Bright Beginnings Preschool

A mission of St. John’s, Bright Beginnings is a preschool established to provide children ages 2-5 of all races, creeds, and ethnic backgrounds with a stimulating learning environment.

Bright Beginnings Episcopal Preschool is a small program with space for up to 20 children between 2-5 years old. We are open four days a week from 7:45 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.

Throughout the day, we focus on the development of the whole child by emphasizing the process, not the product. We value individuality and offer support in creating confident, independent and well-rounded children.

Our teachers have a variety of experience working with children and families.They participate in ongoing training and meet or exceed the Wyoming state licensing requirements.

We believe in inspiring creativity, stimulating curiosity, building independent thinkers, establishing social and emotional stability, and encouraging problem solving. Our program will prepare any child for the kindergarten classroom while ensuring they have fun along the way.

OUR TEACHERS

Julie Tobiason

Bright Beginnings Preschool Director

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Julie has been teaching at Bright Beginnings for over three years. She has a degree in Early Childhood & Elementary Education and has years of experience working with children and their families as a former children’s librarian and early childhood educator. Julie especially loves to incorporate lots of literacy, music, and play into the preschool. She spends her spare time in the outdoors hiking, cross-country skiing & exploring with her husband, John, and sons, Jack and James. She is a voracious reader who enjoys reading across many genres, but has a super-soft spot for children’s books.

Brandi Radford

Lead Teacher

Brandi and her husband, Fred, both graduated from Jackson Hole High School. They have five grown children: Heather, Lindsey, Kyle, Casandra, and Mackenzie. Their blended family has brought them twelve grandchildren. Brandi ran her own daycare in Jackson for ten years and spent four years working at another large center in town. Brandi has been working at Bright Beginnings for three years. She loves watching children grow and is proud to be a part of their journey. She enjoys camping, fishing, and spending time with her family, especially her dog Sparky.

Maddy Marchetti

Teacher

Maddy is from Nashville, TN. She moved to Jackson last November and worked for the mountain over the winter and then started teaching at Bright Beginnings in May. She graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South in May 2018 with a degree in Psychology. Maddy has plans to attend graduate school in the next few years to become a behavior analyst in school settings. She has always loved working with kids and enjoys watching young children grow in these crucial stages of their lives. Maddy shares “my time at Bright Beginnings has already been such a rewarding experience and I cannot wait to continue to teach and support these amazing kids!” When she is not in the classroom, you can find Maddy biking around town, hiking, camping, or on the river. Maddy also loves to play piano and create art!

Sallie Ratcliffe

Teacher

Sallie moved to Jackson about a year ago from Charlotte, North Carolina. She attended North Carolina State University and graduated with a degree in Psychology. Upon moving to Jackson, Sallie worked at a residential facility in Wilson, WY for eight months, and transitioned to teaching at Bright Beginnings. She states, “being a part of a child’s major development phase is a huge reward for me and I am so thankful I get to encourage growth, daily social skills, and interactive play with our BBEP kids!” In the future, she hopes to return to graduate school and receive a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling or Play Therapy. In the meantime, Sallie plans to soak up every moment of living here by snowboarding, hiking, camping, kayaking, and meeting new people, especially ones with cute dogs!

Emily Sloan

Teacher

Emily is from New Canaan, Connecticut and moved to Jackson last November. She graduated from Sewanee with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology. In psychology, she focused on early childhood development and education. She enjoys reading, being on the water, hiking, camping and skiing.

THE ENVIRONMENT

Bright Beginnings provides a warm and loving environment where first-time school goers and seasoned ones alike, feel welcome and accepted. Our nurturing atmosphere and low student-teacher ratio provide children with plenty of individual attention that positively encourages each child to develop in his/her own unique way.

We offer a rich, versatile, well-planned curriculum that considers the social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and creative needs of each child. Quality children's literature and real life experiences are the foundations upon which our curriculum is designed, with special aid from “Handwriting without Tears” and “Zoo-phonics.” Children are involved in cooking, art, music, dramatic play, Chapel time, yoga, science, math and literacy-building activities, and of course, indoor and outdoor free play. We also utilize the Start Bus and take frequent field trips throughout the year, including Story Time at the library, art classes at the Wildlife Museum, Children’s Museum, the Fire and Police Stations, Sled Dog races, the Teton County Fair, Teton Village, etc.

Our learning environment is both inside and out. In our facility, we have four large sunlit rooms to explore, including a creative arts center, reading loft, dramatic play area, napping space, sensory table, hands-on manipulatives and block building area. Outside, we have two fenced yards where the children have access to fresh air, new custom designed climbing structures, playhouse, and gross motor activities. This dual environment provides countless opportunities to develop a life-long love of learning.