On-StJohn.com Interview with Joanna Werman of Here to Grow

OSJ: How did you guys find St. John?

JW: I’ve been here for 14 years. Karen has been here for the last 15 years. I came from Wayland Massachusetts where I owned a day care center. I’ve got a degree is speech pathology and a Masters in deaf education. Karen, who has a degree in psychology, had been working in Millburn, New Jersey, where she worked at a school for children with learning and social-emotional challenges.

OSJ: How did the two of you meet up?

JW: I met Karen the first month I was on island. Karen was working in Miss Val’s preschool class and I was watching children at Maho Bay camps.

OSJ: Why did you decide to start Here to Grow seven years ago?

JW: We had each opened children’s programs at Caneel and the Westin and always had a plan to bring to the children of St. John the quality of programming we were bringing to the hotel guests. Out greatest roadblock had been finding the right place for our new school, then called The Stone Cottage. Yes, we were in a stone cottage and that is how we got our original name.

OSJ: Tell us a little about Here to Grow.

JW: We offer a behavioral/educational approach to childcare. We are a very nurturing place. A group daycare home means the familiarity of home, and house rules. Children spend 12 to 14 years in formal educational settings. We like to be a soft place to land and to learn before the structure of school comes in.

OSJ: What is your idea of daycare?

JW: There is a tremendous amount to be learned through play. How to work well and play well with others is as important as what you know. We call it the politics of play. No TV. No DVDs. No sitting in a group without participating in some fashion. No running wild or jumping on the bed. (We have a wonderful porch bed and love to use it for “Circle Time” and puzzles and more.)

OSJ: What kinds of things to kids learn wth you?

JW: We teach the ABC’s, 1-2-3’s, and the niceties of life; please, thank you, excuse me, I’m sorry and our favorite, “Thank you for this lovely meal.” Most of our kids are part time.

OSJ: So what’s your current dilemma?

JW: All of the islanders have recently felt the additional financial strains by the climbing WAPA bills, but having a place that fits all the codes also can mean high rent bills. Once we have a certain number of children, we need additional hands, so just increasing our number of children does not necessarily mean more money toward these bills.

OSJ: What do you hope to see happen?

JW: We would love to stay where we are and get our school busy again. Our landlord is terrific and our neighborhood is safe. Many children went on to the Gifft Hill school last year and left us with few enrollments. We like the easy, central location just three minutes from the ferry dock. If we could find a two bedroom house for around $1,500, then we could deal with fewer enrollments and just focus on a smaller group.

OSJ: What kinds of kids have you seen pass through your doors?

JW: All shapes and sizes, all colors and smells. It is great to greet the graduates in town and feel loved by many. Halloween is especially fun for us. We get to see all the kids who have passed through our doors when we gather at Mongoose Junction.

OSJ: Anything you’d like to add?

JW: We LOVE what we do. It has never been a moneymaker, but much more a lesson and expression of the heart. We believe we have a great reputation and we want to be here for a long time. We’d be glad to provide anyone with contact information of past and current parents.

Joanna and Karen can be reached at 340-715-1977 or at h2grow@vipowernet.net