• Austin Nature & Science Center;
• Zilker Botanical Garden; or
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The children will learn about growing and nurturing living things. Your child will explore the world of plants and botany by:

• Planting and growing real tomato plants;
• Creating original vases and flower pots;
• Charting and discovering the growth rates of various plants;
• Investigating the effects of light on plant growth; and
• More!

Every day during our spring break camp, the students also will participate in a math and literacy time, during which they will be provided with a variety of intellect-building activities. Your children also will participate in our distinguished chess and language immersion programs. Through these fun activities we can help the children gain greater academic skill as well as exercising their brains during this break from school.

Stepping Stone School offers a safe, fun place for children to learn and explore during their break from school. Each of our classrooms is an exciting environment in which children are able to strengthen their knowledge as well as meet and socialize with friends.

Not only will the children learn all about these concepts and many more … they will also embark on a series of exciting field journeys, including Stepping Stone School’s Sports and Fitness Camp. In this camp, Coach Blake will be instructing the children on the basics of yoga as well as the importance of a healthy, well balanced diet. We will also be continuing our gardening education at one of the three places listed above. (Location will vary by school.)

And finally, we will take a trip to the movies for some rest and relaxation. Through these field trips, educational daily activities, exciting classroom environment, and a friendly loving atmosphere, we will make this your child’s favorite spring break ever!

This service is always provided to our younger children at no additional cost, but has now been expanded to include our older children when they attend full days. We are pleased to provide this convenience for our families!

The list, which is based on the licensed capacities of all centers, included many publicly traded companies and large chains. Stepping Stone School was among the highest placed privately owned organizations.

“We are very pleased to be part of this list,” said founder and executive director Rhonda Paver. “Stepping Stone School remains a tight-knit, family-owned organization where we are small enough to be vigilant and responsive to our families’ needs. We feel that we have so many advantages over the chains and franchises, but it also feels nice to know that we are growing in our ability to educate and care for more children.”

The listing also was part of an article examining the past 25 years and the current state of child care. In it, Paver was quoted regarding employers’ views on the work/family connection, “Corporate America has become more aware of the need to take work and family issues into account in recruiting and maintaining their work force. Over the last 25 years, they have moved from creating their own onsite child care centers to turning over management of those centers to ‘professional’ child care providers to now subsidizing child care by creating corporate partnerships that provide their employees with discounted tuition and priority placement.”

Stepping Stone School maintains dozens of such corporate partnerships.

Stepping Stone School and ThunderCloud Subs kicked off the 21st annual Turkey Trot and Kids’ K with a live Turkey Call at Stepping Stone School, 8121 Shoal Creek, on Nov. 15. The contestant who elicited the best response from the turkey was to be declared this year’s champion with full rights to “crow” about it, however, because Tom Turkey was silent, all earned honors for their enthusiastic attempts!

The children of Stepping Stone School wore festive, hand-made turkey hats, sang turkey songs and competed to gain the attention of a live turkey. The children also were excited by the presence of television cameras. You can see the news clips from KVUE and YNN.

The families of Stepping Stone School also collected nonperishable food for Caritas of Austin, a non-profit organization that fights hunger, homelessness and poverty.

The Turkey Call is an annual event to encourage registration for the ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot and Stepping Stone School Kids’ K, which will take place Thanksgiving morning. All proceeds from the Turkey Trot benefit Caritas of Austin.

According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, learning a second language at an early age…

• Has a positive effect on intellectual growth;
• Enriches and enhances a child’s mental development;
• Leaves students with more flexibility in thinking, greater sensitivity to language, and a better ear for listening;
• Improves a child’s understanding of his/her native language;
• Gives a child the ability to communicate with people s/he would otherwise not have the chance to know;
• Opens the door to other cultures and helps a child understand and appreciate people from other countries;
• Gives a student a head start in language requirements for college; and
• Increases job opportunities in many careers where knowing another language is a real asset.

This new language enrichment is just a small part of how Stepping Stone School is boosting brain development in its young students. The new labs are up and running at a Stepping Stone School near you!

Stepping Stone School is proud to introduce the traditional, yet revolutionary game of chess to its advanced pre-k and school-age masterminds! These students are learning about the history of the game as well as how the pieces move and strategies for winning. The classes will also include tournaments to allow the students to practice their new skills.

Children who play chess have been shown to improve their math and reading skills, but the benefits go beyond academic.

Chess can help your child reach full potential by:

• Encouraging the development of analytical and decision-making skills;
• Calling upon higher-order thinking skills to analyze consequences and visualize future possibilities;
• Increasing one’s ability to recognize complex patterns;
• Strengthening your child’s mental clarity, fortitude, stability and overall health;
• Teaching a healthy sense of fairness;
• Improving your child’s self-esteem and communication skills; and
• Aiding in the growth of certain areas in the brain & mind.

“These workshops covered all the latest research about how children learn,” said Marilee Blackwelder, Stepping Stone School director of training. “There were workshops that explored developmentally appropriate and effective teaching practices, the importance of relationships and attachments, and the different ways in which children learn to read, for example.”

Stepping Stone School is proud to send so many of its educators to this professionally respected conference. The benefits to the school’s children are immediate and far-reaching as the faculty weaves this new knowledge into lesson plans that already are recognized as among the best in the country.

Children were seen at Thursday’s open house event excitedly exploring their new school, its play areas and classrooms. Many, even, were reluctant to leave.

That excitement carried over to opening day. One parent, Karen Barry, said of her son, “It usually takes a while for him to get going in the morning, but not today. He popped right up and said, ‘I’m going to my new school today!’”

The school, previously located at Dell Children’s Medical Center, is the new permanent home for Stepping Stone School 17. The campus at 1007 E. 40th St., features an open layout, an outdoor sensory area, age-appropriate playgrounds and a location convenient to Central Austin.

Stepping Stone School delivered hundreds of pounds of food donated by its families and employees to the veterans’ counseling center in Harker Heights near Fort Hood.

In early June, the children at Stepping Stone School learned that returning disabled veterans often have to wait more than a year to get their first disability payments. Finding that many of the veterans and their families have a hard time making ends meet or even go hungry while waiting for assistance, the children of Stepping Stone School and their families wanted to help and organized the food drive.

“We are so proud of all our children,” said Rhonda Paver, Stepping Stone School founder and executive director. “When presented with this challenge, they eagerly opened their hearts and threw themselves into helping. They are creative, generous and so caring!”