Wausau, WI (1/19/23) – Monk Botanical Gardens is expanding its Sprouts Garden Preschool in the 2023-2024 school year. New offerings will include a full-day class for 4-5-year olds, and before and after-school care options for students. Enrollment opens for Gardens Members on February 1st with open enrollment starting February 8th. Members will receive registration information via email.

Families will be notified of class (or waitlist) placement on March 15th. Students should enroll in a class based on their age on September 1st and must be three (Sunflower & Clover Classes) or four (Alfalfa & Brussels Classes) years old by September 1, 2023 to enroll. Students must be fully toilet trained to enroll. Also new this year, the program will use a sliding scale based on income to determine the tuition rate for each family. Additional tuition assistance is also available to ensure Sprouts Garden Preschool is accessible to all families in our community.

Sprouts Garden Preschool has nature at the heart of the program, with teaching based on high-quality early childhood education and environmental education practices. Students spend over 80% of their time outdoors throughout the seasons with any indoor time taking place in the yurt classroom. Academic skills such as pattern recognition, letters, numbers, and colors emerge from outdoor learning experiences like counting birds on the pond, looking for matching colors of flowers and bugs, tracking animal prints in the snow, and journaling about nature observations. Positive social interaction and respect for others are heightened and reinforced by outdoor exploration and play.

To learn more about Sprouts Garden Preschool, view the Sprouts Family Handbook, or enroll during open enrollment, visit https://monkgardens.org/education/sprouts-garden-preschool/.

To learn more about Gardens membership, visit https://monkgardens.org/support/membership/. 

You may also contact Monk Botanical Gardens with any questions at info@monkgardens.org or 715-261-6309.

Support for Sprouts Garden Preschool expansion project is provided in part by the May Family Foundation, Murco Foundation a fund at Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin, and E.F. Jablonski Family Foundation.

About the Monk Botanical Gardens

The Monk Botanical Gardens' mission is to cultivate well-being in people, communities, and the environment with experiences that engage, educate, and inspire.  Wausau’s Happy Place serves over 5,000 community members through its educational programs and over 20,000 visitors yearly. The Gardens is a place for education, reflection, and rejuvenation. The Gardens is the only organization providing public environmental education services within Wausau. Creating a personal connection to the natural world sets the stage for lifelong learning, healthy living, and a genuine commitment to conservation. Monk Botanical Gardens is located at 1800 N 1st Ave, Wausau, WI, and is a 501c3 non-profit organization supported by donations, memberships, and private foundations. For more information, go to www.monkgardens.org.