Changes Afoot at Joyful Garden

Dear Friends,

It is with many powerful feelings that I am writing to let you know that the school year ending at the end of July, 2014, will be the final year that I operate Joyful Garden as we have known it for the past six years. I am currently working toward transitioning into teaching elementary age kids, and plan eventually to pursue an advanced degree in education or counseling. I aspire to transform Joyful Garden into a summer day camp for kids, and a resource for parents wanting to learn and practice new parenting skills--quite probably years from now.

The span of time that I have spent immersed in the work of creating a community for young children at Joyful Garden has been a particularly sweet season of my life. I am grateful for the time spent with the children every day, for the world that they share with me, and for all that they teach. My thanks to the families who entrust their children to me, and who contribute so generously to the Community’s betterment, are boundless.

I also owe a great debt of gratitude to family and friends who have supported my vision, and the execution of it, in creating Joyful Garden. My daughter, India, has given up personal space for, and shared her mom with, younger children for ten years now. My grownup family, and many other loved ones, have strategized, and planned, and sweated alongside me to mold the Joyful Garden property according to my ideas and ideals. Anyone who has done the smallest thing to support the effort to realize my vision for Joyful Garden has my undying thanks.

Joyful Garden will continue on its regular schedule through the end of its calendar year, in July. Most of our kiddos are poised to age out and move to new schools in August 2014. If you would like advice or assistance in identifying the best school for your child’s next phase, please contact me. I am happy to be of assistance.

Each day, each passing week, is more tender, and more treasured, now that I know it is the last such that I will savor with the children; these children. I am more fully present than ever as I welcome them through the gate each morning and pull up a tree stump to sit in on their world. It is a beautiful world. Thank you.

I wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons.

With love, respect, and boundless gratitude,

Katherine Patton, Founder and Guide