Pre-K 4 to 5 years $13,100
- Annual Registration $695
- Summer Camp $330 weekly
Contact Info:
- Website: www.skippingstonesmiami.com
- Instagram: @skippingstonesmiami
Image Credits
Nicole Lebris Creative Photography
